FAR 13.5 Single Source or Brand Name Justification Exceeding SAT_Redacted 5.7.24.pdf

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

Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items (FAR 13.5) Control No. (if applicable) ______________________

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Agency Name: USDA APHIS Veterinary Services (VS)

Contracting Activity: USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 250 Marquette Avenue, Suite 410 Minneapolis, MN 55401

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

The proposed action is for a brand name firm-fixed-priced delivery order, to renew the Research Animal Management System (RAMS) provided by Key Solutions, Inc (KSI) to support The USDA Veterinary Services (VS)

3. A description of the supplies or services (including the estimated value).

APHIS VS currently uses the Research Animal Management System (RAMS) as an enterprise-level electronic information management system that manages research animals in multiple locations at the NCAH. The Animal Resources Unit (ARU) of NCAH staff must be able to track and manage research animals, their use histories, catalog various use protocols, and the veterinary care records of each animal as required by law.

The proposed action is a follow on to USDA contract 12639519C0042, which itself was a follow on to contract AG-32SC-C-13-0069. Both prior contracts were awarded on a Sole Source basis to Key Solutions, Inc (KSI).

Base Year:

Option Year 1:

Option Year 2:

Option Year 3:

Option Year 4:

Total: .

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. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

This is a Sole Source Justification in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(i); the purpose of this acquisition is to renew RAMS software support provided by KSI. The RAMS software has been integrated into the current research animal management system. APHIS VS RAMS is used in response to disease outbreaks such as HPAI. Using another research animal management software would require considerable time to train employees in its usage and verify compatibility with current workflows, which would delay the current agency's disease outbreak response A Research Animal Management System has to have the ability to generate protocol placards for display at room level, forms for each Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) Forms. The system also must be on-premise, or if SaaS Cloud system, it must be FedRamp certified in order for USDA to use it.

. Key Solutions Inc. has confirmed that they do not have any authorized resellers for their software services. The RAMS software is proprietary and is not available from any other company.

The Key Solutions RAMS software hase sections that other animal management systems like Animal Resource Management, Lab animal Research Facility Management Software, Lab Animal Management Software a-tune software AG, Animal , Mosaic Vivarium Partner Integration Lab Animal Management, Research Animal Management System-Penn Research Portal and Animal Research Facilites Management Sfotware-Animal Research do not have, which are the ability to generate protocol placards for display at room level and a form for each Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Institutional Biosafty Commmittee (IBC) for Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for animal protocols.

It also is a onpremis application and is not required to be FedRamp Certified like other SaaS cloud systems. .

As stated in section 2, the RAMS requirement has been awarded to KSI for the past eleven years.

Aside from the significant costs of introducing a new system, entire VS protocols must be rewritten.

During this time (which could exceed one year), the impact on animal research facilities would be severe. There would be a be lost, a scenario for which there is no remedy.

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

Key Solutions Inc. has confirmed that it does not have authorized resellers of its software services.

The RAMS software has a proprietary process and not available from any other company. At this time, there is no option to increase competition. The government will continue to perform market research to determine if competition becomes possible at any point in the future.

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

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable based on the The following rationale is a comparison with historical rates to determine price reasonableness.

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

Market research was conducted via internet searches. The following Systems were evaluated for the capabilities of the ability to generate protocol placards for display at room level and a form for each Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) for Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for animal protocols. They must also be FedRamp certified if they have a SaaS Cloud base. Otherwise must be an on-premises application. None of the following ability of all three of these abilities that are needed at the National Center for Animal Health (NCAH).

Key Solutions RAMS systems were the only ones that supported all of these requirements.

Systems researched abilities required by NCAH:

1.Animal Resource Management - promotes IACUC, CCAC IBC, UCDA... (armsd.com)- I had a demo today, 5/3/24 o The current system does not have an IACUC or IBC section. Those are in development.

Lab Animal Research Facility Management Software (cayuse.com) o This is only cloud-based.Lab

Animal Management Software - a-tune Software AG o No response for demo requests on 4/16 or 4/30

Mosaic Vivarium Partner Integrations - Lab Animal Management o This does not have Animal Protocols or IBC only tracking & invoicing

Research Animal Management System Penn Research Portal (upenn.edu)- this is a-tune user

Animal Research Facilities Management Software: Animal Research (infoedglobal.com) o Does not have IACUC or IBC o Only Animal Research information (ordering, census, health records)

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

N/A

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

Key Solutions, Inc

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

As a commercial item with an exclusive patent license, there are no barriers to competition to overcome. The program will continue performing market research to find management systems that best fit its mission and needs.

Additional Reviews & Approvals

Advocate for competition for the procuring activity (if over $750,000). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Therefore, unless additional approvals are required as prescribed below, as advocate for competition for the procuring activity/MASCO, I hereby approve this justification.

Insert Name of the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate/MASCO Title:

Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition