JA.pdf

VA-20-00028240

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: This proposed action is for a 12-month firm-fixed price (FFP) delivery order for the renewal of International Business Machines (IBM) Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) software maintenance. This effort is being conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program; the proposed effort will be awarded under General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract number GS-35F-110DA to IBM, 6710 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817- 1834.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action is for the renewal of IBM MVS software maintenance for 50 existing IBM MVS product licenses currently in use by VA, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), Information Technology and Operations (ITOPS), Infrastructure Operations (IO). The MVS software is utilized for the seamless end-to-end performance monitoring of systems and applications providing business services based upon experiences by end users. The required MVS software maintenance will consist of software upgrades and updates to include point releases, service releases and security releases of applicable software on a quarterly basis, and/or within 48 hours in cases in which a high-risk vulnerability fix becomes available.

These software upgrades and updates are necessary for IO to continue successful operation of the existing IBM-based infrastructure which supports existing IO systems and applications. The maintenance is required to ensure the IO's MVS software remains operational. The Contractor shall provide one (1) telephone number and/or a Point of Contact for VA to contact and open a maintenance support call. The required full level of service includes 24 hours per day, 7 days per week telephone and online coverage with a 2-hour response time. All VA support calls shall be initiated by the VA designated point of contact. The vendor shall provide secure connection capabilities for the downloading of software updates and/or the uploading of diagnostic information.

The preferred protocol for transfer is Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). This proposed action is for renewal of maintenance services only. The Period of Performance (PoP) shall be October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $.

4. Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program. The specific authority providing for a limited source award is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 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."

FY21 IBM MVS - Maintenance Recompete (Renewal) VA-20-00028240

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: IO is tasked with maintaining the existing IBM MVS software installed on the mainframe computing platforms located at the Austin, Philadelphia, and Hines Information Technology Centers. The MVS software is utilized for the seamless monitoring of end-to-end performance of business services based upon the experiences of end users. VA requires software maintenance support capable of supporting its existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability including upgrades and updates comprised of point releases, service releases of applicable software on a quarterly basis, or within 48 hours in cases where a high-risk vulnerability fix becomes available. IO's current infrastructure and software communicates through MVS source code which is based upon IBM proprietary data and source code. Accordingly, only IBM has the requisite knowledge and expertise with VA’s existing MVS infrastructure protocols. If changes were made to the underlying IBM source code by anyone other than IBM significant mistakes could be made which would harm VA’s implementation and risk IO not being able to appropriately monitor its data centers. Additionally, IBM is the only source capable of providing access to IBM’s proprietary source code necessary to develop, configure and implement software updates. The current IBM based infrastructure supports multiple critical VA programs, most notably the Benefits Delivery Network which is VA's primary veterans' claims processing, tracking and payment system which tracks and distributes approximately $40 billion in Veterans' entitlements annually.

Based on the concerns above, IBM is the only source capable of providing the required MVS software maintenance that meets these unique requirements. Further, no other software products are compatible or interoperable with the IO's existing IBM MVS proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces. Failure to maintain the IO's existing IBM MVS software will have a cascading negative impact on multiple critical VA programs, including BON, which could result in the interruption of Veterans claims processing, significantly impacting VA's ability to continue reducing the claims processing backlog.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 8.405-6(a)(2) the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the beta.SAM.gov website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award. Further, in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b)(3) this justification will be posted with the Request for Quotation on the GSA eBuy website.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government's technical experts reviewed similar software maintenance support services in January 2020 to ascertain if there were other products that could meet VA's requirements. Specifically, the Government's technical experts conducted web-based research on software maintenance solutions including Action

Message Format, Message Pack, and Alternative Format Service. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that as the source code underlying VA’s current MVS implementation is proprietary to IBM, they are the only source capable of providing the required software maintenance including required upgrades and updates to the existing IBM MVS software. No other source has the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for IBM MVS software necessary to support the functional requirements stated in section 5 above. Additionally, all of the other products researched were unable to meet the Government's maintenance requirements necessary to support IO's existing IBM MVS software.

Additional market research was conducted in July 2020. The Vendor Information Pages database was reviewed in March 2020 for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) vendors, using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541519, Other Computer Related Services, and keyword “IBM MVS Software Maintenance,” yielding 751 matches, including 631 SDVOSBs and 120 VOSBs. IBM began to categorize its MVS software as a Monthly License Charge (MLC) in Fiscal Year 2016. However, IBM resellers do not categorize MVS software as a MLC. Accordingly, the required MVS software maintenance cannot be purchased through IBM resellers. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), IBM, confirmed in a letter dated February 12, 2020 that the required MVS software maintenance is available only through IBM's General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule contract number GS-35F-110DA.

Additionally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Market Research Tool was utilized to confirm that the required MVS software maintenance is not available under IBM’s NASA SEWP contract as suggested by IBM’s aforementioned letter.

9. Other Facts: None

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

Date: ___________________________

Signature: _______________________

11. Determination of Best Value: I hereby determine that the proposed contract action will represent the best value to the Government consistent with FAR 8.404(d). GSA has already determined that the prices on the FSS contract are fair and reasonable. Finally, price analysis shall be conducted by comparing the successful quote to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

Date: ___________________________

Signature:________________________

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

Date: ___________________________

Signature:________________________

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of a firm-fixed price delivery order under General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract number GS-35F-110DA, for the renewal of International Business Machines (IBM) Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) software maintenance on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________

Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics