Brand Name Justification.pdf

Version 3.0

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901) NR-MJ3000-23-00659 LabView Enterprise Software

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL).

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

This is a brand name justification for LabView Enterprise Software. The Government requires LabView Enterprise Software to enable development and operations for various laboratory instrumentation within

CSL.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

The Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL) requires the use of LabView Finite Quantity National Instruments (NI) Software Licenses, Unlimited Quantity NI Software Licenses, Control Test Plus Bundle, Control Bundle and Control Bundle, Debug to continue the development and operations of various instruments. The instruments are used to collect and analyze various aerosol data used in multiple NOAA models, the software has been developed to perform this specific function and this function cannot be replaced without significant setbacks in data collection. The systems used by CSL rely solely on NI Software as they are proprietary. The instruments CSL operates only work with LabView software and no other software can be used or be modified to be used by the laboratory without significantly impacting the collection of data. This requirement includes continued enterprise agreement entitlements such as maintenance, training and software management.

The estimated acquisition value for this requirement is $120,000 annually, totaling $360,000 for the full base year plus two option years. The Period of Performance is estimated to be 15 August 2023 through 14 August 2026.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

41 U.S.C. 1903, using SAP up to $15M for contingency operations as authorized by FAR 13.500(c) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a brand name as supported below:

Exclusive Licensing Agreement/Restrictive Rights/Compatibility to Existing Systems and Equipment.

NR-MJ3000-23-00659

The laboratory currently has multiple LabView software deployed for mission-specific instruments that are tied to various scientific instrumentation. The required software must support the existing LabView software that has already been developed and supported with specific hardware components that are only compatible with LabView software. Other software will not support our current environment due to proprietary hardware and software currently in use. LabView provides specific methods that interface with various items such as hardware and other existing software systems.

Various laboratory instrumentation have been written using LabView and some instruments utilize proprietary NI hardware that have been purchased over time. Only NI specific software drivers can be used with these hardware systems. From this system, thousands of programs have been developed to not only run the instruments but also analyze data from them using LabView software. Additionally, CSL uses specific hardware, most custom made in lab and some from NI directly, to run and gather data. Any other software cannot meet or be modified to meet the agency’s needs.

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

A Sources Sought was posted to the Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE) on 30 June 2023 with a closing date of 7 July 2023. The Government received zero responses from the posting. Furthermore, knowledgeable people in the Government were interviewed to gain more knowledge on potential sources for this requirement. The resulting solicitation for this requirement will be posted on SAM.gov to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

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

The Contracting Officer (CO) determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on market research pricing, previous prices paid, and the independent government estimate.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

A Sources Sought was posted to the GPE on 30 June 2023 with a closing date of 7 July 2023. No sources responded to the posting. Additionally, knowledgeable people in the Government were interviewed to gain more knowledge on potential vendors who are capable of meeting this requirement.

From this interview, it was concluded that there are three (3) potential vendors for this requirement.

Two (2) of those vendors are small businesses.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

No sources expressed an interest in writing through the GPE posting. However, competition for this requirement is likely since at least two sources have been identified through market research.