B01 FAR 13.5 Single Source or Brand Name Justification Exceeding SAT redacted.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification under

Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items (FAR 13.5)

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

United States Department of Agriculture, Departmental Administration, Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations Division, 301 S. Howes Street, Suite 321, Fort Collins, CO 80521.

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

The USDA proposes to enter into a negotiated sole source, firm fixed-price contract with Course Avenue, LLC using the simplified procedures for certain commercial items under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.5.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs

The supplies and services required are a Section 508 Compliant Course Creation and Authoring Platform SaaS Solution that can integrate into USDA’s learning management systems (LMS) and training platforms.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C § 1901 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures up to $7.5 million, as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

The unique qualifications/characteristics of the proposed contractor (Course Avenue) consists of the ability to deliver an enterprise SaaS platform solution that has integrated Section 508 compliance into the products and course deliverables that is documented in the vendors VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) with specifications for course creation, publishing, and utilization defined & pre-configured to meet all Section 508 – including specifications with WCAG 2.0 AA compliant. Course Avenue has an established multi-tenant abilities accross USDA Agencies and external clients. Course Avenue maintans a solid working Single Sign-On (SSO) technology proven in USDA.

The USDA requires a solution which provides direct access to tailored, secure and unique access to multiple integrated authoring tools offered via authoring platforms. This is a type of software that provides direct access to features including team-based development (e.g. multiple users working on a course), a shared repository and, in the case of Course Avenue a “multi-tenant” solution (e.g.

multiple organizations all operating under a single “instance” of the software).

Course Avenue Studio – (a SaaS offering) maintains a “Voluntary Product Accessibility Template” (VPAT) with a detailed Section 508 overview. This VPAT and the Course Avenue Studio – (a SaaS offering) allows accessibility of full support for developers and training creation. The VPAT and solution are at a WCAG 2.0 AA level, the required level for compliance. Many course content creation vendors do not maintain a VPAT with 508 full support, and instead require a developer design requirement for the final solution’s deliverable. The accessible learning development market for course creation softare is normally at the vendor author level to allow for control versus full Section 508 - WCAG 2.0 AA compliance level. Vendor Author level control is a developer level design and implementation, in which separate publishing steps are needed to deliver training content. It has been identified in the past that with the demise of Adobe Flash, there are fewer full scope eLearning authoring solutions on the market today than in 2017.

Market research was conducted and other vendors capabilities were considered however, none of the other capabilities could meet the VPAT solution with full 508 compliancy support. The vendors in this research include Lectora Inspire, Adobe Captivate, Articulate/Storyline, Composica, dominKnow, and Xyleme. No other vendor/product was confirmed to have the ability to provide category requirements. Course Avenue has coupled categories: (Section 508 course creation & authoring platform SaaS Solutions) and their eLearning output (508 compliant eLearning or Accessible eLearning - e.g. a course built using their product) and provided an independent confirmation as being Section 508 compliant to all current VPAT standards. This independent 3rd party review validated that Course Avenue software met the new compliance standards known as

“WCAG 2.0 AA”.

Course Avenue is the sole proprietary software owner and only Course Avenue can can make changes to this platform. No other vendor is authorized to provide this software or allowed access to their code. No other vendor was identified in having the capability of providing a complete, full cycle Section 508 Compliant level course output solution within the current USDA environment.

Unlike any other product on the market, the Course Avenue technology encapsulates Section 508 compliance into their core technology, products & course creation process. All other vendors/products researched rely solely on the users to understand, interpret, and apply all accessibility rules as they develop their courses. Course Avenue technology allows users without experience in accessibility, html, JavaScript, etc. to produce a Section 508 compliant course. During the previous Course Avenue contract, there have been more than 100 users with no technical Section 508 compliance experience, who have created hundreds of eLearning courses which passed USDA Section 508 compliance reviews.

It has been determined that in order to maintain uniformity in our Section 508 course creation, authoring platform & courses utilized everyday at USDA as well as continue to leverage the investment in our existing library/platform, it is in the best interest of the Government to continue with Course Avenue, LLC.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

The Contracting Officer will be posting this requirement “Notice of Intent to Issue a Sole Source” requirement via the Government Point of Entry- SAM.gov utilizing Contracting Opportunities.

This posting will afford all interested parties the opportunity to review the requirement.

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

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. Due to the commercial nature of the services to be acquired, FAR 15.403-1(b)(3) prohibits the Contracting Officer from requiring certified cost and pricing data. In the absence of certified cost and pricing data or adequate price competition, the price reasonableness determination will be based on prices paid for the same or similar commercial services under comparable terms and conditions by both Government and commercial customers, including pricing information contained in published price lists, previous contracts for the same or similar services; and comparison to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted with seven (7) vendors in the course creation & eLearning authoring solutions for a 508 course creation & authoring platform SaaS solution. This includes reviewing vendors websites on solution offerings, vendor VPAT's, phone conversations, and published content on the course creation & eLearning authoring market. The Market research matrix file is attached with this justification (file names: Market Research for 508 course creation and authoring platform solution USDA AgLearn).

Areas documented in matrix include:

Solution Content Offerings Enterprise Platform or Web-based Tool Integrated Section 508 Compliance Multi-Tenant Offerings Technical (SSO) Integration VPAT & Accessibility 3rd Party Section 508 Certified Current Cost Current Contract with USDA On GSA Schedule

Vendor Website

Extensive research was completed & documented on Vendors VPAT and Accessibility options for solution. The market research also focused on market types for course creation / eLearning authoring solutions. The market types included: individual centric authoring tools & enterprise authoring platform. It was identifed that the course creation / eLearning authoring solutions market is still heavily weighted to individual centric authoring tools, and these were determined to not be a feasable solution for USDA AgLearn. All the vendors researched were not 508 compliant in the delivery and output of course solutions, but instead offered a course solution that relied on the user, author, course creator to implement all Section 508 compliance code, rules, processes, etc. to the full 508 WCAG 2.0 AA compliance level. The Market Research did show alternative vendors exist who could supply comparable solutions, but lacked the Section 508 compliance level required, or offered subscriptions to monitor websites (training courses) to identify non-compliant content, or vendors who will use assistive technology to test documents for compliance, but could not identify any vendors that produce Section 508 - WCAG 2.0 AA compliance level certifiably compliant materials.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

The amount of Course Avenue content created Agency wide in USDA is as follows:

Total Courses published to date: 1,238 Total Course Created to date: 2,463

Every USDA Agency & multiple external USDA clients have multiple years of content created in the Course Avenue platforms. Currently, this technology is used in more than 2,000 eLearning courses (past and present) available on AgLearn. USDA agencies maintain training content utilizing Course Avenue as a direct means to deliver Section 508 compliant training content at a very low cost, with complete integration into the USDA LMS (AgLearn).

The courses provided by Course Avenue are highly specialized to meet all 508 compliance requirements, and produced specifically for and branded for use by USDA. To maintain them would be a contuined value add and cost savings to USDA. To select another vendor would require the entire platform and existing materials to be redeveloped.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

N/A

11. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

Certifications & Approvals

Supporting data which form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and complete.

Todd Kaywood Program Manager, AgLearn

The information contained in this Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Emily Strunk Contracting Officer

TODD

KAYWOOD

Digitally signed by TODD

KAYWOOD

Date: 2022.03.24 13:13:56 -06'00'

EMILY

STRUNK

Digitally signed by EMILY

STRUNK

Date: 2022.03.28 10:18:50 -06'00'

Additional Reviews & Approvals

Advocate for competition for the procuring activity (if over $750,000). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Therefore, unless additional approvals are required as prescribed below, as advocate for competition for the procuring activity, I hereby approve this justification.

Richard Jiron Chief, Procurement Operations Division Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition

RICHARD

JIRON

Digitally signed by

RICHARD JIRON

Date: 2022.03.31 15:42:41 -06'00'