DTS_SOFTWARE_Brand_Name_(SPACE_RECOVERY_SYSTEM_SOFTWARE_MAINT_FOR_FEMA).pdf

Brand Name Justification

(Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6, orders placed under FSS are exempt from FAR Part 6; however, acquisitions restricting FSS contractors to an item peculiar to one manufacturer, a justification must contain sufficient facts and rationale to justify the use of the authority)

1. Contracting Office: (e.g., POD IT Contracting Branch; NITC RMS; NFC CS Team)

U.S. Department of Agriculture N I T C 8930 Ward Parkway Kansas City

MO 64114

2. Nature of the Action: (Briefly in one or two line describe the action to be approved)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), National Information Technology Center (NITC), has a customer requirement to purchase the renewal for the software maintenance, licenses, testing keys, and technical support of DTS Software Inc.’s Space and Recovery System (SRS) Software Licenses. The software renewal will support FEMA and USDA workload processing on the 2827-

405 CPU.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: (Provide a description of the supplies and services to be acquired)

Space Recovery System Software - 5-year prepaid lease (one software maintenance payment which will cover 5 years of access to software licenses and 5 years of maintenance/technical support).

4. Estimated Cost and Period of Performance: (Provide the estimated cost for the contract base and option years, and the contract period of performance)

Estimated Cost – $95,728.50 (coverage for 5 years)

Period of Performance – estimated Date of award to include 12 months of maintenance and technical support.

Base Year Estimated Date of Award Jan 2017 – December 2017 Year 2 January 2018 – December 2018 Year 3 January 2019 – December 2019 Year 4 January 2020 – December 2020 Year 5 January 2021 – December 2021

5. Supporting Rationale (Check the applicable authority and provide details to support the rationale)

X Item Peculiar to One Manufacturer (Brand Name) (A brand name item, product or feature of the product peculiar to one manufacturer, whether available from one or more FSS is an item peculiar to only one manufacturer) Explain why the particular brand name, products or features of the product from one source can only satisfy the specialized nature of the Government’s requirement. Attach a list of the brand name products (Note: Explaining the products capability or process is not adequate rationale).

This requirement is for the software maintenance and technical support renewal of DTS Inc’s Space Recovery System (SRS) software licenses. This renewal is critical for the FEMA and USDA to continue to receive updates to the software to ensure it is current and operating to its full technical specifications in support of mainframe Systems.

Only renewal of DTS Inc.’s SRS software support will fulfill this requirement. This software has been tested and is currently in use on 2827-405 CPU systems. Use of a different product would create duplicate costs to the Government including but not limited to the following: testing of replacement software, removing current software from existing Government systems, installing new product on Government systems, ensuring new product works seamlessly with current Government infrastructure and processes. It is necessary to renew the software maintenance and technical support of the SRS software in order to operate with immediate access to technical support if required. Renewing the software maintenance and technical support for the software will provide that access.

DTS Inc. SRS software is a licensed and proprietary product. This software is proprietary and has various legal restrictions for use and maintenance. Only the software developer has the rights to the source code.

The source code is required to make changes and corrections to the software. No other source is authorized for license, maintenance, and technical support of this proprietary software. In addition, only the developer has the expertise to provide the maintenance required for the software.

The DTS Inc. is the sole developer, supporter and provider of these propriety software products and on-going software maintenance and technical support. The manufacture provides maintenance and technical support services for active licenses.

NITC’s customer, FEMA, has integrated the SRS software into their applications and has invested funding and resources to integrate the solution into its systems. Replacing the existing SRS environment with a non- SRS solution is not anticipated to be cost effective and would prevent FEMA from being production-ready for its customers.

FEMA currently has this product licensed on their systems, other products could potentially result in a complete re-work of the rules that have been specifically designed for FEMA applications. Due to training and other requirements associated with ensuring compatibility between a new product and its environment, the implementation of such products could negatively impact the migration of the FEMA Workload to NITC.

• If applicable, explain the contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the supplies or services.

Space Recovery System (SRS) eliminates DASD-storage space-related errors, prevents multivolume tape errors, enforces system standards, and improves DASD storage utilization across the system. Space Recovery System eliminates the need for manual error analysis and job reruns, improves z/OS reliability. The Space Recovery System (SRS) dynamically recovers disk space allocation failures.

As SRS Software Applications are currently being used by FEMA, no other developer can provide 100 percent compatibility with such systems and allow it to be production ready for its customers.

• List other companies’ similar products and explain why the products lacked the particular features, do not meet or cannot be modified to satisfy the Government’s requirement.

The owner of the software has not currently authorized any resellers for the software maintenance and technical support of their products. DTS Inc. SRS must be obtained because the FEMA mainframe systems are currently designed to use and this has been integrated into their systems at this time.

6. Best Value:

The U. S. Department of Agriculture has determined that the anticipated costs to the Government will be fair and reasonable based on the previous costs purchased by FEMA.

7. Market Research: (Explain market research conducted among FSS holders and the findings or why it was not conducted, FAR 10)

Due to the propriety nature of the product, a market survey for other products to meet these requirements has not been determined. DTS Inc. Software products are copyrighted by their developers, and no other source is authorized to provide the licenses, maintenance, and technical support for this proprietary software

8. Other Supporting Facts: (Explain or attach any other information to support the use of the authority)

As of 10/1/16, the NITC inherited the requirement from FEMA to renew the maintenance of existing SRS software. DTS Inc. was the only vendor known to meet the customer’s requirements.

9. Competition Barrier: (Explain actions taken or to be taken to increase competition for future acquisition of the same supplies or services such as: will the Government revise overly technical specifications/SOWs, acquire data rights and drawings)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is unable to identify any actions that may be taken to overcome the single source of compatible SRS software maintenance and technical support. The owner of the software has not currently authorized any resellers for the software maintenance and technical support of their products.

Due to the dollar value, a combined synopsis and solicitation will be posted via Federal Business Opportunities to notify the vendor community about this requirement.

CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the information for this requirement meets the Government’s minimum and the justification is accurate and complete to support the acquisition for the justification.

Dan McCord Program/Project Manager Division Date

To the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the data supporting this justification is accurate and complete to support the acquisition for the justification.

Jennifer Adams Contracting Officer Date