Brand Name Justification CAFM Open Blue Final.pdf

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity Brand Name Justification – OpenBlue Software

(i) Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity."

Ordering Activity Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, 53S 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington, DC 20420

Contracting Activity Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, 53B 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington, DC 20420

(ii) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Licensing Maintenance and Ongoing Support Services for OpenBlue Software products.

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

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General (VA OIG), has a requirement for a FedRAMP-Authorized cloud-based solution that provides the ability to directly manage the overall real estate portfolio across the country, including spaces, assets, projects, room reservations, and strategic planning. The solution must deliver maximum robustness and reporting capabilities including providing OIG Space and Facilities Management with detailed space usage information such as seating capacity, seat assignments, and vacant seats; asset information related to office or IT equipment; project management information such as cost and timeline; visitor office or meeting room reservation information; as well as information related to real estate locations such as addresses and square footage.

The solution must enable OIG to comply with Federal requirements, such as the USE IT Act (Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act), which requires agencies to monitor and report occupancy and utilization rates for public buildings and federally leased spaces, and 2 CFR 200.330 – Reporting on Real Property, an annual status report delivered to the Office of Management and Budget that includes data elements related to accountability and transparency in the use of federal real property.

VA OIG requires a solution that best meets these capabilities, specifications, and operational requirements:

• FedRAMP-Authorized: OIG must use Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) approved solutions as required by 44 USC §3613 and OMB M-24- 15.

• Integrated Feature Set: The system must support space management, asset tracking, project oversight, room reservations, strategic planning, and real estate portfolio management within a single platform.

• Automatic, free updates: System updates occur automatically, with no costly or disruptive upgrades.

• Web-based application: Users can access the system via a standard internet connection.

• Modular and flexible platform: Administrators can easily configure fields, tables, views, forms, notifications, reports, and business logic to meet specific organizational needs.

This action, over the full Base Period and including all applicable Option Periods and all Optional Tasks, is estimated to cost $1,485,342.23.

(iv) Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see paragraph (b)) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale must describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

FAR 16.507-7 (b) Items peculiar to one manufacturer, Brand Name Requirement.

Only the OpenBlue brand (previously FMSystems) of software can fulfill all of VA OIG’s specific requirements while retaining VA OIG data on approximately 85 locations spread across the continental United States. Other brands of software are incompatible with VA OIG data formatted for OpenBlue. Acquiring another brand of software would require a Data Migration at a significant cost and time investment, estimated to take at least two to three years and a cost comparable to the original system implementation, roughly between half and one million dollars.

Data Migration carries additional risks to Data Integrity and Data Loss, which are unacceptable to ongoing VA OIG operations.

If VA OIG were to go with a different brand installation, there would be significant impact during the transition. VA OIG would experience reduced capability as a result of no longer having a full inventory and floor plans all in one place at the ready. Replacing floor plans and inventory will take significant time and losing this functionality will be detrimental to the organization. Only OpenBlue is in place with VA OIG, and using any other brand will lead to delays and wasted resources.

Other FedRAMP solutions (Tririga, Archibus, Tango) have been identified, but no single one of those solutions can fulfill all requirements, especially maintaining access to data without Data Migration. If one of those brands were acquired, additional branded software would be needed for full coverage. Only OpenBlue can satisfy current VA OIG requirements. Additional research on FedRAMP status of Archibus show that they have Achieved FedRAMP in Process designation and it is unclear from the FedRAMP website what portions of Archibus have received certification for cloud storage (Class C Moderate). The website states only 1. However, they are in the process this is not a full ATO, and disqualifies them from being able to meet our requirements for a CAFM solution. For reference Open Blue has 7 Authorizations. Tango has no FedRAMP status found that meets VA OIG criteria.

Tririga has a FedRAMP SaaS Alternative which is a Moderate security Level, however the agency would need to create a new ATO since IBM’s infrastructure and security model are different. Bottom line, while Tririga and Archibus are making FedRAMP progress, neither can offer a “no Migration” ATO and deliver both FedRAMP compliance and seamless data integration. When searching for FedRAMP status on the website, no mention of Tririga comes up.

No other product can provide similar functionality, security, and FedRAMP compliance without significant customization and adding additional products or modules.

Changing to another product brand would result in unacceptable additional costs from transition, user retraining, and data migration.

Time delays associated with changing brands are also unacceptable. Ongoing VA OIG office space requirements would be affected and delayed, creating corresponding delays to VA OIG personnel in accomplishing agency mission activities. Examples of such delays would be loss of awareness of staff seating location availability for hiring, loss of timelines and costs for ongoing space related projects, and inability to easily respond to OMB and GSA reporting requirements.

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

The Contracting Officer has concluded that the Acquisition Strategy of competing on an Open Market basis among authorized SDVOSB resellers as a 100% SDVOSB Set Aside action will result in obtaining the best value and the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

This conclusion is based on identification of authorized resale partners of OpenBlue and Johnson Controls and associated Market Research conclusions.

(vi) Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

(vii) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

VA OIG will continue to perform Market Research and review requirements to identify possible openings for competition in future requirements. No additional steps will be taken during this action, as only the OpenBlue brand product will fulfill this particular requirement.

(viii) The contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Brett Pickett

Date Contracting Officer

VA OIG 53B

James Johnson

09/01/2026 Date

Contracting Officer Competition Advocate

VA OIG 53B

(ix) Evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

I certify that the facts are representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are complete and accurate, and the particular brand name, product, or feature described above is essential to the VA OIG's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

Tracy Churchill Date

Space Management Officer, VA OIG 53S

08/31/2026

08/31/2026

(x) A written determination by the approving official that one of the circumstances in paragraphs (b)(1) through (6) applies to the order.

FAR 16.507-6(b)(2), Only the OpenBlue brand will satisfy this requirement. No other brand will be an acceptable substitute.