A04_LSJ_Spider_Strategies_SMS_Licenses_v2.3_Signed.pdf

Limited Source Justification Spider Strategies Scoreboard GSA Team

License

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Limited Source Justification (LSJ)

Spider Strategies Scoreboard

GSA Team Licenses

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer hereby approve this limited source justification in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B). The acquisition referenced herein is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Requiring Agency and Contracting Office:

Requiring Agency:

Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) Program Analysis and Evaluation (PA&E)

9000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301

Contracting Activity:

Washington Headquarters Services/Acquisition Directorate (WHS/AD) 1225 South Clark Street

Arlington, Virginia 22202

2. Nature/Description of Action(s):

A. Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), Program Analysis and Evaluation (PA&E)

Office is requesting approval for a limited source justification to award a Firm-Fixed-Price

Delivery Order against GSA contract GS-35F-0669S awarded to Spider Strategies, Inc. This is to procure the Spider Strategies, Inc., SCOREBOARD GSA TEAM LICENSE, 100-User

Licenses (one-time cost of $29,645), plus, One Year Maintenance (annual cost of $5,929), for use on the Army’s Strategic Management System (SMS) utilizing PFPA’s approved

SMS instance on the Army SMS information technology (IT) infrastructure.

B. PFPA has a Task Order contract (W15QKN-13-D-0027, Task Order: 0021) with the

Department of the Army SMS Program Office to provide on-site SMS administration and implementation labor support, using the Army’s SMS Information Technology (IT) systems infrastructure. The Spider Strategies, Inc. Team Package, 100-User application software licenses are necessary to fully implement the PFPA SMS instance currently being hosted using temporary SMS licenses on the Department of the Army’s SMS IT infrastructure.

The Army Office of Business Transformation (OBT) has approved the hosting of PFPA’s own instance of SMS on the Army’s SMS IT systems at no additional cost; however, PFPA must procure its own SMS user licenses directly from Spider Strategies. Once the licenses are procured this will allow the temporary PFPA SMS licenses currently in-use to be converted to permanent PFPA SMS licenses.

C. This is a new acquisition for PFPA, which will allow the 100 PFPA SMS user licenses to be installed on the Army’s existing SMS information technology (IT) infrastructure. The PFPA SMS is currently being hosted on the Army’s SMS data center equipment located in the Pentagon (at no additional cost to PFPA). The overall capability of SMS will provide PFPA with an enterprise-wide, web-based performance management tool on the Army’s

Page 2 of 6 Pages enterprise SMS infrastructure that aligns goals, objectives and metrics, and also captures strategy execution. SMS will provide the framework for defining, implementing, and measuring PFPA strategic performance at all levels of the organization.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

A. For this acquisition, PFPA requires a Spider Strategies, “Team 001” Software License, which permits a maximum of one hundred (100) users. The “Team 001” Software license consists of the Spider Strategies Scoreboard and Connect Applications (Version 2.4, Release 13.0) residing on a web-based instance of Jakarta Tomcat. The Tomcat application software and installation will be performed by the Contractor as part of the

“Team 001” Software license purchase. An annual maintenance agreement is required for regular software upgrades and help desk support. This acquisition seeks 1 base year and 4 option years of annually purchased maintenance support.

B. Spider Strategies, Inc. is the sole provider of the Scoreboard software used on the Army’s

SMS IT application, and is the only company capable of providing the required software user licenses for PFPA’s use.

C. The contractor shall coordinate with the Army SMS Program Office Contracting Officer’s

Representative (COR), who will facilitate the activation of the permanent software user licenses for PFPA on the Army SMS IT systems in support of the previously mentioned task order contract (W15QKN-13-D-0027, Task Order: 0021).

4. Identification of Limited Source Authority and Demonstration of Contractor’s Unique

Qualifications:

A. Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(B), only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. Spider Strategies is the sole provider for

Scoreboard Team software licenses. Spider Strategies confirmed there are no other vendors capable of providing the specific qualifications of their SMS Scoreboard application.

B. The Spider Strategies, SMS Scoreboard COTS product provides a simple user interface. It provides the flexibility to connect to other data sources, such as MS Excel and MS SQL Server. The application is offered at a significant cost savings via a Team

Licensing Package. The Army has been using the Spider Strategies, SMS Scoreboard software system for nearly 10 years, and is proven to be successful. A temporary instance of this system has been operational within PFPA for about 3 months.

5. Best Value Determination:

A. This order represents the best value IAW FAR 8.404(d). By placing an order against a schedule contract using the procedures in Part 8, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/08.htm#P102_16815

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B. GSA has already determined that prices of supplies and fixed price services are fair and reasonable; however, IAW the Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy Class

Deviation 2014-O0011, additional proposal analysis using FAR 15.404-1 will be used to determine the price is fair and reasonable. The Government will compare pricing with the vendor’s catalog pricing and in comparison to pricing on historical contracts for same or similar services.

C. The contracting officer will also seek a price reduction IAW FAR 8.405-4.

6. Market Research:

A. Market Research conducted by the Army Office of Business Transformation (OBT):

1. The Army OBT continued with market research after the award of Contract

W15QKN-13-D-0027, during the period 1 July 2013 to 7 November 2013 in accordance with (FAR Part 10) to see if there were any other suitable approaches to acquire, distribute and support an enterprise level performance management tool for the Army. Research into the technology available commercially, included Intuit’s

QuickBase and Spider Strategies’ Scoreboard. There were two distinct approaches that commercial companies used to deliver the requirement: 1. Commercial-Off-

The-Shelf (COTS) Software requiring limited programming efforts to meet requirements (Spider Strategies, Inc.) and 2. Application development and/or visualization software combined with significant programming efforts to meet requirements (such as Intuit’s QuickBase, and Tableau). In conjunction with

CIO/G-6, OBT sponsored an independent study of the Army’s requirement for automated support of Enterprise Level performance management for the Army

Campaign Plan Community. MITRE Corporation, in its capacity as a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), was selected to conduct the study and provide its recommendation on which performance management tool, QuickBase or Scoreboard, was the most appropriate tool available at best value to meet the Army’s requirements. MITRE collected information for the requirements through a stakeholder session and follow-on interviews with stakeholder leads and actions officers. Stakeholder organizations included ASA Acquisition Logistics

Technology (ALT), ASA Civil Works (CW), ASA Financial Management and

Comptroller (FMC), ASA Manpower & Reserve Affairs (M&RA), G-1, G-3, G-4, CIO/G-6, Office of Business Transformation (OBT), Training and Doctrine

Command (TRADOC), Army Material Command (AMC), Installation Management

Command (IMCOM), Medical Command (MEDCOM) and US Army Recruiting

Command (USAREC). MITRE collected Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) data from

OBT for Scoreboard and CIO/G-6 for QuickBase. On 07 November 2013 MITRE representatives out-briefed OBT senior leaders on their study results and recommendations. Based on criteria and the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), MITRE recommended Spider Strategies’ Scoreboard as the most appropriate performance management tool for the Army Campaign Plan and the Army’s performance management tool. Based on the results of OBT and CIO/G-6’s research and the comparative analysis conducted by MITRE, it was determined that the Spider

Strategies solution could be modified to meet the Army’s requirements at best value. In addition, there was significant risk associated with choosing an

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Application Development tool like QuickBase which is not pre-programmed Off-

The-Shelf solution ready for deployment. Rather, QuickBase would require significant programming resources to develop the identified government requirements.

2. On November 2014 through December 2014, the Army OBT conducted a study of a platform used by the Army Material Command (AMC), an initiative to support their

AMC Virtual Operations Center mission, named Material-Common Operating

Picture (M-COP). The AMC team conducted their own study and determined the best tool for their mission was Tableau. In 2015, AMC reported $2.9M in execution and requested $2.2 for FY15. OBT determined from their own study, views in

Tableau are customized by a contractor, and not created by the end user as well as creation of data feeds whereas SMS end users can create hierarchies, metrics, customized dashboards and reports, and import and export products at no additional cost. A cost comparison of the licensing structure between SMS and Tableau resulted in SMS as the best value for the Army Enterprise with perpetual unlimited licenses. Also considered was the significant risk of purchasing a new software tool, which would require considerable investment in customization, migration of

2.0 M metrics and retraining of 25,000 users over a two to three year time-line.

3. In conclusion to the Army OBT’s market research, and as a result of the above

MITRE study and OBT’s study of the Tableau tool, as well as ongoing research and evaluation of Performance Management Tools, Spider Strategies’ Scoreboard remains to be the Performance Management Tool that best meets the Army’s technical requirements at best value. As of today, Spider Strategies’ Scoreboard remains a sole proprietary product.

4. NOTE: PFPA is not able to be included in the Army’s enterprise SMS licensing since it is out of scope on the prime contract. PFPA must procure its own SMS licenses via this procurement, which will then be activated on the Army SMS IT systems infrastructure, which has been approved by Army OBT Director, Brigadier

General David Komar.

B. Market Research conducted by PFPA:

1. Following a formal business needs analysis in 2014, PA&E along with the PFPA

Force Protection Technology Directorate conducted research and a formal assessment of three potential performance management software systems of comparable functionality. The reviews of these systems were as follows:

i. Option #1 - The SMS Scoreboard COTS product was assessed, and it provides a much simpler user interface than the other systems reviewed during the assessment. During the SMS product demonstration participants were very pleased with product’s ease of use and the additional functionality to interface with Microsoft Office applications. Also, the SMS vendor has a local consultant based in the Washington National Capital Region (NCR);

therefore no travel expenses are required.

ii. Option #2 – The Enterprise Performance Management System (EPMS) is a

Page 5 of 6 Pages customized performance management system application developed by a contractor supporting Washington Headquarters Services (WHS). The

EPMS was reviewed on two separate occasions, and it was determined to not be fully developed, and undergoing design updates. The WHS EPMS would have required additional development and customizations in order to support

PFPA’s requirements; therefore, it was determined to not be the best system solution for PFPA.

iii. Option #3 – The Tableau System vendors provided a demonstration of their product during the PFPA systems assessment period. Tableau provides additional data source connectivity capabilities over those of the SMS;

however, it was determined to provide more capability at a higher cost than

PFPA requires for a Performance Management System. The Tableau system provides a user interface capable of generating graphs and reports; however, it was determined during the assessment that less technical users would find the application to be overly complicated. Also it was determined Tableu does not offer package pricing for their software licenses, and the cost was significantly higher when compared to the 100-User Team license package offered by Spider Strategies.

2. The formal assessment conducted by PFPA concluded, based on the cost comparisons of the alternative pricing (i.e., package licensing) and each system’s features, capabilities, and implementation requirements, the Spider Strategies SMS

Scoreboard, provides PFPA a better cost value than Tableau.

7. Any other supporting facts: N/A

8. Actions the Agency has taken to remove barriers that led to the restricted consideration:

A. According to the Army Office of Business Transformation (OBT) SMS Procurement history:

Contract Number Task Order Date Awarded Competitive Status

Authority

N61339-03-D-0300 04 Sep 2003 Competitive* N/A

N61339-03-D-0300 0241 30 Sep 2009 Competitive* N/A

GS-10F-0282M W15QKN-12-F-0013 26 Mar 2012 Sole Source FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)

W15QKN-13-D-0027 04 Feb 2013 Sole-Source FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)

B. Contract N61339-03-D-0300 was awarded on 04 September 2003. Alion Science and Technology Corporation was one awardee among multiple awardees for the Multiple Award Task Order (MATO). Task Order 0241 under N61339-03-D-0300 was awarded on 30 September 2009 to Alion. The Task Order was awarded on a Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee (CPFF) basis for Research, Analysis, and Business Process Modeling in which Spider Strategies, Inc., was a subcontractor. Based on the Market Research a competitive award was not made for SMS as it was identified through market research that SMS is proprietary to Spider Strategies, Inc.

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C. A J&A was approved for a logical follow-on effort to Task Order (TO) 0241 as time did not permit the award of a competitive requirement. The logical follow-on was awarded to Alion on 26 March 2012 under General Services Administration (GSA) Contract No. GS- 10F-0282M TO W15QKN-12-F-0013. When completing the market research in April 2012 on a competitive technical package, industry identified that the SMS was proprietary to Spider Strategies and a revised sole source technical package was provided by OBT for the SMS effort.

D. A J&A under the authority of 10 United States Code 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements” was approved for a follow-on effort to W15QKN-12-F-0013. The follow-on was awarded to Spider Strategies on 04 February 2013 under General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule No. GS35F-0669S, Contract W15QKN-13-D-0027. The period of performance for this contract is 4 Feb 13 – 3 Feb 16 with a planned option to extend of 4 Feb – 3 Aug 16.

E. No unusual patterns have been revealed by the history for the SMS effort. There have been no significant changes since the prior award as SMS remains proprietary to Spider Strategies Inc.

9. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Stephanie L. Powell Date

Contracting Officer, WHS/AD

(703) 545-0966

10. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included and form the basis for the justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. ((FAR 8.405-6)(c)(2)(x))

Thomas Snyder Date

Deputy Chief, Program Analysis &

Evaluation (PA&E)

PFPA / PA&E

(703) 681-4720