Limited Sources Justification ESRI BPA - Army Geospatial Center_HCA Signed_Redacted.pdf

CUI//SP-SSEL

Control No: AGC-24-0001

CUI/SP-SSEL

Acquisition Sensitive (Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4) responsibility. Regarding the AGC mission and scope, ESRI ArcGIS is interoperable with other GIS software in the Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE), as well as other GIS and geospatial enterprise system architectures across the DoD as was indicated by the Francis Scott Key bridge example. Thus, this acquisition is under the mission authority of the AGC to ensure interoperability across the AGE, as well as the AGC mission for establishing and maintaining Army alignment with DoD geospatial enterprise systems and capabilities.

b. Justification: ESRI is uniquely qualified to provide the required products and services. There are no comparable software product suites on the market that meet both the Army’s requirement for a total suite of GIS software for the collection, exploitation, management, and visualization, and the Army’s requirement for a common operating platform enabling dissemination of digital geospatial data. Furthermore, using ESRI products maximizes years of Army and DoD investments in these ESRI software products. Other GIS vendors, which provide GIS software products, meet significantly fewer software capabilities and fewer geospatial requirements. The ESRI software is ubiquitous throughout Army commands using GIS, and this software has the unique capability to accomplish all the Army-wide geospatial mission requirements with one software suite.

Additionally, all ESRI software products and services to be procured, as part of this requirement, relate to commercial ArcGIS software, which is developed and maintained solely by ESRI. The software, data, and documentation are owned by ESRI and protected by United States laws and applicable international laws, treaties, and conventions regarding intellectual property and property rights. ESRI and its resellers retain all rights, title, and ownership of all copies of software, data, and documentation.

Although there are resellers, these entities have been granted authority to only sell a limited portion of ESRI products. As indicated in a letter from ESRI dated 29 October 2024 to the AGC Contracting, “ESRI, as the owner and manufacturer, is the sole source provider of all the domestic EAs. While some products are available through value-added resellers on a unit-priced basis, ESRI is the only source that can grant a right to copy and deploy products in an EA. An EA is a bundled package for licensing software, maintenance, and online services for the redistribution within the organization.” ESRI does not authorize its resellers to provide technical support, product upgrades, or EAs, all of which are part of the Government’s requirement. AGC cannot enter a contract with resellers for the full line of ESRI products and services. ESRI restricts these vendors from reselling all the ESRI Category B products and from providing database upgrades, training, and software maintenance support and services. In addition, ESRI does not contract large-scale agreements (i.e., EAs) through its resellers. Not being able to enter EAs eliminates AGC’s ability to take advantage of economies of scale, efficiency of delivery, and more reasonable terms and conditions for AGC and its customers.

c. Alternatives: Market research indicates that the only alternative to be considered for procuring the required products and services from ESRI is to select another vendor and utilize a different GIS software package.

CUI/SP-SSEL

Acquisition Sensitive (Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

a. Effective competition: There is no competition for ESRI as they are the sole developer of commercial ArcGIS software and the only contractor that can provide both the software, training and professional services required for this procurement.

b. Subcontracting competition: Subcontracting opportunities are highly unlikely unless granted by ESRI. ESRI has granted limited reselling rights to certain resellers however, those resellers are restricted from selling the full line of products and services.

Currently, there are no small businesses or authorized ESRI resellers that have complete access to all ESRI’s ArcGIS products and services. ESRI’s agreement with its authorized resellers for the resale of ESRI ArcGIS software is limited and excludes Category C products; all the software maintenance, support services, and any EAs. It is not anticipated that this requirement will change and provide opportunities for small businesses since ESRI retains all the proprietary rights to its product and service line.

Unless ESRI changes its proprietary rights or allows its resellers to sell its full line of products and services, ESRI will remain the only source for the ArcGIS software products and services. In ESRI’s GSA Schedule, the company has a page titled “USA Commitment to Promote Small Business Participation Procurement Programs.” ESRI states that, “We are committed to promoting participation of small, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses in our contracts. We pledge to provide opportunities to the small business community through reselling opportunities, mentor-protégé programs, joint ventures, teaming arrangements, and subcontracting. The ESRI GSA Schedule goes on the state ESRI’s commitment to the following:

To actively seek and partner with small businesses.

To identify, qualify, mentor, and develop small, small disadvantaged and women owned small businesses by purchasing from these businesses whenever practical.

To develop and promote company policy initiatives that demonstrates the company’s support for awarding contracts and subcontracts to small business concerns.

To undertake significant efforts to determine the potential of small, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses to supply products and services to the company.

To ensure procurement opportunities are designed to permit the maximum possible participation of small, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.

To attend business opportunity workshops, minority business enterprise seminars, trade fairs, procurement conferences, etc., to identify and increase small businesses with whom to partner.

To publicize in marketing publications the company’s interest in meeting small businesses that may be interested in subcontracting opportunities.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

Competition for this action is not anticipated. ESRI is the sole developer of the commercial ArcGIS software and the only contractor that can provide all the minimum

CUI/SP-SSEL

Acquisition Sensitive (Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4) comply with FAR 8.405-6(a)(2) Limiting Sources - Posting requirements of 14 days after award of the BPA:

Within 14 - days after placing an order or establishing a BPA exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold that is supported by a limited-sources justification permitted under any of the circumstances under FAR 8.405- 6(a)(1), circumstances justifying limiting the source, the ordering activity shall— o Publish notice in accordance with FAR 53.01; and o Post the justification at the government point of entry (GPE), on the web site of the ordering activity agency, which may provide access to the justification by linking to the GPE, and for a minimum of 30-days.

Contracting officers shall carefully screen all justifications for contractor proprietary data and remove all such data and such references and citations as are necessary to protect the proprietary data before making the justifications available for public inspection.