Attachment 2 - Brand Name Justification (1305M326Q0297).pdf

Version 5.1 June 2026

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND SERVICES EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

AUTHORITY: 41 U.S.C. 1901

LabView Software Enterprise Program Renewal

Identification Number: 145036-26-0011

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) proposes to enter into a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition in support of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

NOAA intends to award a new contract to a vendor that is authorized to provide brand-name software product LabView by National Instruments Corporation (NI).

A firm-fixed-price contract is contemplated for award.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The requirement is to provide a renewal of CSL’s existing NI’s LabView Enterprise Agreement EA- 15701 to provide CSL with LabView Finite Quantity NI Software Licenses, Unlimited Quantity NI Software Licenses, Control Test Plus Bundle, Control Bundle, and Debug Control Bundle to continue the development and operations of various instruments. The instruments are used to collect and analyze various aerosol data used in multiple NOAA models, the software has been developed to perform this specific function and this function cannot be replaced without significant setbacks in data collection. The systems used by CSL rely solely on NI Software as they are proprietary. The instruments CSL operates only work with LabView software and no other software can be used or be modified to be used by the laboratory without significantly impacting the collection of data. This requirement includes continued enterprise agreement entitlements such as maintenance, training and software management.

The estimated acquisition value for the base year and two option years is . The base year period of performance will be from 13 September 2026 to 12 September 2027. The option year 1 period of performance will be from 13 September 2027 to 12 September 2028, and the option year 2 period of performance will be from 13 September 2028 to 12 September 2029.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C. 1901, using simplified procedures up to $9M, in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) 12.201-1.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires using the authority cited.

The LabView software and support produced by NI is the only brand that can meet the Government’s needs due to exclusive licensing agreement, restrictive rights, and compatibility to existing systems.

CSL currently has multiple LabView software deployed for mission-specific instruments that are tied to various scientific instrumentation. The required software must support the existing LabView software that has already been developed and supported with specific hardware components that are only compatible with LabView software. Other software will not support CSL’s current environment due to proprietary hardware and software currently in use. LabView provides specific methods that interface with various items such as hardware and other existing software systems. By not awarding a contract to an authorized provider of LabView software renewals, it would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

Various CSL instrumentations have been written using LabView and some instruments utilize proprietary NI hardware that have been purchased over time. Only NI specific software drivers can be used with these hardware systems. From this system, thousands of programs have been developed to not only run the instruments but also analyze data from them using LabView software. Additionally, CSL uses specific hardware, most custom made in the laboratory and some from NI directly, to run and gather data. Any other software cannot meet or be modified to meet the agency’s needs. Therefore, a “brand name or equal” description cannot be used.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Part 5 and, if not, which exception under FAR Part 5 applies.

This brand name justification was prepared before the pre-solicitation notice because WAD is utilizing the combined pre-solicitation and solicitation method as required by RFO 12.202. This combined pre-solicitation and solicitation notice will be publicized as required by RFO Part 5.

This justification will be posted with the combined pre-solicitation and solicitation notice as required by RFO 6.301(b)(2).

A sources sought notice was not issued because the results of market research efforts indicated that several businesses were available to solicit a quote from. Once the Government has issued the combined pre-solicitation and solicitation notice on SAM.gov, the Government intends to notify all potentially capable vendors identified during market research to ensure that quotes are solicited from as many potential sources as possible.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on market research revealing that the Government will receive competitive quotes in response to the solicitation when issued in accordance with RFO 12.204(a), Price reasonableness.

8. The market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted by CSL and the WAD to identify available sources and to evaluate the availability of the marketplace to meet the requirement. After determining that LabView by NI was the only brand-name available to meet the Government’s needs, additional research was conducted to identify if there was any potential for using authorized resellers or distributors.

WAD reached out to NI to inquire about the possibility of obtaining this renewal through the use of authorized resellers or distributors. NI confirmed that interested resellers and distributors that can obtain Enterprise Program Documentation (EPD) are authorized to handle renewals. Furthermore, WAD analyzed previous acquisition history with NOAA and other Government agencies to explore solicitation methods used for LabView renewals. Through this, WAD confirmed that the Government has made purchases both directly through NI and through resellers and distributors.

As a result, market research revealed that this requirement is commercially available, and while this requirement is being restricted to brand-name only, it is available from multiple sources.

9. Any other facts supporting using other than full and open competition.

All facts have been documented herein. There are no additional facts to be reported in this section.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

No sources expressed an interest in writing. However, competition for this requirement is likely since at least two sources have been identified through market research.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

This particular acquisition represents a requirement to utilize NI’s proprietary LabView software.

Other company’s software products cannot be utilized and are not compatible with LabView software and existing CSL laboratory instrumentation. However, the Government will conduct market research to gauge any changes to the marketplace regarding capabilities for future requirements. This requirement is expected to be recompeted in three years. If additional sources become available during that time, the Government will seek competition for future acquisitions for these. While we will continuously explore available technologies, a transition would be extremely costly, disruptive and will result in lost or reduced capability for CSL.