ID02170004LSJRedacted.pdf

RFQ# ID02170004

General Services Administration

Federal Acquisition Service Northeast and Caribbean Region

Limited-Sources Justification June 22, 2017

1. Description of Action:

An approval is requested for a limited-sources award of a FFP GSA FSS, IT Task Order, No.

ID02170004 to Enterprise Services LLC, under BPA ID02160005001, awarded under GSA FSS, contract No. GS-35F-146DA, on behalf of the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) for procurement of Middleware Support For ActivClient Middleware licenses. The order will be placed on a Firm-Fixed Price basis. The order will be funded with OA&M funds.

2. Description of Supplies or Services:

DMDC requested that GSA’s Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) Division procure and award an order for Middleware Support Services for ActivClient middleware. The support will be provided to the U.S. Air Force, for its 628,700 seat licenses of ActivClient middleware, from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.

Estimated Costs: $842,458.00

3. Authority Cited:

The acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program.

Specifically, 8.405-6(b)(1)-Brand name specifications shall not be used unless the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government’s requirements, and market research indicates other companies’ similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency’s needs.

4. Reason for Authority Cited:

As reported by the U.S. Air Force: The AF currently has the ActivIdentity smart card middleware product ActivClient fielded across the AF and it has been in place for a number of years. To support continuous vendor support of the product, the AF is requesting purchase of support for these licenses to fulfill its annual maintenance requirement. Since the ActivIdentity product is already fielded and operational, no other vendor product can fulfill this requirement.

No company other than the middleware manufacturer/developer is in a position to provide the services required to maintain and support these licenses. The software source code is owned and modifiable only by HID Global, the company that manufactures ActivClient middleware. A support agreement for another brand of middleware, such as Charismathics, Safenet, or AuthentXware, would not result in the successful support of ActivClient licenses. A support agreement for ActivClient middleware, similarly, would not result in the successful support of Charismathics, Safenet, nor AuthentXware middleware. Each of these middleware products is uniquely constructed and the data rights to the construction are owned by the manufacturer. Only the manufacturer of a particular middleware product is in a position to render support services for its particular product.

In the case of this acquisition, the Government has already fielded 628,700 seat licenses of ActivClient, which have been in use successfully for many years, for which only support services provided by HID Global will suffice.

Under the DMDC Multiple-Award BPA’s (issued as a result of quotes received in response to RFQ No. ID02160005) through which DMDC, the U.S. Air Force, and other authorized agencies may acquire middleware support for ActivClient and other middleware platforms, as required, only one of two BPA holders provided a quote for ActivClient support. Enterprise Services LLC, under BPA ID02160005001, formed a Contractor Teaming Arrangement with Envoy Data Corporation to support the Government’s stated requirement for ActivClient support services.

5. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

Government agencies are allowed to choose their middleware platforms, which are required to be FIPS 201 certified. Once selected, the support of those products must be obtained from the manufacturer of the middleware. The other option the Government may pursue is to forego maintenance services, but this approach inherently entails a high level of risk, in terms of maintaining security and interoperability between systems.

The U.S. Air Force, the intended consumer of the required support services has successfully relied on ActivClient as its middleware since at least 2008. There is no known plan to change from ActivClient to some other platform.

There is no known effort to increase competition for the support services for a particular middleware product, as the middleware manufacturer is in the best position to provide these services.

GSA is supportive of BPA holders’ efforts to add products and services to their BPA’s would be willing to add ActivClient products and support to the BPA award of the other BPA holder, but has not received a request that it do so.

Given the looming deadline for renewal prior to the expiration of the current support interval, with an attendant upshot in the cost of support if support is not renewed by that date, and the availability of at least one responsible vendor who can provide the service, at a fair and reasonable price, the Government will pursue an order with the available vendor.

The Government remains hopeful that the other BPA holder, besides Enterprise Services LLC which is the holder of BPA ID02160005001, is successful in its earlier stated intent to position themselves to supply the Government with ActivClient middleware support. However, it has not received a request from any BPA holder except for Enterprise Services LLC. Enterprise Services LLC therefore is the only BPA holder qualified to support ActivClient products.

The Government has considered conducting a new acquisition, as an alternative to issuing a BPA call to Enterprise Services LLC for the support services, however, it is unlikely that the Government will receive quotes that are as competitive in pricing as is the Enterprise Services LLC quote, which was based on providing middleware support for multiple agencies over a five year time span.

6. Market Research:

GSA conducted Market Research to confirm that Enterprise Services LLC is interested in supporting this this requirement. Enterprise Services (though its former identity as HP Enterprise Services, LLC (HPES)) was the re-seller of ActivClient middleware support services under a preceding order, ITSS task number 02FL9780604, used by GSA Region 2, from 2008 to 2011, to award support services for ActivClient middleware services for DMDC and its customers, and the re-seller of said services under ID02120044, issued in June, 2012, order ID02130031, issued in June 2013, order ID02140024, issued in June 2014, order ID02150022, issued in June 2015, as well as order ID02160008, issued in June 2016, under which services are currently provided. The Contractor was responsive in all cases then and as the only awardee on the BPA to respond to the Government’s stated requirement for ActivClient middleware support, remains responsive.

GSA also confirmed via market research conducted on GSA Advantage, that there were resellers of ActivClient middleware support with which other BPA holders could team, should they desire to offer ActivClient support to the Government to meet future requirements. The Contractors on GSA Advantage that have ActivClient on their Federal Supply Schedules include:

ENVOY DATA CORPORATION GS-35F-0332S

Software International Resource Corp, (SIRC) GS-35F-0149N

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Pricing and Best Value:

The quote is expected to match, or be lower than, the rates currently quoted for support under Enterprise Services LLC’s existing BPA vehicle, ID02160005001, which has been determined to be priced fairly and reasonably. The Government will review, and use for the basis of any negotiations, previously established pricing under similar contracts for the goods proposed.

Additionally, price reasonableness will be been determined based on the requirements and techniques as set forth in FAR 15.404-1.

The order represents the best value consistent with 8.404(d). It results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

8. Interested Source:

See paragraph 5, Efforts to Obtain Competition.

9. Other Facts:

ActivIdentity was acquired by HID Global. ActivClient is now an HID Global product.

10. Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that the above information is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: ______ Signature: ______________________ Thomas Corley Contracting Officer (2QSBF)

Date: ______ Signature: ______________________ Joe Urbanik (2QFA) Deputy Director

Date: ______ Signature: ______________________ Theresa Ramos (2Q0B) Competition Advocate

THOMAS CORLEY

Digitally signed by THOMAS CORLEY DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=General Services Administration, cn=THOMAS CORLEY, 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=47001000023373 Date: 2017.06.22 17:37:56 -04'00'

Joe Urbanik Digitally signed by Joe Urbanik DN: cn=Joe Urbanik, o=FAS, ou=GSA, email=joe.urbanik@gsa.gov, c=US Date: 2017.06.22 17:42:57 -04'00'

THERESA RAMOS

Digitally signed by THERESA RAMOS DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=General Services Administration, cn=THERESA RAMOS, 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=47001000214557 Date: 2017.06.23 14:02:48 -04'00'