A.3 FAR 13 Justification for Use of Items Peculiar to One Manufacturer (V1.2 04-28-2023) - REDACTED.pdf

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

MARINE CORPS INSTALLATIONS NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO

3250 CATLIN AVENUE

QUANTICO VIRGINIA 22134 5001

FAR 13 Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity

V 1.2 (28 April 2023)

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY – Open Market (Acquisition Under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold)

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

The Contracting Activity is the Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region – Regional Contracting Office (MCINCR-RCO), located at 210 Henderson Road, MCB Quantico, VA. The requiring activity is Marine Corps University (MCU) / Education Command (EDCOM), located at MCB Quantico, VA.

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

The Marine Corps University has a requirement for Microsoft 365 A5, Planner and Project Plan 3 and Visio Plan 2, Defender fort Business and Power Automate Premium annual licensing. Microsoft 365 A5 is a suite of office applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher and Access. Microsoft 365 A5 also includes Services such as Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Planner, Sway, Forms, Stream, and Flow. Microsoft 365 A5 will provide the MCU with seamless, integrated capabilities that can be accessed on multiple devices while providing security and protection from advanced threats for both students and faculty.

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

MCU/EDCOM has a brand name requirement for (1,250) Microsoft 365 A5 (Education Faculty Pricing), (50,000) Microsoft 365 A5 Student use benefit (Education Student Pricing), (20) Planner and Project Plan 3 for Faculty (Education Faculty Pricing), (30) Visio Plan 2 (Education Faculty Pricing), (25) M365 Defender for Business, and (60) M365 Power Automate Premium. These software licenses will provide office automation and collaboration tools for staff and students.

The Government intends to issue a single Firm Fixed Price (FFP) order with FFP CLIN’s against an Open Market contract vehicle. Estimated cost for this procurement is $176,932.00. Marine Corps Operations and Maintenance (O&M) appropriations will be used to fund the one (1) twelve-month period of performance as outlined in the table below:

FY25 Total Period O&M

Base Period

Brand Name / Manufacturer

Item Name / Description Manufacturer Part Number

Quantity Unit Price Extended Price

Microsoft Microsoft 365 A5 (Education Faculty Pricing)

CFQ7TTC0LHPJ:0015 1,250

Microsoft Microsoft 365 A5 Student use benefit (Education Student Pricing)

CFQ7TTC0LHP8:0005 50,000

Microsoft Planner and Project Plan 3 for Faculty (Education Faculty Pricing)

CFQ7TTC0HDB0:000X 20

Microsoft Visio Plan 2 (Education Faculty Pricing)

CFQ7TTC0HD32:0012 30

Microsoft M365 Defender for Business CFQ7TTC0HX56:0002 25 Microsoft M365 Power Automate Premium CFQ7TTC0LSGZ:0001 60

TOTAL

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity and the supporting rationale.

The item required must be a brand name product, or feature of a product, particular to one manufacturer.

Brand Name is important to satisfy future consistency across the Marine Corps. Complete compatibility is essential and is assured by using Microsoft Office 365. Specific characteristics of the Microsoft Office 365 that limit the availability to a Brand Name are:

• Currently integrating into the entire Marine Corps Network

• In compliance with Marine Corps Enterprise Integration efforts

• Worldwide Web services access

• Engineering support and assistance only offered via Microsoft

• Provides the required FEDRAMP approval for Government use

When considering all the above features and characteristics the particular brand name, product or feature is essential to the Government’s requirements. Current research indicates no other products contain the requirements or the ability to quickly assimilate into existing environments. The cost and level of effort would be too great to transition to another system/tool set that may or may not meet the government’s business and technical needs as an organization.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine the anticipated price covered by this justification to be fair and reasonable by ensuring quoted pricing is consistent with or lower than pricing on the contractor’s Open Market and anticipated adequate price competition. Should the prices available vis other commercial means be more advantageous to the Government, the procedures at DFARS PGI 208.7403 will be invoked.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

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.

MCU/ EDCOM will continue to monitor the market and conduct continuous market research in effort to identify any emerging technologies that may satisfy future requirements. However, Microsoft 365 Annual Subscriptions have been approved for the Marine Corps in the Department of Defense (DoD) Information Technology Portfolio Repository (DITPR)/Department of Navy (DON) Application and Database Management System (DADMS) which are the DOD and DON Information Technology Systems

(ITPRAS#TECOM-24-260038).