JA_Redacted.pdf

Control Number VA-23-00000374

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

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: The proposed sole source action is for the award of a firm-fixed price delivery order (DO) for the renewal of brand name Feith software maintenance support and upgrades issued to Feith Systems and Software, Inc.

(Feith) 425 Maryland Dr., Fort Washington, PA 19034-2501.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Infrastructure Operations (IO), Chief of Staff (CoS), Acquisitions and Logistics (A&L), requires software maintenance for the following Feith software products currently in use at the VA.The maintenance support services and upgrades will allow IO, Platform Support to receive software updates and upgrades to include major releases, point releases, service releases and security releases of applicable software on a quarterly basis, and within 48 hours in cases in which a high-risk vulnerability fix becomes available. The software support maintenance is necessary for IO, Platform Support to be able to provide operational and successful support systems for the VA National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The period of performance for this effort shall be 12 months, which will commence at time of award, with two 12-month option periods. The total estimated value of the proposed action is , inclusive of option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source for this action is Feith Systems and Software, Inc., 425 Maryland Drive, Fort Washington, PA 190342501. VA, IO, Platform Support currently owns and maintains the Feith software applications. Feith is a proprietary software system that provides document-image depository capability. This system has been integrated into the current IO, Platform Support, and it is used to store documents that are faxed into the NCA for the Memorial Benefits Program and as well as other NCA programs. IO, Platform Support requires support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. This software is unique to Feith and only Feith can provide the necessary software support maintenance because of the propriety source code required to develop and implement software updates. No other source is capable of providing the required software support maintenance that meets VA's unique functional requirements. No other license is compatible with or interoperable with the existing Feith proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces.

Feith Software Maintenance Control Number VA-23-00000374

Therefore, only Feith brand name software support maintenance can meet the Government's requirements.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any

. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201.

Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

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 conducted market research during February 2021 and as early as August 2022 and at present there is no other software available in the market place with the same functionality that can readily integrate with the data center's infrastructure to replace the Feith software currently in use. Software products such as OpenText and Right Fax does not possess similar capabilities to provide the required software support maintenance, only Feith has access to the proprietary source code, existing proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces specific to the software support maintenance for this particular software. Without access to the proprietary source code, existing proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces, software support maintenance and any updates or upgrades cannot be installed, which could result in the data center infrastructure functioning with an outdated and/or unsupportable software version.

This would provide less functionality to the end users or system failure. VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other software maintenance and upgrades are available for the proprietary Feith software. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government's technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned Feith brand name software maintenance support can meet all of the Government's needs.

Finally, in an email dated September 21, 2022, Feith notified VA that Feith is the only source that can provide VA with its current Feith maintenance and license configuration support, and there are no authorized partners or resellers for these offerings. As such, there is not an expectation of competition, even in a limited capacity.

9. Other Facts: N/A

Feith Software Maintenance Control Number VA-23-00000374

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.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on price analysis IAW FAR Part 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii), via comparison of proposed prices to Historical prices paid and FAR Part 15.404-1(b)(2)(v) by comparing the total evaluated price to the Independent Government Cost Estimate

(IGCE).

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $750,000, the certification below required by FAR 6.304(a)(1) serves as approval.