Final_Limited_Source_Justification_-_IBM_Mainframe_FY21_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6 and 40 U.S.C 501

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This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Limited Source Justification.”

This document is a Limited Source Justification for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) for the Office of the Secretary (OS), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

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

This is a Limited Source Justification to purchase software maintenance and support on International Business Machines (IBM) mainframe software products currently in place at DOI OCIO data centers.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs

(including the estimated value).

The specific subscriptions and software maintenance required by OCIO are detailed in the charts below for the Base and each Option Period. As DOI is currently in transition from the z/196 to the z/14, IBC will require additional software licenses and maintenance. In addition, in April 2022 DOI will be transitioning from the z/14 to the IBM z/Next Server, which will require additional licenses that will be added via contract modification when IBM has published their FY 2022 GSA Pricing. The estimated value of this Delivery Order for a full year of performance is .

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5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The IBM Mainframe software maintenance and support under this Delivery Order will be quoted as Firm-Fixed Price. The AQD Contracting Officer (CO) will determine the price is fair and reasonable via the use of an in-depth price analysis comparing the pricing against current IBM General Services Administration (GSA) rates, a comparison to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) provided by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and based on a comparison with historical pricing for this software maintenance.

Based on this comparison it is anticipated the Delivery Order’s price will represent a best value to the Government.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

While National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) is typically the recommended source for this type of software or maintenance requirement, the competition in May 2017 determined that based on the quantity of mainframe software maintenance and support required, only IBM can fulfill this requirement and the requirement must be fulfilled via IBM’s GSA Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70. Recent market research, conducted in 2018, 2019, and 2020 for each recompete, indicate that no IBM resellers currently provide the required support.

The IBM Federal Software Client Leader, confirmed on May 14, 2021 via phone call, that the required software maintenance would still need to be procured through IBM’s GSA IT Schedule 70 and are not available through VARs on NASA SEWP.

IBM no longer provides mainframe related software or maintenance through VARs due to its complexity. Therefore, based on the information above, the IBM Mainframe software maintenance required by OCIO is only available via IBM and must be procured directly from IBM through their GSA IT Schedule 70.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

None

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for supplies and services is made.

This requirement will continue to be a sole source award to IBM for IBM Mainframe software and maintenance and support unless IBM opens up the product for resale by its VARs. The Government will make maximum efforts to enhance competition for future acquisitions, if similar requirements allow; however, as these servers currently support

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12.Reviews and Approvals

Concur:

Division Chief

Approve:

Competition Advocate

Acting for: