LSJ_Netcomm_redacted.pdf

NCI uses Beacon and its associated components as the primary resources for tracking, reporting, and controlling budgets. The renewal of license, support, updates, and maintenance are vital to support the annual budget process and complete end-of-year closing activities.

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

a. Project title.

Procurement of NetComm Beacon Cloud FedRAMP Software Subscription Licenses, Support Services, Updates, and Maintenance

b. Project description.

The Contractor shall provide the following software licenses:

PRODUCT

NUMBER

DESCRIPTION NUMBER OF

LICENSES

Number of

Months BCF-FINM-B01 Beacon Cloud FedRAMP - Finance Module 1 12 BCF-FINU-U01 Beacon Cloud FedRAMP - Finance Single User 240 12

Technical support, updates, and maintenance shall be provided in accordance with Attachment 1 - Statement of Work (SOW)

Requirement type.

Support services (non-research & development).

Supplies/equipment Information technology (IT) Other (specify): ____________________

Type of action.

New requirement Follow-on Other (specify): This is a continuation of prior award # GS-

35F-0564P/75N91023F00171. The prior award was processed as a sole source procurement and has a twelve (12) month period of performance from 09/26/2023 – 09/25/2024. NetComm was unable quote option periods for the prior award due to their GSA MAS renegotiation.

Proposed contract/order type.

Firm-fixed-price Time and materials

Indefinite delivery (specify whether indefinite quantity, definite quantity, or requirements): ___________ Other (specify): ___________

Acquisition identification number – TBD

c. Total estimated dollar value and performance/delivery period.

Total Estimated Dollar Value (Base plus all Options) =

The period of performance shall be for one (1) 12-month base period plus four (4) 12-month option periods as follows:

Base Period: 09/26/2024 – 09/25/2025 Option Period 1: 09/26/2025 – 09/25/2026 Option Period 2: 09/26/2026 – 09/25/2027 Option Period 3: 09/26/2027 – 09/25/2028 Option Period 4: 09/26/2028 – 09/25/2029

4. Identification of the justification rationale and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

a. Acquisition authority.

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(a) Limiting Sources, the circumstance that justifies the action is FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(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.

b. Demonstration of the proposed contractor(s) unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

Name and address of the proposed contractor(s).

NetComm, Inc.

9403 Spruce Tree CIR Bethesda, Maryland 20814-1654

SAM UEI: RWB1LBE68Q47

Nature of the acquisition and proposed contractor(s) unique qualifications.

Beacon Cloud FedRAMP (Beacon) is a proprietary custom application developed by and sold exclusively by NetComm. NetComm has formally communicated to the Government that third-party vendors are prohibited from offering licenses or maintenance support for the required Beacon products. Beacon is currently used by multiple NIH ICs as the primary tool for several administrative functions. Its integration with several critical NIH enterprise systems and IT security protocols, as well as its integration with NIH’s accounting data through the central data warehouse, makes it a vital tool for NCI’s staff to manage the expenditure of funds. Beacon has also been integrated with numerous customized downstream applications and provides critical functionality that is not available through any other existing commercial solution. Any other software product would require significant customization, substantial switching costs, and risk the overall work performed within NCI.

Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

GSA has already determined the prices of the products and services under the proposed contractors FSS contract to be fair and reasonable. A final fair and reasonable price determination will be conducted prior to the award of this Task Order. The determination will include a validation of proposed pricing against the contractor’s GSA pricelist, and a comparison to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE).

Description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted. This procurement is leveraging system integration investments made in prior years that would have to be re-created and funded to establish alternative solutions.

In addition, the NCI user community has developed a myriad of downstream integrations with Excel and other platforms that rely directly on this application.

Consideration of any alternatives need to factor in the cost in terms of staff time and effort to re-create these integrated resources in another platform.

Therefore, awarding to any other source would result in substantial duplicative costs to the Government, with little chance of recovery through competition, and lead to unacceptable delays in meeting agency requirements.

he Contracting Officer’s market research included knowledge gathering (FAR 10.002(b)(2)(i)) in consultation with the requesting office, ITRC, and contract database inquiries for mandatory sources (FAR 10.002(b)(2)(iv)).

Internet searches confirmed that commercial alternatives do not exist among GSA schedule holders or through an open market procurement. In exploring non-commercial options, ITRC evaluated nSIGHT, a software product under NIH’s nVision Business Intelligence Solution. nSIGHT was found to not be customizable to meet NCI-specific features, such as the integration of clinical budget information with NIH financial data. Customization at the NCI level is critical for back-office automation and reporting functionality.

This acquisition utilizes the mandatory use GSA MAS IT contract vehicle per HHS Acquisition Alert 2023-12. The proposed vendor is a women-owned small business concern. Additionally, NCI's Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO) designated the security level for the required cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) as “moderate”, requiring an HHS Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) compliant Authorization to Operate (ATO).

The required licenses maintain a FedRAMP compliant ATO.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

None. All facts have been previously stated.

8. 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 the supplies or services is made.

a. Removal of barriers to competition Before any subsequent acquisition, the NCI will conduct market research to determine whether additional vendors (resellers) are available that would allow a competitive procurement, and consideration to whether the use of new solutions to the requirement are available.

b. Listing of sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition.

No other sources have expressed an interest, in writing, in the proposed acquisition.