B08_SOL_Attachment_3_-Justification_for_Other_than_Full_and_Open_Competition___Brand_Name_JustificationRedacted.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

CLASS BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION AUTHORITY: FAR 6.302, 41 U.S.C. 3304

SOL #: 140D0424R0046

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by FAR 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements by FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This is a Justification for other than full and open competition utilizing brand name specifications executed by the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division 1 Branch 2, on behalf of the DOI Office of the Chief Information Officer

(OCIO).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The DOI identified the requirement to renew the existing Adobe Enterprise Term Licensing Agreement (ETLA) by utilizing the open market via SAM.gov in accordance with FAR part 12 in conjunction with FAR part 15. The renewal ETLA will be established by executing an indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The new Adobe IDIQ is intended as a DOI-wide enterprise ordering platform to procure Adobe products and services, replacing the existing NASA SEWP Agency Catalog 140D0421Q0011 that serves as a Departmental mandatory ordering vehicle in accordance with the DOI Mandatory Use Memorandum dated This is a Class Brand Name Justification applicable to all orders issued against the proposed DOI-wide IDIQ to procure Adobe products and services described herein for all of the DOI’s Bureaus and Offices.

This acquisition requires brand name specifications to sustain the DOI’s existing Adobe software licensing and support and provide additional Adobe products, as required. The objective of this Brand Name Justification is to provide the DOI with an ETLA and provide Adobe software licensing options and pricing for the DOI’s volume Adobe purchases, as well as access to advanced customer support programs, and Information Technology (IT) administration tools to package and deploy Adobe apps and services across the DOI.

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

FAR 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

This requirement is for a suite of products and services proprietary to Adobe but authorized for resale.

This class justification is for “brand name” Adobe products/services that multiple Adobe resellers are capable to offer and therefore, this requirement will be competed among the Adobe certified resellers when soliciting the IDIQ.

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

Unlike open-source software, custom software brand names are more often proprietary and hold single or even multiple patents. Software manufacturers use multiple coding techniques to support a vast array of technological software operating systems and applications. As a result, Adobe Inc. is the only manufacturer capable of offering a unique vast array of Portable Document File (PDF) and World Wide Web (WWW) development software tools which incorporate interactive tools such as Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM). Adobe adopted the PDF standard and is considered the leading PDF provider in this market space. There are other companies that can provide the PDF standard but they are not equivalent at the enterprise level and not suitable for DOI’s overall needs.

While there is growing competition in this space for individual products, specific functionality, or individual features, this is occurring on a limited basis. No single competitor has the full breadth and depth of capabilities to match the complete suite of Adobe products and the capability to seamlessly integrate products with the existing Federal environment.

Companies such as can provide PDF viewers, editors and other ancillary services associated with PDFs, however this is the limit of their offerings. Canva is an alternative source for creativity tools; however, none of these companies currently offer the integrated solutions with their product mix. They do not currently enable DOI to securely and centrally manage the services available to each user, for each product provisioned.

DOI provisions each user in an Adobe Global Admin Console with Federated ID named-user credentials.

This enables DOI to accurately align and manage its assets while maintaining options to run on locally installed desktops. This reduces the burden of overall spending and over allocating.

Adobe is FedRamp certified. Companies entering this market are not FedRamp certified and/or capable of offering DOI an enterprise solution for 70K plus users, with cyber threats escalating daily, the lack of FedRamp certifications is considered an unacceptable risk for cloud-based solutions.

An open survey was sent to all DOI Adobe users via the DOI Digest to everyone in DOI using a MS Form in The survey remains open, giving everyone in DOI an opportunity to respond when there is additional information to share. The contract file contains a summary of the results as of

The results of the survey to date reveal that DOI uses the tools to create form-based, secure data exchange, agreements, publications, newsletters, GIS maps, cartographics, training videos, permit forms, geostories, brochures, science briefs, species profiles, photojournalism, press releases and more.

Adobe’s integrated environment enables the DOI users to perform their day-to-day tasks without facing critical productivity challenges, such as file type incompatibility, document format loss, and functionality limitations. Additionally, Adobe products are locally installed on desktops and do not require users to be "on-line" to access and edit documents. The comprehensive and seamless integration across the Adobe product sets is critical for interoperability within the DOI.

DOI's solutions are configured to align with a host of Adobe's digital media products, and DOI Microsoft's Digital Media Solution. Adobe products are now being integrated in the Microsoft environment which provides users the enhanced capabilities to meet their mission needs. These solutions are nested in our business solutions and customer expectations. Other options would minimize our digital service offerings where needed beyond what is provided by PDF.

Due to the reasons stated above, switching to alternative products or running mixed environments would lead to migration complexities, learning curves, tool limitations, application limitations, and initial setup and in-house expertise resource requirements. Additionally, selecting alternate products based on different technology would require significant time and costs involved in implementation, testing, training, and potential re-design of DOI IT infrastructure, posing intolerable schedule and financial risks to the Department.

During the life of this procurement, it is expected that the extensive use of Adobe products by DOI will continue due to the current volume of the installed base in the DOI Information Technology enterprise, the ongoing need for seamless integration across the functionalities of the identified products, and the inability of competitors to match the overall functionality and integration capabilities of the Adobe software suite.

DOI’s current Adobe ETLA has saved the Department over based on volume discounts and ongoing efforts to right size the needs. With the continuance of this agreement, rather than the potential schedule and financial risks described above, DOI can anticipate greater savings because each ordering official will have the opportunity to further negotiate their savings beyond the enterprise discounts.

Based on the aforementioned, maintaining the continuity of service with Adobe’s solutions is the best option for DOI.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Efforts to identify potential sources were made by issuing a request for information (RFI) and market research with the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) (see section 8 below). A combined synopsis/solicitation along with this justification will be posted on SAM.gov for 15 days. The OEM, Adobe, will be informed once the solicitation has been posted and will assist in ensuring their small business resellers are notified of the posting of the solicitation and encourage participation in DOI’s RFQ.

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

The prices proposed by the offerors will be evaluated and negotiated for discounts to ensure ordering offices in DOI will be given a fair and reasonable price for their orders off the IDIQ. The AQD Contracting Officer will conduct a thorough price evaluation prior to award to ensure that the pricing is fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer's price evaluation and analysis will be documented in the contract file. The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on comparison of proposed prices received in response to the solicitation and comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(i) and (ii).

This will be a single award IDIQ contract to allow Firm-Fixed-Price orders. The DOI’s Bureaus will be responsible for making separate fair and reasonable determinations on any subsequent Orders issued off

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

11. A statement of any 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.

DOI will continue research on emerging technology/software applications to enhance the competition for future requirements. OCIO also keeps a close watch on the IT market to identify viable alternatives as they become available.

On at least an annual basis, OCIO and AQD will collaboratively conduct market research to determine if there are other technologies in the marketplace that might be able to meet the DOI’s requirements. At this time, Adobe products are the only products that meet the DOI’s requirements.