JA_N4215817MP70018_REDACTED.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6 Justification & Approval (J&A), Supporting Procurements under FAR Part 12, FAR Subpart 13.5, and FAR Part 15

Purchase Request Number:

Contract Number: To be assigned

Task/Delivery Order Number: Not applicable

Procurement Title: Renewal of the Information Handling Systems (IHS) Software Subscription

Statutory Authority: FAR 6.302-1

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTFAOC

Justification for OTFAOC Number: JA17-035

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as Procuring Activity Competition Advocate

(PACA), hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action, pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-1 (Defense FAR Supplement

(DFARS) 206.302-1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

Requiring Agency:

Contracting Office:

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S):

a. The nature of this action is to renew the IHS software subscription, a web-based logical database for the NAVSEA Systems Command Naval Shipyards; Submarine Maintenance

Engineering, Planning and Procurement (SUBMEPP) Activity; and Bahrain Activity. This database includes access to multiple databases that provide access to a wide range of both commercial and federal specifications and standards, access to Federal Logistic Information

Systems (FLIS)-based database, and will provide in-depth physical, technical, and procurement data for all federally purchased and controlled items. Based on market research further detailed in this document, only the brand name IHS Haystack Gold, IHS Capsuniverse, and IHS

Renewal of the IHS Software Subscription-JA17-035

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CatalogXpress subscription service will meet the needs of the Navy through a single sign-on solution. This renewal is essential to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY), Pearl Harbor Naval

Shipyard (PHNSY), Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNSY), Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), SUBMEPP, and Bahrain Activity’s mission. While all the data residing in the database, catalogs, and federal information system are publicly available, users require a single entry point or gateway to facilitate efficient and effective research and data acquisitions.

b. The period of performance will be for a base period of one year, estimated to begin

February 15, 2017 through February 14, 2018. The applicable North American Industry

Classification System code is 511210, Software Publishers. This firm-fixed-price procurement will perpetuate existing coverage under contract HC1028-16-P-0066, which expires on February

14, 2017.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES:

The objective of this requirement is to purchase the renewal of brand name IHS subscription provided by IHS Global, Inc. for PNSY, PHNSY, PSNSY, NNSY, SUBMEPP, and Bahrain

Activity. This subscription supports the web-based logical database that provides access to

FLIS. The subscription is critical to Navy MSSD, because they are utilized by the engineers and mechanics to determine specs and parts that are critical for the overhaul and repair of submarines. The brand name renewal of the IHS subscription provides the Government a single point of entry for the many databases used by Navy through a subscription to gain access to logistic databases which allows access to federal stock information as well as federal and commercial specifications, under a single username and password. The renewal IHS subscription is required to meet the needs of the government to view and print commercial, State, Federal, and Department of Defense (DoD) specification and standards and view and print as many times as needed. A federal stock system database is required which contains technical, manufacturer, pricing, and shipping information for all items contained within the DoD stock system. This brand name subscription contains a catalog that allows users to search for non-stock systems items via manufacturer, nomenclature, part number, or specification. This catalog provides technical and sourcing information as well as direct links to all technical specifications and manufacturer documentation. The subscription provides unlimited access to multiple specifications and standards or access to catalogs for non-federal parts, fasteners, and electrical components.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, 10 U.S.C.§2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1/DFARS 206.302-1.

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5. DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

The IHS subscription service is used by all six Navy locations. Users access the comprehensive web-accessible logistics catalog/database which provides them federally stocked and purchased products. The IHS subscription provides any available manufacturer documents on individual items, technical descriptions, as well as environmental, and life-cycle data. The database also provides manufacturer information such as name, address, phone number, commercial and government entity code, and the manufacturing categories and types provided. In addition to visibility of parts information, the database provides the ability for users to set account preferences, such as search preferences under the brand name solution, IHS Haystack Gold, IHS

Capsuniverse, and IHS CatalogXpress. This procurement is a follow-on contract to HC1028-16-

P-0066, for the continued support of the customized subscription provided by IHS Global, Inc.

In 2016, competition was attempted for this solution and yielded no other offerors. If the IHS software subscription is not renewed, a potential work-stoppage and/or delayed work will be the result for all four Shipyards, Bahrain, and SUBMEPP. Engineers at all the facilities utilize this subscription to develop specs for the overhaul and repair of submarines. The IHS subscription provides access to standards and information that is normally blocked or controlled; this information provides the shipyards with ability to make decisions based on the required data.

Knowing the material, components, and the associated material specifications are technically current at any given time, this provides engineering rationale during research that will ensure the

Navy has maintained the ships’ operational certification. Without this subscription, this process will become unavailable until a new system is put in place.

6. Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL SOURCES:

A combined synopsis/solicitation for this requirement will be published on the FBO website, as required by FAR 5.2. A redacted copy of this J&A will also be posted to FBO.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST:

A determination will be made by the contracting officer that the contract represents the best value to the Government, as defined in FAR 2.101, and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, and administrative costs) to meet the

Government’s needs. The contracting officer will also determine the pricing information valid for comparative purposes. Certified cost and price data is not required for this commercial item acquisition, in accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b)(3). The contracting officer will determine whether the price is fair and reasonable, based on comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid, comparison with commercial price lists, and comparison with the independent

Government cost estimate.

8. MARKET RESEARCH:

a. Market research was conducted from October 2016 through January 2017 through internet searches, internal discussions, communications with contractors, and issuance of a sources sought announcement.

b. As a result of our market research, there are currently no other sources interested and/or capable of providing the subscription services for this IT solution required by the Government, Page 4 of 6 Pages other than IHS Global, the incumbent. This requirement is for proprietary products support, and no competitor functional replacement products exist in the market at this time to meet the government's need. The government will continue to conduct market research to determine if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future competitive actions; i.e., there are similar products in the marketplace that provide the same functionality, IHS Global, releases ownership rights of product, or it is economically feasible to procure a new system. IHS Global is the sole manufacturer for IHS Haystack Gold, IHS Capsuniverse, and IHS CatalogXpress. IHS products are proprietary and available only from IHS Global is the OEM for the applicable products and does not authorize any third party software modification or patches to its software.

IHS Global owns the copyrighted source software with all legal rights, privileges, and ownership contained therein. No other source may legally modify or change the software, nor would they have access to the source code to do so.

c. The second step in conducting market research was to determine a method of procurement.

Market research revealed that IHS Globalcan provide the required brand name subscription renewal through open market procedures. Market research has determined this subscription is not available through a DoD Enterprise Software Initiative Blanket Purchase Agreement, General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule, or on the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V government-wide acquisition contract.