Attachment I - Sole Source Justification Numonix (1).pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION (SSJ)

UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR

CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

1. IDENTIFICATION OF AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

Agency: Social Security Administration

Contracting Office: Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, and Management

Office of Acquisition and Grants Office of Information Technology Acquisition Division of IT Software & Maintenance

Contracting Officer (CO):

Program Office: Office of the Chief Information Officer Office of Systems Operations and Hardware

Engineering Division of Resource Management and Acquisition

Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative:

Project Title: Acquisition of Numonix Teams Compliance Recording

Applications software

Proposed Contractor: Numonix

Tracking Information: Advanced Procurement Plan (APP) #: DCS-24-900B0

Relevant current/previous order #: N/A Purchase Request # 3363-24-1003

Period of Performance: 03/30/2024 – 03/29/2029 (if all option years are exercised)

2. NATURE OF ACTION BEING APPROVED

Type of Action:

_X__ New award ____ Modification of existing award, number ______________________

Contemplated Contract Type:

_X__ Firm fixed-price

____ Time and materials/labor hour ____ Combination

We seek approval of a SSJ to obtain the following:

____ Expansion of mainframe software licensing required for compliance with our license agreement, due to agency mainframe hardware capacity increases.

Since commercial mainframe software companies commonly license software based on the capacity of the mainframe hardware on which we install software, we are responsible for expanding our mainframe software licenses commensurate to the hardware capacity each time we upgrade mainframe hardware.

_X__ Subscription License of Numonix Teams Compliance Recording Applications software manufactured by Numonix.

We will solicit a proposal and award a single firm-fixed-price award to Numonix for a base year and four one-year option periods.

Procedures in FAR 13.5 are being used, in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES AND ESTIMATED VALUE

Estimated Value:

(Base Year) 3/30/2024 – 3/29/2025:

(Option Year 1) 3/30/2025 – 3/29/2026:

(Option Year 2) 3/30/2026 – 3/29/2027:

(Option Year 3) 3/30/2027 – 3/29/2028:

(Option Year 4) 3/30/2028 – 3/29/2029:

SSA’s Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) is responsible for holding hearings and issuing Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisions as part of the agency's administrative process. All hearings are recorded to ensure due process. Prior to the COVID-19 global health crisis, most hearing participants attended either in-person at a hearing office or via dedicated video equipment at SSA office locations. During the COVID-19 global health crisis, all participants attended ALJ hearings via video or telephone using Microsoft Teams.

The adjustments to the hearings process necessitated by COVID-19 accelerated OHO's need for a flexible, online hearings process. Similarly, claims appealed to the US District Courts also require a verbatim transcript. The Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) is responsible for creating, reviewing, and certifying transcripts for court purposes. OAO is currently reliant on external vendors and, when addressing workload overflow, uses in-house staff for additional transcriptions.

SSA’s Hearings Recordings and Transcription (HEART) Product for the Streamline and Automate the Hearing Recording Process Project was created to support an end-to-end solution to meet both OHO and OAO business goals:

• Eliminate the use of legacy Digital Recording Project (DRAP) hardware and software, resulting in cost savings and providing maximum flexibility for hearing participants; and

• Produce an accurate automated transcription to eliminate the need for Verbatim Hearing Reporter (VHR) note taking which is inconsistent and prone to errors.

SSA is currently using Numonix for a trial period which ends 3/31/24. The OHO HEART project rollout is planned to begin in late May/early June. Additional interim licensing will be required if the period of performance award date is not met. The subscription for Numonix software includes updates, fixes and patches, as well as online and telephone technical support, allowing the software to remain operational in a changing environment.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER

THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. § 1901, as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5— “Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items.”

The acquisition is “commercial” in nature, as defined at FAR Section 2.101, and will be solicited using FAR Part 12, as well as the procedures outlined at FAR 13.106- 1(b)(1)(i) Contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name or industrial mobilization).

The basis for restricting competition is that a reasonable basis exists for concluding that the agency’s minimum needs can only be satisfied by:

____ (1) Unique supplies or services available from only one source or only one supplier with unique capabilities _X__ (2) The existence of limited rights in data, patent rights, copyrights, or secret processes; the control of basic raw material; or similar circumstances, make the supplies and services available from only one source

Please note:

_X__ Numonix is the only Open Market authorized provider of these Numonix licenses and maintenance subscription.

5. DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS

Numonix is the copyright holder for Numonix Teams Compliance Recording Applications BOT software. Only Numonix has the right to issue an enterprise license for this software.

Furthermore, Numonix sells directly to the government, and does not provide Numonix software through authorized resellers. Numonix has legal access to the proprietary source code necessary to provide software maintenance. Software maintenance includes a subscription to version upgrades, updates, fixes and patches, as well as telephone support for resolving issues.

Continued maintenance of these products is essential. Access to upgrades, updates, and fixes and patches ensures software continues to be compatible with the operating system and is in good working order. Any interruption to maintenance can severely affect our service to the public.

6. EFFORTS MADE TO SOLICIT FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS IS

PRACTICABLE

____ FedBizOpps Sources Sought/Request for Information was not posted due to this acquisition being for a follow-on subscription renewal/maintenance.

_X__ FedBizOpps Sources Sought/Request for Information posted from 10/12/2023 to 10/20/2023, and a copy is included in the contract file (RFI # 28321324RI0000003).

____ FedBizOpps Synopsis of Proposed Contract Action posted from XX/XX/XXXX to YY/YY/YYYY, and a copy is included in the contract file.

_X__ Responses received listed under item 10 below.

____ No responses received.

Based on the results of the posting, as well as market research described in item 8 below, we do not believe there are any other entities with similar capabilities at this time.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CO THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE

GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE PRICE

In accordance with FAR Part 15.404, the CO will perform a final price analysis in order to determine the eventual awardee’s proposed price is fair and reasonable.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH

See Section 6 above.

This software is proprietary. Only Numonix has access to the source code necessary to provide the required licenses and maintenance subscription, which are comprised of updates, upgrades, fixes and telephone support. There are no authorized resellers.

Additionally, __X__ We used market research conducted within 12 months of the anticipated award date. Therefore, we consider the information still current, accurate, and relevant.

• Confirmed with software publisher, Numonix, via email that they are the sole provider of Numonix software subscriptions/maintenance. They do not work with resellers.

____ When examining whether this is a requirement for Commercial vs Non- Commercial items, market research helped determined that this requirement involves ____ A) Items of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace;

____ B) Items of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace with modifications; or ____ C) Items used exclusively for governmental purposes (i.e. not commercially available).

____ Market research helped determine ____ Customary practices regarding customizing, modifying, or tailoring of items to meet customer needs and associated costs;

____ Customary practices, including warranty, buyer financing, discounts, contract type considering the nature and risk associated with the requirement, etc., under which commercial sales of the products or services are made;

____ Requirements of any laws and regulations unique to the item needed;

____ Availability of items that contain recovered materials and items that are energy efficient;

____ Distribution and support capabilities of potential suppliers, including alternative arrangements and cost estimates; and ____ Size and status of potential sources (see FAR Part 19).

___ Techniques for conducting market research include any or all of the following:

____ (i) Contacting knowledgeable individuals in government and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements.

____ (ii) Reviewing the results of recent market research undertaken to meet similar or identical requirements.

___ (iii) Publishing formal requests for information in appropriate technical or scientific journals or business publications.

____ (iv) Querying the government-wide database of contracts and other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple agencies available at https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/ and other https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/ government and commercial databases that provide information relevant to agency acquisitions.

____ (v) Participating in interactive, on-line communication among industry, acquisition personnel, and customers.

____ (vi) Obtaining source lists of similar items from other contracting activities or agencies, trade associations or other sources.

____ (vii) Reviewing catalogs and other generally available product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers or available on-line.

____ (viii) Conducting interchange meetings or holding presolicitation conferences to involve potential offerors early in the acquisition process.

_X__ Additional information, sources, comments

SSA issued Request for Information (RFI) 28321324RI0000003 on 10/12/2023. Of the two vendors that responded, it was determined that Numonix was capable of meeting the project requirements. It was determined that CallCabinet Core/Compliance Call Recording was not capable of meeting the project requirements as detailed in Section 10.

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS

Numonix sells directly to the government and does not make its products available through authorized resellers.

In accordance with FAR 4.1102 and 9.401, upon selection of an awardee, the CO will examine the System for Award Management in order to make an affirmative determination of the contractor’s responsibility.

10. LIST OF SOURCES EXPRESSING INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION IN

WRITING

An RFI was issued on SAM.gov on 10/12/23, requesting that parties provide information regarding potential software solutions to the Contracting Officer. Two vendors responded to the RFI:

• Numonix – Upon review of the information submitted, SSA determined that this solution was capable of meeting the project requirements.

• CallCabinet Core/Compliance Call Recording – Upon review of the information submitted, SSA determined that this solution was not capable of meeting the following requirements:

o Be a Microsoft Azure SaaS service, utilizing only Azure cloud resources o Create an XML Meta Data file which provides at least the following:

Meeting subject Time of meeting

Participant names Location of audio files o Provide a configuration to change the system settings and policies Allow majority of configuration changes to take effect without systems downtime

No other sources have expressed an interest in this acquisition.

11. ACTIONS AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS TO

COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION IS REQUIRED

We will continue to survey the marketplace by synopsizing our requirement and reviewing product literature and capability statements submitted by the vendor community.

CERTIFICTION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER AND

OTHER CONTRACTING OFFICIALS

The contracting officer and other contracting officials hereby certify that the information provided in support of this justification for an exception to fair opportunity is accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief.

RECOMMEND: 02/29/2024____

Date Division of IT Software & Maintenance (DITSM) Office of Information Technology Acquisition (OITA) Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG)

CONCUR: 03-11-2024

Contracting Officer

DITSM, OITA, OAG

CONCUR: 03/18/2024

Office Director, OITA, OAG

CONCUR: 19 March 24

G

3/19/24

CONCUR:

Associate Commissioner, OAG

APPROVE: 3/29/2024

SSA Competition Advocate