JUSTIFICATION_Except. to Fair Opp._Microsoft Licensing REDACTED_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

BRAND NAME

IAW FAR 16.505

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND CONTRACTING AGENCY:

Contracting Activity Customer Agency Department of Labor (DOL) DOL Office of the Assistant Secretary for OASAM Administration and Management (OASAM) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Office of the Senior Procurement Executive (OSPE) 200 Constitution Avenue, NW 200 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20210

Washington, DC 20210

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED:

This “Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity” authorizes and approves the issuance of an order under the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), of a brand name requirement in support of OCIO to acquire Microsoft software licensing and Software Assurance (SA) benefits for those licenses for DOL. This requirement will support OCIO Microsoft software applications to sustain approximately 23,000 end users nationwide. The contemplated order will be fixed price, and competed among NASA SEWP Microsoft Software and SA redistributors.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S

NEEDS (Including the Estimated Value):

The OCIO requires Microsoft software licensing and Software Assurance benefits for the enterprise networks located within DOL. The Department currently provides approximately 78,000 Microsoft software applications supporting approximately 23,000 end users nationwide. The Microsoft agreement provides routine software upgrades and maintenance for mandated office products used throughout DOL for various business needs and technical support functions. DOL requires the proprietary Microsoft office products to standardize the DOL processes, integrate enterprise solutions to seamlessly support end-to-end capability, provide accurate, consistent, timely information from a single source, and manage and track cost drivers as an enterprise. All components and applications supplied are fully functional, operate correctly as intended on systems, and meet federal network and security requirements and guidelines. All components and applications supplied are in new condition and authorized by the original manufacturer, covered under the manufacturer’s warranties, and entitled to coverage under any applicable original manufacturer support and maintenance agreements. Microsoft SA is a comprehensive maintenance offering that will help Microsoft users get the most out of their software investment. Microsoft SA users will be able to increase productivity, accelerate organizational performance, and quickly realize a return on software investment. The period of performance for this action is for a 12 month base period and four 12 month option periods. The total estimated value is

4. IDENTIFICATION OF THE EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY AND THE

SUPPORTING RATIONAL:

In accordance with the Exceptions to the Fair Opportunity Process, this acquisition is conducted under the authority of the statutory exception identified in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(a)(4)(i) requires justification of restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer). Microsoft is the only manufacturer of the software products needed. The Microsoft products, are available from multiple authorized resellers.

The products are essential to the Government’s requirements and market research indicates other companies’ similar products do not meet and can’t be modified to meet DOL needs.

DOL requires the proprietary Microsoft office products to standardize the DOL processes, integrate enterprise solutions to seamlessly support end-to-end capability, provide accurate, consistent, and timely information from a single source, and manage and track cost drivers as an enterprise. No other brand is capable of integrating with the existing Microsoft office products without significant disruption or loss of service continuity. Use of an alternative manufacturer would result in costs exceeding the current software/hardware investment as well as additional cost for administrative support and downtime of the system.

To undergo a change of software in the DOL environment, moving to anything other than Microsoft, would have substantial costs associated with it. First, it requires obtaining, testing, and deploying new software across the environment. This alone would require replacing the over 78,000 Microsoft licenses already in place. These licenses range from supporting various business functions to fulfilling highly technical functions. This process would take well over a year and in many places the environment would need to be modified in order to enable another software to be used. While there are limited alternatives available to Microsoft office products, no other product can synchronize with OCIO’s existing environment in a timely manner without costing the Government an estimated amount of $60 million for system integration, equipment, manpower, and training amongst others.

The investments made to procure, install, configure, test, and train personnel in the current Microsoft environment could not be recovered by procurement and conversion to other brand name applications in lieu of procuring maintenance and updates. Microsoft office products have already been certified to run on the DOL network. It would take in excess of twelve months to introduce a new brand and to get them up and running on the network. Microsoft office products are proprietary; changing to a new architecture could result in the government having to reengineer the applications throughout DOL to accommodate the change. Due to the prohibitive anticipated cost for the time to implement and integrate existing business functions and management tools, acquiring another brand name would cause the Government to incur substantial duplication of cost that is not expected to be recovered through competition. These costs and risks far outweigh the costs of executing this order. The approximate costs to transition to a software other than Microsoft would be more than triple the costs of this enterprise agreement. Microsoft owns all proprietary rights to the applications. Only Microsoft or its authorized resellers can provide the required yearly licensing, definition updates, and assurance to ensure network security. Accordingly, no other vendor or distributor can legally obtain access to the servers since they are protected by copyright and patent laws.

5. A DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE

ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNEMENT WILL BE FAIR AND

REASONABLE:

Market research has determined that prices from NASA SEWP resellers of Microsoft products are fair and reasonable. It has been determined that there are four distributors that can provide the Microsoft products. The Contracting Officer will conduct a price analysis on the price quotations to ensure that proposed pricing is fair and reasonable and that it provides the best value to the government.

6. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION.

These products were also found on GSA Advantage and sold on the Open Market. Market Research showed that NASA SEWP will provide the most competition with prices already determined to be fair and reasonable, therefore the government expects to find the best value for the government procuring under NASA SEWP.

7. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO

REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION

TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IS MADE:

Market research has indicated that there are multiple vendors that sell these brand name products under NASA SEWP; there will be competition amongst the authorized resellers.

8. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO

REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY

SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED:

DOL/OCIO will re-evaluate the IT enterprise as we approach the end of life for the existing solution and conduct a detailed technical assessment of the IT technology landscape, test other solutions, and assess current needs at the time that will be suitable for DOL/OCIO needs.

9. SIGNATURE BLOCKS:

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION:

The program/technical official further certifies that no conflict of interest exists in awarding this NASA SEWP order to a brand name distributor.

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

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity, I hereby determine that the circumstances of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) applies to the proposed brand name order.

Signature: Date: _____________________________

Type Name:

Title: Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA)

March 18, 2021