BIA Sources Sought.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE.

GENERAL INFORMATION

SUBJECT: IT System Backup Solution

NAICS CODE: 541519 – An Information Technology Value Added Reseller (ITVAR)

POINT OF CONTACT: Ashley Velasquez

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE (DELIVERY ADDRESSES):

Phoenix Area Office, 40 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004

RESPONSE DATE/TIME: May 19, 2023 @ 8 AM PDT

BUY INDIAN ACT

The IHS Contracting Officer will give priority for all purchases, regardless of dollar value, by utilizing ISBEE set-aside to the maximum extent possible. Each acquisition of supplies, services or construction that is subject to commercial items (FAR 12.209) or Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) (FAR 13.106) must be set-aside exclusively for ISBEEs.

Definition(s): INDIAN ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE (IEE) - Any business activity owned by one or more Indians, Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, or Alaska Native Corporations provided that:

The combined Indian, Federally Recognized Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Corporation ownership of the enterprise constitutes not less than 51%;

The Indian, Federal Recognized Indian Tribes, or Alaska Native Corporations must, together, receive at least 51% of the earnings from the contract; and

The management and daily business operations must be controlled by one or more individuals who are Indians.

Definition: INDIAN SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE (ISBEE) – An IEE that is also a small business concern established in accordance with the criteria and size standards of 13 CFR Part 121.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

NAICS Code 541519 – An Information Technology Value Added Reseller (ITVAR), is applicable to this acquisition, the size standard of $30M. The Indian Health Service (IHS), Phoenix Area Office (PAO) has a requirement to provide a centralized and standardized backup solution for the Phoenix Area Indian Health Service. Local Backups are to be performed onsite to the new local appliances, then replicated out to a central Repository hosted by IHS in Albuquerque, NM. Locations of the sites span Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico.

INTERESTED PARTIES

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY; IT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE, RATHER MARKET RESEARCH TO DETERMINE COMPLAINCE WITH THE BUY INDIAN ACT AND DETERMINATION OF SET-

ASIDE.

All interested firms who can meet the requirements stated above should respond, in writing, INCLUDING ALL THE

FOLLOWING:

1. Company name.

2. Point of contact (name/title/telephone number/e-mail address).

3. FSS Contract number, if applicable.

4. SAM Unique Entity Identifier Number.

5. Indication of socio-economic business category for which the organization qualifies.

6. A capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to provide the requirement depicted above.

7. Documentation from manufacturer (i.e., correspondence from manufacturer) of your firm being an authorized distributor for the manufacturer. See Attachment 2: Gray Market Prevention Language.

8. Letter of sole source if no distributors are available.

IHS must conduct sufficient market research in determining reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more Indian Economic Enterprises (IEE), for every commercial contract opportunity, in accordance with HHSAR 326.603-1.

To identify and support responsible IEE/ISBEE(s) and prevent circumvention or abuse of the Buy Indian Act, interested, qualified, vendors must provide the following:

Representation must be made on the designated IHS Indian Economic Enterprise Representation form (attached) through which the offeror will self-certify eligibility; and, Identify the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe or Alaska Native Corporation upon which the offeror relies for its IEE status.

Interested firms are reminded that in accordance with FAR 4.12, prospective contractors shall complete electronic annual representations and certifications in conjunction with FAR 4.1102 required to be registered in the Systems for Award Management (SAM) at the time an offer or quotation is submitted in order to comply with the annual representations and certifications requirements. The Government will use responses to this notice to make an appropriate acquisition decision. This is the only notice: no other copies of this notice will be provided.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service

Office of Management Services Division of Acquisition Policy (DAP)

5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857

INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE

BUY INDIAN ACT

INDIAN ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE

REPRESENTATION FORM

SOLICITATION/SOURCES SOUGHT/RFI #: _________________________________________________

PROJECT TITLE: ________________________________________________________

DATE: ___________________________________________________________________

In accordance with 25 U.S.C. 47 the Buy Indian Act, the signature below constitutes self-certification that the Offeror meets the definition of an “Indian Economic Enterprise” (HHSAR 326.601) in response to this Sources Sought Notice, Request for Information (RFI) or Solicitation and resultant contract.

The enterprise must meet the definition of “Indian Economic Enterprise” throughout the following time periods:

(1) At the time an offer is made in response to this solicitation;

(2) At the time of contract award; and

(3) During the full term of the contract performance period. At any point during these periods, if the Contractor no longer meets the eligibility requirements, the contractor must provide immediate written notification to the Contracting Officer.

Individual Contracting Officers may require documentation of eligibility before awarding a set-aside or sole source contracts under the Buy Indian Act and awards may be subject to protest if the eligibility of the successful Offeror is in question. In addition to the self-certification requirements, successful Offerors must also be registered with the System of Award Management (SAM).

Any false or misleading information submitted by an enterprise when submitting an offer in consideration of an award set-aside under the authority of the Buy Indian Act is a violation of the law and punishable under 18 U.S.C. 1001.

False claims submitted as part of contract performance are subject to the penalties enumerated in 31 U.S.C. 3729 to 3731 and 18 U.S.C. 287.

REPRESENTATION

The Offeror represents as part of its offer that it does _____, does not _____ meet the definition of an “Indian Economic Enterprise” with “Indian Ownership” under the authority of the Buy Indian Act.

Name of the 51% owner of IEE Firm

Certifying Signature

Print Name

Name of Federally Recognized Tribal Entity

Business Name

DUNS Number

Attachment 2: Gray Market Prevention Language

(a) Gray market items are Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) goods sold through unauthorized channels in direct competition with authorized distributors. This procurement is for new OEM medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment (i.e. replacement parts) for IHS Hospitals and/or Medical

Centers. No remanufactures or gray market items will be acceptable.

(b) Vendor shall be an OEM, authorized dealer, authorized distributor or authorized reseller for the proposed medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment (i.e. replacement parts), verified by an authorization letter or other documents from the OEM, such that the OEM’s warranty and service are provided and maintained by the OEM. All software licensing, warranty and service associated with the medical supplies, medical equipment and/or services contracts for maintenance of medical equipment shall be in accordance with the OEM terms and conditions.

(c) The delivery of gray market items to the IHS in the fulfillment of an order/award constitutes a breach of contract.

Accordingly, IHS reserves the right to enforce any of its contractual remedies. This includes termination of the contract or, solely at IHS’s election, allowing the Vendor to replace, at no cost to the Government, any remanufactured or gray market item(s) delivered to an IHS hospital and/or medical facility upon discovery of such items.