GSA_Sole_Source__justification_for_eIMS_2021_Redacted_signed.pdf

Sole Source Justification

Electronic Inventory Management System (eIMS)

Upon the basis of the following justification, solicitation from a single source for the proposed contract action is hereby recommended for approval pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C.1901 and FAR 13.106-1 (b)

1. Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity

Requiring Activity

Office of Fleet Management (QMDGA)

1800 F Street, NW Floor 3

Suite 3400

Washington, DC 20405

Contracting Activity

General Services Administration (GSA)

Fleet Acquisition Support Branch (QMAAC)

1800 F Street, NW

Floor 3 HUB # 3400

Washington, DC 20405

2. Nature and/or Description of Action

The nature of this contract action is to provide GSA Fleet with a licensing agreement to obtain access to the web-based AutoIMS vehicle inventory system. The AutoIMS system is utilized by auto auction houses throughout the United States.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

GSA Fleet employs AutoIMS in multiple ways:

The first is for our Remarketing staff to track the vehicles, which includes viewing online condition reports, authorizing repairs electronically, and maintaining a variety of electronic tracking information. A license agreement is required for GSA Fleet to have this level of access so that GSA Fleet associates can keep track of vehicle information at all locations throughout the United States. It is also necessary to display where each vehicle is located, and which vehicles are available for each sale.

The second is to track vehicles being marshalled to customer agencies.

The third is to track non-GSA Fleet vehicles where GSA conducts the sale of other Federal Agencies’ inventory of vehicles.

One of the requirements of the contractors who utilize AutoIMS is to take pictures of vehicles and upload them into AutoIMS. The final feature available to GSA Fleet through Auto Auction Services Corp. (AASC) grants GSA access to these photos and allows for their posting on the GSA Fleet auction website.

GSA Fleet performs static Internet auctions through a variety of Internet selling platforms. Photos uploaded with Internet sale listings allow customers to view the beauty shot and other photos of the vehicle in order to check for obvious damage and/or the general condition of the vehicle prior to attending any auction. GSA must be provided a sufficient number of IP addresses so that all required systems are allowed to connect.

Finally, GSA Fleet’s multi-year systems modernization effort may require new features, such as live data transfers, to be incorporated in its future Advanced Fleet Platform (AFP). A key update resulting from this

DocuSign Envelope ID: A20F21F9-1A99-4EE6-BE22-7B3679D263D3 process would be to replace the required scheduled sales download report with a real time feed to send and receive data using AASC’s web services. As a result, Fleet would also need access to AutoIMS’s test environment (test bed) at times during the AFP development process to properly implement any changes. GSA Fleet may also need AASC to establish additional accounts for the sale of specialty vehicles (medium and heavy, ambulances, law enforcement, etc.) to facilitate the exchange and sale of these unique vehicle types.

The following licenses and services are required:

● Primary GSA Account License Fee (up to 15 Individual Users)

● GSAM Account License Fee (up to 10 Individual Users)

● GSAE Account License Fee (up to 15 Individual Users)

● 220 Additional Individual Licenses

● Additional Licenses above the original 260 if necessary

● Scheduled Sales Download Report with photos

● IP addresses (a minimum of 20 IP addresses to allow access to government entities only. No third parties)

The following licenses and services are optional:

● Access to test environment

● Web Services Fee and possible expansion of data requirements (replaces Schedule Sales Download Report)

● Additional GSA License Fee(s) (up to 10 individual users per account)

Description of Services aside from License Fees:

● Primary GSA Account: Web-based account used to manage the GSA Fleet Vehicle portfolio and exchange vehicle data with auctions specific to vehicle remarketing.

● GSAM Account: Web-based account used to manage the GSA Fleet Vehicle marshalling portfolio and exchange vehicle data with auctions specific to vehicle marshalling.

● GSAE Account: Web-based account used to manage other Federal Agency vehicle sales and exchange vehicle data with auctions.

● The GSA, GSAM, and GSAE web-based accounts are needed to properly monitor and manage unique segments of the GSA Fleet and other Federal Agency vehicle inventories.

● Scheduled sales download reports with photos allow GSA to connect directly to AASC’s server, solely for the purpose of downloading vehicle data and images from GSA’s AutoIMS inventory for GSA to manage the incorporation of these images onto GSA Fleet’s public website (autoauctions.gsa.gov).

The GSA, GSAM, and GSAE websites are needed to properly track and bill unique segments of inventory.

Description of Optional Services:

● Test environment (test bed): Software environment used for testing and development of AutoIMS features for GSA Fleet

● Web Services: Live connections for GSA Fleet to send and receive data from AutoIMS database servers.

This would also include a possible expansion in data requirements. Exercising the web services optional service would replace the Scheduled Sales Download Report requirement.

● Specialty Vehicles Account(s): Web-based account(s) used to manage sales and exchange of GSA Fleet’s specialty vehicles (e.g., law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, medium & heavy-duty vehicles, etc).

The GSA 2021 Licensing Agreement will be for a one 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods.

Base Period: August 29, 2021 through August 31, 2022

Option Period: September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023

Option Period: September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024

4. Identification of Statutory Authority

41 U.S.C.1901 as implemented by FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b) – Authority. The supply and services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source. AASC is the only responsible source that can provide the supply and services.

5. Demonstration of Contractor’s Unique Qualifications

AASC is sole proprietor of the AutoIMS software and is therefore the only firm able to provide licensing for its use.

AASC is the only source for technical support services for their products and the sole entity who can issue license agreements for their web-based products. There are no other vendors that can provide support for AASC products.

AutoIMS is an on-line inventory management system which is available to all auction houses in the United States. It is the most common and widely used on-line inventory management system in the auction industry and, unlike other systems, is available for all auctions to use.

The Service Contract Act does not apply as the procurement does not provide a service through service employees.

6. Efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable

GSA Fleet has established AutoIMS as the preferred inventory tracking system based upon the data available at the time of the issuance of the solicitation. GSA Fleet will review this requirement annually and make the determination if another source can provide GSA Fleet the online capability to track and manage their inventory of vehicles. In addition, GSA Fleet is following the requirements of FAR 13.106-1 (b)

Disseminating of Information. A justification will be posted for the requisition established in

FAR Part 5.2.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Price

The price will be determined fair and reasonable based upon the pricing history we have for this service that has been provided in the past. The Contracting Officer will perform a price analysis to determine that the proposed prices will be fair and reasonable. The total estimated value for this requirement is

8. Description of Market Research

AASC is the only vendor that can provide the AutoIMS licensing. It is the most common and widely used online inventory management system in the auction industry and, unlike other systems, is available for all auction houses to use. While other vendors exist that offer vehicle inventory management software, their features are primarily geared toward dealers and the retail automotive market.

9. Any other supporting facts

Not applicable. There are no other supporting facts.

10. Listing of Interested Sources

GSA Fleet has concluded that no vendor aside from AASC can fulfill the specific requirements for Electronic Inventory Management System (eIMS) services to support its auctioning and marshalling needs. While other vendors may offer electronic vehicle inventory management software, many are geared toward other segments of the automotive industry (such as dealers) and not as well-positioned to meet the unique requirements of GSA Fleet. In addition, the auction industry by-and-large has adopted AutoIMS as its standard eIMS solution.

Unlike other customized systems that would need to be designed and developed, AutoIMS is currently available for all auction houses to use. AASC’s AutoIMS is also the most common and widely used online inventory management system in the automotive remarketing industry, and contract management would therefore be simplified by utilizing this vendor. AASC is also the only vendor that can supply the licensing for AutoIMS.

11. Actions taken to Remove Barriers to Competition

None. Because AASC is the single vendor and the only firm that can provide the AutoIMS licensing, there are no actions to be taken to remove barriers to competition.

12. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this justification is accurate and complete.

Charles Foreman

Contracting Officer Representative

Program Analyst

Marketplace and Innovation Division (QMDGA)

Charlene Cardenas

Contracting Officer

Fleet Acquisition Support Branch (QMAAC)

CHARLES

FOREMAN

Digitally signed by CHARLES

FOREMAN

Date: 2021.03.01 13:01:18 -05'00'