Brand_Name_Justification-REDACTED.doc

United States Department Of Education

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Contracts and Acquisitions Management

Limited Sources (Brand Name) Justification

Solicitation #: ED-CIO-14-R-0042 Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement Subject: Limited Sources (Brand Name) Justification for an Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement that has been created to meet the requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(c)(2).

1. IDENTIFICATION:

Agency Office:

United States Department of Education

Office of the Chief Information Officer

550 12th Street, SW, Floor 9

Washington, DC 20202

Contracting Activity:

United States Department of Education

Contracts and Acquisitions Management

550 12th Street, SW, Floor 7

Washington, DC 20202

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION(S) BEING APPROVED:

The United States Department of Education (Department), Office of Chief Information Officer

(OCIO), Information Technology Services (ITS) seeks to acquire an Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA). The ETLA’s purpose is to provide continued software and services to the Department’s information technology (IT) infrastructure. The Adobe ETLA will be procured under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with three (3) Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Task Orders (TO). The BPA will limit sources utilizing a Brand Name Justification. The current FFP contract expires on August 31, 2014, requiring the new BPA and subsequent TOs be put in place prior to expiration and to prevent a break in service.

OCIO has elected to sponsor Solicitation Number ED-CIO-14-R-0042 and the resulting BPA to meet this requirement. This requirement will be solicited, competed and subsequently awarded under the guidance of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4. The BPA will provide ordering authority to both OCIO and FSA. OCIO will procure required Adobe licenses under Task Order 01 of the BPA and FSA will procure required Adobe licenses under Task Order 02. OCIO will also procure services that convert student loan forms into PDF format, ensuring Section 508 compliance, under Task Order 03.

This requirement will be solicited using the General Service Administration (GSA) e-Buy web portal, to Adobe resellers, under the following Federal Supply Schedule classifications; Federal Supply Schedule 70- General Purpose Information Technology Equipment, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541519- Information Technology Value Added Reseller, Special Item Number (SIN), 132-32- Term Software Licenses, 132-33- Perpetual Software Licenses, 132-34- Maintenance of Software as a Service.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET AGENCY NEED:

The Department has a requirement to acquire Adobe desktop software and services through a single ETLA. The ETLA provides Adobe license management and support services through a centralized license agreement that will be utilized by all Principal Offices with an Adobe requirement. The selected ETLA provider shall provide program management support to the Department and provide centralized IT administration of all work performed under the ETLA.

FSA also has a requirement to acquire conversion services so that select forms used by the Department can be converted into documents that are accessible to individuals with impairments and/or disabilities, in accordance with Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These forms must meet the Department’s PDF accessibility standards; fillable, savable and downloadable. The service provider shall convert student loan servicing related forms into accessible PDF forms.

OCIO shall acquire a technical refresh of existing Adobe licenses, which include license renewal and professional support services. The selected Adobe reseller will be required to participate in a “Kickoff Meeting” and periodic Program Management Reviews (PMR). The selected reseller shall also provide program management support including weekly, quarterly and annual reports in order to effectively plan, control and execute this award and provide centralized IT administration of all work performed under the ETLA.

Based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) provided by OCIO, costs associated with maintaining the current solution (Task Order 01), to include the form conversion services (Task Order 03), would be $445,689.64. The description of the Adobe software license and support services that meets the Department’s requirement include:

4. AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE PERMITTING BRAND NAME:

FAR 8.405-6(b): Items particular to one manufacturer. An item peculiar to one manufacturer can be a particular brand name, product or feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer.

A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer. Adobe products and services are peculiar only to Adobe and cannot be procured through any other manufacturer. Adobe software and services are available through Adobe resellers.

Market research shows that the Adobe software and services are commercially available as defined by FAR 2.101. The Department currently utilizes a host of different Adobe products and services that allow the Department to operate and carry out its day-to-day operation. Adobe products cannot be substituted and therefore are considered “essential to the Government’s requirement” and supports this Brand Name Justification.

5. DETERMINATION THAT THE ORDER REPRESENTS BEST VALUE:

Market Research conducted shows that Adobe is a commercially available solution available through Federal Supply Schedule resellers and capable of meeting OICO and FSA IT requirements.

The Department’s alternative approach is to piecemeal multiple solution(s) that are considered equal to Adobe. This approach is the only available option because there are no other manufacturers that provide such as wide array of software. This alternative solution has not been deemed compatible with the Department’s current IT infrastructure. This option would be significantly more expensive by requiring the Department to test and certify new products, incur substantial costs associated with ensuring backward compatibility, and provide extensive training that users would need to operate new applications. It is more cost-effective to maintain Adobe because it has already been effectively tested and certified. Based on an analysis of new, similar solutions and associated implementation costs, the Department would expect to pay $16,195,165.70 for the same solution provided by Adobe.

In the event the Department purchased equivalent solutions there would also be substantial administrative burden on the part of OCIO and FSA to implement transition and train personnel on new products while maintaining office productivity. OCIO and FSA would assume substantial risk to the current operating environment while taking current systems off- line, as well as risk data integrity while new software platforms are tested.

The following table depicts a Rough Order Magnitude (ROM) of the data used in the non-cost effective alternative solution:

A. Planning:

Training

B. Configuration:

C. Requirements:

Messaging

SQL Database

D. Testing:

E. Design:

F. Implementation:

SQL Database

Remote Access

G. Management:

Desktop Products

Remote Access

Section 508 compliance

Training

H. Security:

Messaging

I. Conversion Project and Overall Support:

Messaging

Desktop Products

Remote Access

Section 508 compliance

Training

J: Brand Name Cost Benefit:

(Task Order 01)

through August 31, 2015 $16,195,165.70 (Task Order 01)

6.

DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH

On May 6, 2014, a Sources Sought notice was posted to Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) web portal to determine sources that were capable of providing an Adobe ETLA. The results of the notice identified two vendors that provided capability statements: GovConnection, Inc. (GS-35F-0750P) and SoftChoice Government (GS-35F-0196M).

On May 15, 2014, formal market research produced an extensive list of available Adobe partners and resellers. Many of these resellers were identified as having GSA Federal Supply Schedules and conducts business under one or more of the solicited SIN’s. Potential small business sources include:

Disadvantaged Business

The solicitation and limited sources justification will be posted on GSA e-Buy. The Department will solicit Adobe resellers under Federal Supply Schedule 70- General Purpose Information Technology, NAICS 541519- Information Technology Value Added Reseller, Special Item Number (SIN), 132-32- Perpetual Software License, 132-33- Term Software Licenses, 132-34- Maintenance Software as a Service. The Department plans to maximize the pool of potential Adobe resellers by adding a multiple SIN solution to allow resellers who conduct business in any of these SIN’s to compete. Proposals will be collected and evaluated based on the best overall value.

7. OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS:

FSA has an immediate need to convert thirty-eight (38) Departmental student loan forms into PDF format so that individuals with impairments and/or disabilities have access to student loan applications. The current forms that are available to these individuals are noncompliant with Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. To bring the Department into compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, FSA requires Adobe conversion services to convert these forms into PDF, making them Section 504 and 508 compliant.

8. STATEMENT OF ACTION TO REMOVE BARRIERS:

The Department issued a Sources Sought notice to determine the availability of licenses and services in the marketplace that met the Department’s requirement. The Sources Sought notice was posted to the FBO web portal and was open to recommendations for ten (10) days. The notice yielded two responses with technical capability statements; GovConnection, Inc. (GS-35F-0750P) and SoftChoice Government (GS-35F-0196M). The capability statements were evaluated and analyzed by the COR to determine other software and services that might be available to meet the Department’s requirement. It was the determination of the COR and validated by the CO that a brand name justification for Adobe software and services was the only solution capable of meeting the current needs of the Department.

Based on the information provided and market research conducted, I hereby recommend that this justification be approved and that the Department proceeds with the intention to award a BPA with 3 FFP TOs for this requirement.

Jeremy Cook

Date Ryan Battad

Date

Contract Specialist

Contracting Officer

9. CONTRACTING OFFICER (CO) CERTIFICATION:

By signing below “I have reviewed and certify this justification to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

Approved By:

Ryan Battad Date

Contracting Officer 10.

PROGRAM OFFICE CERTIFICATION OF ACCURACY AND COMPETENESS:

This is to certify that the portions of this justification developed by the undersigned program office personnel, including supporting documentation and data verifying the Government’s minimum needs, schedule requirements and other rationale for limiting sources, are accurate and compete.

Biniam Belachew Date Contracting Officer Representative

11. ADDITIONAL REQUIRED REVIEWS/APPROVAL:

By signing below, “I approve the procuring activity to proceed with the intention to award a BPA for this requirement”. I certify that this justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Jim Hairfield

Date

Contracting Activity Competition Advocate

550 12th Street SW, 7th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20202-4447

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