FAR 13.5 Single Source or Brand Name Justification Blaise Software 1141860 - Redact.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification under

Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items (FAR 13.5) Control No. 1141860

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Requesting Agency: John Miyares, Group Leader NOD 1400 Independence Avenue SW Washington, DC 20250

Contracting Activity: Katelyn Nelson, Contracting Officer 5601 Sunnyside Ave Beltsville, MD 20705

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) requires the continuation of access to Blaise 4 and 5 software. The USDA proposes a sole source purchase order to Westat, Inc.

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

NASS requires the renewal of Blaise 4 & 5 licensing to accommodate 14 developers, plus 800 end users (an equivalent to 214 usage units) including 500 interviewers and 300 stat data editors. NASS requires the Blaise Component Pack (BCP) (150-224) license and two (2) Blaise Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Server licenses. The requirement specifies licensing for a twelve (12) month base period and two (2) twelve (12) month option periods.

Estimate value including options is $724,286.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C § 1901 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures up to $7.5 million, as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Supporting rationale demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

The manufacturer of the Blaise software, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), has confirmed that since 2001, Westat, Inc., has been the sole distributor of the Blaise software in North and South America and those conditions shall continue through 2025. Westat, Inc. is the only vendor with the ability to license Blaise software in supplies needed in the United States. Thus, Westat, Inc. is the only source determined capable of supplying NASS’s requirement for renewal of Blaise software licenses.

NASS has developed over 140 survey instruments for both CATI data collection and data editing using the Blaise software. Converting these to another software package would be time consuming, expensive, and NASS would lose the accumulated data quality checks that are in place in the current system. NASS has established a historic code base for approximately 120 surveys that are running successfully using the Blaise platform. Moving to a different platform would be risky and require redevelopment of those surveys, retraining the developers in the use of the new software, and would require IT support to integrate the new system into the current architecture, which would take several years and cost more than the total cost of the software license through the life of this proposed contract.

NASS is currently in the process of working with contractors to develop new home-grown systems for data collection and editing that can eventually replace what Blaise is doing now in those areas. The data collection system, titled the “Reimagined Enterprise Application for Data Integration (READI)”, is hoping to be in production by November 2025. The editing system, titled “Imputation, Deterministic Edit, Automation and Logic (IDEAL)” is currently in development and has been tested on one survey so far; however, IDEAL has taken much longer to develop due to its complexity and the need to address survey specific edit needs. The NASS Senior Executive Team is in full support of the READI and IDEAL initiatives, understanding that once these two systems are both up and running in production, we will be able to sunset the use of the Blaise software. Until that time, NASS requires Blaise to be up and running. Having the Option Years in place would allow the contract to be terminated early if the work on both READI and IDEAL is completed prior to the end of 2027.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

Market research was conducted to canvass possible ways this requirement can be met. GSA was searched on Multiple Award Schedules 54151S (Information Technology Professional Services), 541611 (Management and Financial Consulting, Acquisition and Grants Management Support, and Business Program and Project Management Services) and 541613 (Marketing Consulting Services). Blaise software was not found on the GSA schedule, but the incumbent vendor, Westat, LLC., is on the GSA Schedule. This was followed up with a Request for Information as well as a Sources Sought Notice posted to SAM.GOV with details listed below.

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

It is anticipated that the finals costs will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) (2) (ii)-comparison to prices found reasonable on previous purchases, 1232SA22C0003. Additionally, the price is anticipated to be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) (2) (vi)-comparison to an IGCE.

The anticipated cost is based upon the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), which is derived from market research and based on previous acquistions.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

A request for Information (RFI) was posted to GSA eBuy on 10/30/2024 and closed on 11/04/2024 with zero responses. A sources sought was posted to SAM.GOV on 11/08/2024 and closed on 11/12/2024. Two responses were received from interested vendors Westat, Inc and Acachi LLC.

On 11/12/2024, I responded to both vendors who expressed interest in the Sources Sought. I asked them to provide verification they were an authorized distributor for the Blaise Software. Only Westat was able to provide a letter from the Manufacturer of the software, Statistics Netherlands, that they were not only an authorized distributor, but the sole distributor of the Blaise Software since 2001. Statistics Netherlands also mentioned that Westat will continue to be the sole distributor through 2025.

In addition, market research found several companies that develop survey software, including CASES, CS Pro and Qualtrics. However, these products do not fit the need of NASS because of several technical issues.

CSPro and Qualtrics do not support Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), where Blaise not only fully supports CATI, but comes with an integrated Case Management System and Call Scheduler designed to deliver records for calling to interviewers in NASS’s four call centers. CSPro and Qualtrics are also primarily data collection software packages that do not allow for second stage processing of data, such as checking, coding, editing, or modifying data after initial entry. This is a key feature of the Blaise software that data provided by respondents can be reviewed through an interactive edit to check for consistency prior to analysis and summarization. CSPro will only operate in either a Windows environment or on Android Devices, while the Blaise software is capable of working with multiple platforms, including web-based data entry through a variety of formats and devices, including Apple iOS and Linux.

CASES software can only be accessed by joining the Association for Computer Assisted Surveys (ACS) and data collected through the systems would be stored on servers outside of USDA’s control. To that end, if NASS were to use CASES, we could not guarantee the protection of the confidentiality of the data provided by survey respondents as required by the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act

(CIPSEA, PL 107-347).

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

USDA-NASS reached out to their subject matter expert on available support, conducted extensive internet searches, and searched for companies providing this type of Blaise Licensing Support. Market research failed to discover another contractor that was capable of the providing the level of support required by the statement of work.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

Contractor: WESTAT, INC.

Address: 1600 RESEARCH BLVD

ROCKVILLE, MD 20850-3129

Phone: 301-294-3941 E-Mail: RODMOHADJER@WESTAT.COM Web Address: http://WWW.WESTAT.COM

SAM UEI: NVUWAFWQ57S5

11. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

The software provided by the vendor is proprietary, and only this vendor can provide the requested software licenses. If Blaise software licenses are made available for distribution by other vendors, full and open competition will be considered.

Certifications & Approvals

Supporting data which form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and complete.

John Miyares Technical Point of Contact

The information contained in this Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Katelyn Nelson Contracting Officer

The information contained in this Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Lorrie Leedy Chief, Contracting Operations Branch