FY24 JA Phoenix FAR 13 redacted final.pdf

Control Number VA-24-00000238

JUSTIFICATION FOR A SOLE SOURCE AWARD

FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed sole source The proposed action is for a new sole source, firm-fixed priced, contract with option periods to provide brand name Phoenix renewal of existing software license subscription and maintenance support with Phoenix Software International, 831 Parkview Drive, North El Segundo, CA 90245.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Infrastructure Operations (IO) has a requirement for Phoenix renewing existing software subscription and maintenance. The software maintenance is necessary in order for IO to receive software upgrades and updates to their previously purchased software to include major releases, point releases, service releases and security releases on a quarterly basis, and/or within 48 hours in cases in which a high-risk vulnerability fix becomes available. These software upgrades and updates are necessary for IO to be able to operate successfully and is required to ensure the software remains operational. The period of performance will be from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024, plus two (2) 12-month option periods.

The total estimated price of the proposed (inclusive of options).

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 1903 (for commercial services) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501, entitled “Special Documentation Requirements".

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source is Phoenix Software International, 831 Parkview Drive North, El Segundo, CA 90245. Based upon market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that only Phoenix Software International has the capability to satisfy this requirement. The current IO infrastructure is based on existing Phoenix software and VA requires support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. Only Phoenix Software International can provide the necessary software updates, because access to the propriety source code utilized by Phoenix software is required to develop and implement software updates. No provider other than Phoenix has access to this proprietary code. No other source is capable of providing the required software maintenance that meets VA's unique functional requirements.

Acquisition of a different product, even if another one existed with qualifications that met VA's stated functional needs, would require multiple support costs if the Phoenix software licenses were abandoned in favor of a different product. If a product other than Phoenix is selected, it would take approximately 9-12 months for testing and

FY24 Phoenix SW Maintaince Control Number VA-24- 00000238 transitioning. It is estimated that $450,000 would be required to successfully support this testing, transitioning, and deployment and training of any new product. No other license is compatible with or interoperable with the existing Phoenix proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces. Therefore, only Phoenix Software International can provide the software maintenance that meets the Government's requirements.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201. The ordering activity will make publicly available the justification along with the solicitation in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iv). Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government's technical experts conducted market research during February 2023 by reviewing similar software maintenance support services to ascertain if other brands could meet VA's software maintenance requirements.

Specifically, the VA’s technical experts conducted web-based research on International Business Machine's System Display and Search Facility tool, and NuPSoft Tone software's OMC-Flash tool, both of which are viewing and management solutions. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that as the source code required to issue the updates is proprietary, no other firm has the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for Phoenix software necessary to support existing IO requirements. Therefore, at present there is no other software maintenance available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement. In addition, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software is available.

Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government's technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned Phoenix software maintenance can meet all of VA's needs. A recent Sources Sought dated 5 June 2023 (36C10B23Q0323) was released and included a description of the requirements and a request for potential alternative software resulted in no new responses or inquiries from industry.

Additional market research was conducted by Government representatives in February 2023 utilizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract Provider Lookup Tool. The search revealed that there are no SEWP vendors to include service-disabled Veteran-owned small business Phoenix resellers. Furthermore, Phoenix Software International confirmed that they only provide direct sales and there are zero resellers.

Based upon the market research, Phoenix Software International is the only known company that can satisfy IO's requirement.

9. Other Facts: N/A

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on previous Government contracts as well as commercial list prices.

Officer12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $750,000, the certification required by FAR 13.501(a)(2)(i) serves as approval.