J&A_SMART_Software_FINAL_3-23-17.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) – Procurement, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22350. Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition.

2. Description of Action: This is a class Justification and Approval (J&A) to utilize Other than Full and Open Competition for awarding competitive contracts, purchase orders, and/or delivery orders to certify SMART Technologies Value Added Resellers (VARs) for SMART Technologies’ brand name SMART Learning Suite software licenses and support. DoDEA intends to issue Firm Fixed- Price (FFP) contracts, purchase orders, and/or delivery for the purchase of SMART Learning Suite software licenses to support DoDEA’s Interactive Display Lifecycle Plan. The estimated purchase quantity for this requirement is 8,000 instructor licenses. Solicitations and contract actions may include annual software maintenance options for a base year and four options. This requirement is for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) software.

This J&A supports DoDEA’s limitation of competition to one known manufacturing source for anticipated upcoming solicitation for contracts, purchase orders, and delivery orders placed against existing long term contracts for the software described below. This class justification will not exceed a period of one year after the signature date of the Competition Advocate. DoDEA will perform acquisition planning and procurement of software licenses, and use the contracting approach that the Contracting Officer determines appropriate as requirements are identified and funding becomes available.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required To Meet The Agency’s Need: DoDEA is in the process of standardizing lifecycle support of interactive displays in the instructional space under one sustainment program. DoDEA currently has SMART software and hardware in the all DoDEA 167 DoDEA schools in all instructional spaces. DoDEA has, for over ten years, procured SMART software and hardware in regional or district-level purchases. This has yielded different versions and equipment types, but the file extensions are the same and usable in any DoDEA classroom.

DoDEA is seeking to purchase both hardware and software and the industry practice is to offer, in most cases, hardware and software together. Only a few hardware vendors offer hardware without software. DoDEA will require hardware that will run SMART software and that the SMART Learning Suite be the primary software offered.

The SMART Learning Suite provides a number of different types of capabilities, including recorded lessons, standards-based student assessment tools, and learning experiences for students that include collaboration and game-based software. The software that DoDEA requires must recognize and process current proprietary file extensions (.notebook and .nbx) that come with curricular resources. The software must support files and lesson materials already created over the past 10+ years by DoDEA’s teachers so they can continue to use existing lesson materials and other instructional tools to assure uninterrupted performance of DoDEA’s educational mission. DoDEA also requires the ability for students to interact saved and recorded lesson files, mathematics and formula-based tools, as well as games and assessment templates in all curricular areas. SMART software provides licenses by instructor (industry term for user). Each license allows multiple installations per license that can also be used on non-SMART hardware. The total estimated value for the software licenses is $1.4 million.

Overall, DoDEA has a requirement for software that can incorporate the many thousands of work-hours associated with the created lesson documents, existing curriculum materials and for which teachers will not have to completely change practice. DoDEA does not have the training time or resources for teachers to ensure the investment would be implemented because of a saturation of training time and resources dedicated to mission-critical priorities. SMART Learning Suite is the only product that can adhere to the required interoperability with existing hardware.

4. Statutory Authority for Other Than Full And Open Competition: The authority for this action is 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements –Brand Name.

In the event a decision is made to utilize FAR subpart 8.4 as an acquisition strategy, FAR 8.405- 6(b)(1), Items Peculiar to one Manufacturer, is applicable because only SMART Technologies’ SMART Learning Suite can meet DoDEA’s interactive flat panel software needs.

In the event a decision is made to utilize FAR subpart 13.5 procedures, the authority will be 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii) – Sole Source Justification (Brand Name) because only SMART Technologies’ SMART Learning Suite can meet DoDEA’s interactive flat panel software needs.

In the event a decision is made to utilize FAR subpart 16.5 as an acquisition strategy, FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) – Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized, will be the implementation authority. In this situation, FAR 16.505(a)(4), Brand Name, is applicable because only SMART Technologies’ SMART Learning Suite can meet DoDEA’s interactive flat panel software needs.

While the formats for J&As (or Limited Sources Justifications) used in FAR subparts 6.3, 8.4, 13.5, and 16.5 are slightly different, the required content in each is included in this J&A. The appropriate levels of approval will be obtained in accordance with all the referenced FAR subparts.

Depending on the acquisition strategy used, a copy of this J&A will be posted in accordance with FAR 6.305(c), FAR 8.405-6(b)(3), FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii), FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D) or FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(2), as applicable.

5. Demonstration of the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Rationale for use of the Cited Statutory Authority: SMART Learning Suite Software is the only known source that can integrate with DoDEA’s existing program and support DoDEA’s instructional needs to assure continued teacher performance of DoDEA’s educational mission:

• Existing Lesson Materials: DoDEA teachers have created thousands of lesson plans, assessments, templates and classroom activities using the SMART software. This software is proprietary and has its own file extension (.notebook or .xbk). To use the materials that DoDEA teachers have created, they would need software compatibility with the SMART software. Market research, as discussed below, reveals that no other source can provide DoDEA software that is compatible with the thousands of lesson materials created in the SMART format over the last decade, is not available at this time. DoDEA researched other products to determine if a file converter program could be used to allow for other file types.

The research revealed that at this time, no software products can successfully take SMART proprietary files and convert them without significant change in the functionality of the files.

• Training and Time: DoDEA teachers are already experienced and trained in using the SMART software. If DoDEA were to implement new software for interactive displays in all classrooms, teachers would need to dedicate a considerable amount of time to training so that the teachers could use the new materials in daily instruction. This is estimated at 6-8 hours of training for each of the 8,000 prospective users of the software totaling from 48,000-64,000 hours worldwide just to get started with a new software product. Due to the time DoDEA teachers already must dedicate to essential training for College and Career Ready standards, the time does not exist to provide teachers with additional software training. Moving training to a later time presents an unacceptable risk that teachers will not be able to use the hardware and software effectively. Additionally, if DoDEA were to purchase a non-compatible software program with the thousands of lessons DoDEA teachers have created, this would require the agency to compensate teachers for the time of recreating lesson files. The bargaining units would request that as part of impact of implementation of a new software type as dictated by the collective bargaining agreement.

• College and Career Ready Materials: DoDEA teachers are using materials for the College and Career Ready curriculum in both K-5 Mathematics and grades 6-12 English Language Arts that include proprietary SMART Notebook files that cannot be viewed and manipulated in other software programs. The SMART software enables the teachers to access and use the lesson materials provided in DoDEA’s recent college and career ready curriculum purchase.

• Lifecycle Standards/IT Maintenance: A new software program would not be backward compatible with all hardware in the existing schools, as addressed below in the Market Research section, meaning that DoDEA could not standardize on one version of software for IT support and program maintenance. Without SMART software, DoDEA IT would have to run parallel versions of more than one kind of software that accomplishes the same functional task and teachers could not move files from one type of interactive display to another.

This brand name software will allow extension of the lifecycle of the hardware in the field numbering over 7,000 devices as well as support of any new hardware. This software may be purchased with a five year maintenance cycle allowing any security patches and upgrades to occur during the life of the contract and provide continuity in the practices and materials available to teachers now. The security patches and updates are an important factor to DoDEA systems and lowers the vulnerability risks when all hardware devices are running the same software version.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted as described below and a host of sources can provide reseller services of the SMART Learning Suite. However DoDEA could not identify a manufacturer that could provide software that could meet the requirements. Although though some manufacturers could provide a hardware solution other than SMART compatible with the requirements for software,. The Government’s technical experts will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future requirements to be obtained using full and open competition, specifically the ability for a vendor to translate older files into a new, usable format without losing functionality outlined above. In a ccordance with FAR 5.201, the solicitation will be synopsized on Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) unless an exception in FAR 5.202 applies.

7. Contracting Officer Price Reasonableness Determination: The contracting officer determines that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The fair and reasonable determination will likely be based on adequate competition among SMART Technologies VARs.

8. Market Research: The market is currently such that there are multiple hardware brands that could run the software, rendering the software the only remaining requirement on which the government seeks a sole source.

On 8 January 2017, DoDEA posted a Request for Information (RFI) to Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) and NASA SEWP. The RFIs sought to determine whether any sources other than Smart Technologies could meet the Government’s requirement. A total of 14 responses where received between 8 and 23 January, 2017. Of these 14 vendors, 11 indicated that the SMART software would be compatible with their proposed IFP hardware.

Of the 11 vendors, two proposed other than SMART brand hardware. Nine vendors identified themselves as small businesses.

Of importance outside of software compatibility was the ability for businesses to complete shipping and delivery in a timely manner. A number of small businesses showed that they did have the ability and referenced past performance in shipping overseas as well as the ability to service SMART software.

In researching the market, most hardware vendors come with a proprietary software or sell the board as a “naked” hardware version. Of the companies that responded, many stated they could run the SMART software, but none stated they could convert the SMART files into their own proprietary software.

Additionally, the Contracting Officer’s Representative conducted market research that consisted of a search of the market, review of the previous contracts, and a market survey.

The search of the market showed that at this time, while a number of vendors can compete for DoDEA’s hardware needs, only SMART software can meet the government requirement.

9. Interested Sources: The following sources expressed interest in acting as resellers of the SMART

Learning Suite.

a. Advance Computer Concepts

b. American Federal Contractors Inc.

c. Audio Visual Innovations

d. Briter Products

e. Counter Trade Products

f. CTSI

g. Dell

h. Futron Inc.

i. GEM

j. General Communications Inc.

k. New Tech Solutions

l. Pragmatics

m. Unicom Government Inc.

n. VWR

10. Statement of Actions to Remove or Overcome Competition Barriers: The solicitations and contracts issued under the authority of this justification will allow vendors to propose competing hardware solutions that is compatible with SMART Technologies’ SMART Learning Suite software. A review of the market will be performed before exercising any contract options to see if new software has been developed that is compatible with SMART Learning Suite software.

Signatures

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

Lenny Dobson, Chief Technology Officer

—AND—

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

Patrick Martin, Education Specialist

Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that the facts and representations included in this Justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

John Baggett, Contracting Officer

Approval:

Based on the information provided, I determine that one of the statutory authorities listed in paragraph 4 above applies, depending on the acquisition strategy used. The acquisition for the SMART Learning Suite software brand name items stated above is hereby approved.

Denise C. Blevins, Competition Advocate