LSJ VAO_Redacted.pdf

Limited Sources Justification (LSJ)

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies.

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) proposes to award an order pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(a), Limiting Sources.

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

OPM/OPO intends to procure Virtual Acquisition Office (VAO) Subscription by limiting the number of sources solicited, pursuant to FAR Part 8.405-6(a), to Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC, 21251 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 100, Dulles, VA 20166.

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

The requirement is to purchase a VAO Subscription for up to 50 users at a total price of for a one (1) year period starting on September 30, 2020 thru September 29, 2021.

4. Authority and supporting rationale.

This action is being conducted in accordance with 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.

The VAO subscription is used extensively by over 130 federal agencies and is recognized and the premier provider of acquisition knowledge information and training services in the marketplace. VAO’s workforce development and productivity tools will improve OPM/OPO’s ability to execute its primary responsibilities by ensuring access to best in class suite of tools, training, job aids and information. Additionally, subscription access will provide the OPM/OPO team with daily news relevant to acquisition, the tracking of legislative bills and laws and the availability of acquisition publications, research services, protest lessons learned, training webinars (offering recognized continuous learning points), sample process documents and templates, a contracting officer and program managers toolkits and FAR process checklists.

Unison Virtual Acquisition Office, LLC is the owner, developer, and sole provider of VAO online website. Unison is the only company able to provide subscriptions and access to VAO services.

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

The contracting officer has determined that issuing the proposed Order to Unison VAO, LLC represents the best value and will result in the lowest overall cost, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. This order will be placed in accordance with FAR 8.404, “Use of Federal Supply Schedules.” GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, ordering activities are not required to make a separate determination of fair and reasonable pricing. By placing an order against a schedule contract using the procedures in 8.405, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs. Although GSA has already negotiated fair and reasonable pricing, ordering activities may seek additional discounts before placing an order. OPO will request additional discounts to Unison’s GSA schedule pricing.

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

Market research was conducted with several schedule holders by querying the GSA Advantage search tool; however, none of the vendors offer a service as robust as the Unison VAO Subscription. Access to VAO can only be obtained directly from Unison

VAO, LLC.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited-sources justification.

None.

8. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration

The Government will conduct another market survey prior to considering a VAO Subscription re-procurement next fiscal year to determine if there are new service providers in the marketplace that exceed the capabilities of VAO.