JOFOC_Blaise.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Research, Education, and Economics

Agricultural Research Service

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity:

USDA/ARS/AFM/APD

805 Pennsylvania Avenue Kansas City, MO 64105

Jessica Edwards, Contracting Officer (913)277-0218

2. Nature/Description of Action:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) requires the renewal of Blaise 4 software licenses.

This project is a continuation of the previous stand-alone contract 1232SA19C0007 with Westat, Inc.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

a. Project Title.

Renewal of Blaise 4 Software Licenses.

b. Project Description.

NASS requires the renewal of Blaise 4 licensing to accommodate 14 developers; 800 intv = 214 usage units CATI and CAPI (500 enumerators and 300 editors). NASS requires the Blaise Component Pack (BCP) (150-224) license and two (2) Blaise Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Server licenses. The requirement specifies licensing for a twelve (12) month base period and two (2) twelve (12) month option periods.

Requirement type: Information technology (IT). Type of action: New requirement.

Proposed contract/order type: Firm-fixed-price. Acquisition identification number: Requisition #1050331

4. Statutory Authority:

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) and 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Demonstration of Contractor's Unique Qualifications:

The manufacturer of the Blaise software, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), has confirmed that since 2001, Westat, Inc., has been the sole distributor of the Blaise software in North and South America and those conditions shall continue through 2024. Westat, Inc. is the only vendor with the ability to license Blaise software in supplies needed in these continents. Thus, Westat, Inc. is the only source determined capable of supplying NASS’s requirement for renewal of Blaise software licenses.

NASS has developed over 140 survey instruments for both CATI data collection and data editing using the Blaise software. Converting these to another software package would be time consuming, expensive, and lose accumulated data quality checks that are in place in the current system.

6. Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) Announcement/Potential Sources:

A Sources Sought Announcement was posted to FBO on 10/4/2021 and responses were due back on 10/11/2021.

Three responses from other sources were received however it was confirmed from the technical point of contact that the vendors could not provide Blaise 4 support services.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost:

A fair and reasonable price determination will be determined based on a comparison of proposed price with prices in previous procurements and the vendor’s current published price list.

8. Market Survey:

Market research was conducted through Internet research, and manufacturer conversations. All methods confirmed that only one source was available. Blaise software is not licensed through other providers.

9. Additional Support:

No additional information

10. Other Interested Sources:

Three responses were received from Questivity Incorporated, VCloud Tech and Quadyster however they do not offer the required software.

11. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Future Competition:

The software provided by the vendor is proprietary, and only the vendor can provide the requested software licenses.

In the event that Blaise software licenses are made available for distribution by other vendors, full and open competition will be considered.