JOFOC_ENVI_BPA_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

CLASS LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

ENVI GEOSPATIAL REMOTE SENSING SOFTWARE BPA

AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6 and 40 U.S.C 501

SOLICITATION # 140D0425Q0111

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

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Limited-Sources Justification.”

Requiring Activity: Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240

Contracting Activity: Department of the Interior (DOI) Interior Business Center/Acquisition Services Directorate (IBC/AQD)

381 Elden Street Herndon, VA 20170-4842

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a class limited source justification for a requirement to establish a follow-on single-award DOI Enterprise wide Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for ENVI geospatial remote sensing software licenses to purchase remote sensing data products manufactured by NV5 Geospatial Solutions, Inc. that are available on General Service Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 511210 or 54151. This new BPA will provide continued maintenance on the existing DOI ENVI software installation base, as well as technical support services. The DOI has a significant investment in NV5 Geospatial ENVI software to accomplish mission critical tasks involving the analysis of remotely sensed data. Over the past several years this investment has grown through individual awards by DOI Bureaus and Bureau programs. The pursuit of a DOI-wide BPA for ENVI remote sensing software will greatly streamline administration and result in lower administrative costs to DOI, as well as potentially offer a deeper discount than the Bureaus could individually receive. NV5 Geospatial Solutions, Inc. is the sole source supplier for their ENVI and Interactive Data Language (IDL) software products in the United States and utilizes no other authorized third-party distributors, resellers, or agents based on market research. Therefore, this acquisition will be conducted noncompetitively, issuing a

SOL #140D0425Q0111

solicitation to NV5. This Class Limited Sources Justification (LSJ) will cover all orders to be issued against the resultant BPA.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

Provide continued maintenance to the existing DOI ENVI software installation base which includes media or on-line upgrade capability for upgrades of all existing and new software products in the NV5 Geospatial ENVI GSA Schedule, including access to technical support and training courses. It is critical that these ENVI and IDL software licenses be maintained and upgraded based on the need each Bureau Program has for utilizing this technology.

In addition to maintenance of DOI’s existing ENVI license base and support services, the proposed BPA includes discounts on existing and new ENVI software, maintenance, and training. The duration of the agreement is a base period of one year plus four one-year options beginning on April 20, 2025.

The DOI estimates continuing a consistent volume through the BPA with expenditures estimated at /year, or total for a 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods BPA award. An enterprise-wide ordering vehicle will maximize the level of discount for DOI and provide an easy-to-use procurement vehicle for Bureau Program staff and Contracting Officers to utilize.

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

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.

There are no other available commercial solutions that can meet this unique requirement.

NV5 Geospatial Solutions, Inc. is the sole source supplier for their ENVI and Interactive Data Language (IDL) software products in the United States and utilizes no other authorized third-party distributors, resellers, or agents based on market research.

ENVI software capabilities are mission-critical to the DOI by providing the Land Remote Sensing (LRS) and other programs and projects with the tools required to accomplish the completion of many tasks associated with spectral remote sensing analysis. Included is viewing, analyzing, sharing and manipulating geospatial and hyperspectral data.

Hyperspectral remote sensing is the inevitable future of remote sensing and ENVI is the de facto standard for hyperspectral analysis, utilizing special spectroscopic algorithms, routines and spectral libraries. Image processing tasks include gathering information from ad-hoc data visualization and data analysis, along with reading, extracting, processing, analyzing, and sharing information from high spatial and spectral-resolution imagery. ENVI provides advanced, user-friendly tools to read, explore, prepare, analyze and share information extracted from geospatial imagery which is unique and not known to exist in any other software products, including custom libraries such as the US Geological Survey (USGS) mineral spectral library. Additionally, ENVI software utilizes the IDL programing language, a proprietary software application by NV5 Geospatial. IDL is a timesaving, cross-platform computing environment for data analysis, visualization, and application development. IDL requires minimal code and program expertise to produce excellent visualizations and analyses.

NV5 Geospatial is the main remote sensing technology business partner with Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri). DOI acquires the vast majority of its geospatial technology from Esri, the de facto geospatial technology standard in DOI and the Federal Government. The NV5 Geospatial business and technology development relationship is a key reason why the only new remote sensing software acquired by DOI the last seven years has been ENVI. DOI has made a significant organization investment in Esri technology. In order to maximize the utility of and protect this investment, ENVI geospatial remote sensing software licenses is required.

Failure to procure the products identified herein would greatly affect the ability of the agency to continue with necessary geospatial functions. Bureau programs who need this technology for mission critical activities would have to attempt to perform those tasks with less functional remote sensing software. This would cost more through training and tasks could no longer be completed due to lack of functionality that couldn't be replicated. Or replicated through internal development which would be extremely expensive. For the time being, the risk and potential of negative consequences to the Government not utilizing the correct support, maintenance, and upgrades for all ENVI products listed in NV5 Geospatial GSA Schedule GS-35F-0265T must be avoided.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The NV5 ENVI software and technical support services under this BPA will be quoted as an estimated dollar value for the base year and each option period. The AQD Contracting Officer (CO) will determine the price is fair and reasonable via the use of an in-depth price analysis comparing the pricing against current NV5 Geospatial ENVI GSA Schedule (GS- 35F-0265T) rates, a comparison to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) provided by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and based on a comparison with historical pricing for this software maintenance.

Based on this comparison it is anticipated the BPA’s price will represent a best value to the Government. The DOI CO will seek a discount from the FSS rates and ensure the rates for the proposed BPA and Call Orders will be reasonable. The proposed BPA will provide the best value to the Government because of the anticipated discounted pricing from FSS rates and a streamlined acquisition process for DOI Bureaus.

A price analysis will be conducted and documented in accordance with DOI-AAAP-0024.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

On December 13, 2024, the CO posted an RFI on GSA eBuy to survey the market for written responses with information to identify potential sources that can provide support, maintenance, upgrades and the rights to distribute software for all NV5 products listed in GSA Schedule GS-35F-0265T. The RFI was posted to all business sizes for 7 calendar days to all contract holders on GSA MAS 511210 IT Software Licenses. The RFI asked the contract holders to provide information regarding their ability to provide the software and support required by OCIO, also if they had the capability to offer equivalent products. No responses were received as of December 20, 2024, when the RFI closed. In total 1,007 GSA schedule holders were contacted to determine if there are any potential competitive sources capable of providing support, maintenance, upgrades and the rights to distribute software for all ENVI products listed in NV5 Geospatial GSA Schedule GS-35F-0265T.

For the proposed BPA, a notice will be posted along with this justification on SAM.gov within 14 days after award as required by FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)(i). The notice will state DOI’s intent to enter into non-competitive negotiations with NV5 Geospatial to establish a BPA for ENVI software and licensing support for DOI bureaus and offices. Inquiries and responses are not expected for the notice in regard to the proposed BPA due to very little change over the last several years in the remote sensing market that has significantly benefited the Government.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Executing this class LSJ at the BPA level, DOI Bureaus will not need to prepare their own LSJ at the order level, which will reduce the administrative burden that required for new, individual awards.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for supplies and services is made.

DOI continually reviews the remote sensing marketplace to determine the most cost effective and efficient software products to use. To our knowledge, there is no other vendor that offers spectral remote sensing analysis software as efficient and effective as ENVI. ENVI software provides advanced, user-friendly tools for hyperspectral data analysis and shares information extracted from geospatial imagery which is unique. DOI will revisit this analysis for each Option Year on the BPA and will make efforts to maximize competition in the industry, if market conditions change.