Redact_Limited_Sources_J A_BelManage.docx

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND

2200 LESTER STREET

QUANTICO, VIRGINIA 22134-6050

Code: CT-24 J&A Number: 17,909

Code: CT-24 J&A Number: 17,909

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

1. Contracting Activity

Marine Corps Systems Command Information Systems and Infrastructure (ISI), Contracts Marine Corps Enterprise Services (MCES) Product Management Office (PdMO) 2200 Lester Street Quantico, VA 22134-6050

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program under Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. This justification is to seek approval of the use of limited sources under FAR Part 8.405-6(b). The proposed action is for the use of a brand name specification in the procurement of brand name BelArc BelManage Client license maintenance.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

The proposed contract action is to procure BelArc BelManage Client License Maintenance for the Marine Corps Enterprise Information Technology (IT) Services (MCEITS) Strategic Applications Management (SAM) IT Asset Management tasks.

BelArc BelManage is a client software program installed on Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) workstations, SIPRNet garrison workstations and servers, and workstations and servers located within the Marine Corps Recruiting Command (MCRC), Blount Island Command (BIC) and Marine Corps Network Operations Center (MCNOSC). During its daily operation, the client inventories the hardware and software of its host computer and transmits the inventory results back to a central collection server. Each computer to be inventoried requires a separate license of the BelManage Client.

The estimated dollar value for this procurement is $544,618.51 for the base year and one option year, if fully executed. The estimated costs are:

4. Identification of the Justification Rationale

The authority permitting the limitation of sources to items peculiar to one manufacturer is FAR 8.405-6(b). Several current regulations and policies effectively limit the available options to a single, brand name product:

· MARADMIN 426/13 3.B. (5) directs “BELMANAGE VERSION 8.0E OR HIGHER SOFTWARE MUST BE INSTALLED ON ALL COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO THE MCEN.”;

· SECNAVINST 5230.15 mandates that all COTS software in use across the Department of the Navy be vendor supported.

There are 120,000 licenses currently installed on the workstations and servers stated in section 3, above. In order to comply with MARADMIN 426/13 and SECNAVINST 5230.15, maintenance support for the existing 120,000 licenses must be acquired.

5. Determination of Best Value

The Contracting Officer will ensure that the order represents the best value to the Government, in accordance with FAR 8.404(d). Additionally, the Contracting Officer will ensure that all pricing is at or below the established pricing and additional discounts will be sought.

6. Description of Market Research Conducted

In accordance with the Better Buying Power 2.0 memo, “Promote Effective Competition,” market research was conducted by the Marine Corps Enterprise Services (MCES) Asset Management Integrated Project Team (IPT). The market research revealed that BelArc, Inc. (GS-35F-0003M) is the only provider of BelArc BelManage Client on the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule.

Market research demonstrated that other companies' similar products do not and cannot be modified to meet the agency need. For example, DLT Solutions provides a service for Asset Discovery, but does not offer a separate software product. This solution would require upfront identification of over 2,000 domains/subnets and would require product installation on a local server to support data collection and infrastructure configuration to allow collection to occur. This would increase implementation costs with requirements for additional labor to manually install the product on the servers at more than 200 bases, posts and stations and on over 2000 domains and subnets. The subsequent costs for implementation, training and maintenance of the software at these numerous locations vice a centralized enterprise implementation will well exceed the reinstatement and license renewal costs across the Marine Corps.

Another similar product, BMC’s Inventory Manager, does not fulfil the required collection of “last date software was used”, a key requirement for asset and license management. As part of its on-going efforts to broaden competition, the Government will continue to monitor these and other products for changes in capabilities and characteristics as compared with the current Government need.

7. Other Facts Supporting the Justification

BelArc, Inc. is the sole producer of BelManage Client.

A decision not to purchase the BelArc BelManage Client license maintenance will result in non-compliance with the MARADMIN and SECNAVINST stated above. The only alternative relies on other software products to deliver portions of the data and manual data collection methods for remainder of the data.

The data collected by BelManage is used by the Marine Corps to perform a multitude of Information Technology (IT) asset management tasks to include but not limited to verification of software upgrades, validation of delivered Enterprise Services, evaluation of hardware for technology upgrades, evaluation of hardware for technology replacement, validation of Information Assurance (IA) compliance, locating missing hardware, evaluating software license compliance, and reporting software installation and usage.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition

In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)(i)(B), this Limited-Sources Justification will be posted to e-Buy (http://www.ehuy.gsa.gov). Any responses to the Limited-Sources Justification will be noted and considered for use in future procurements similar to this one. Although no present vendor has the capability to provide these capabilities, recurring market research will continue to be conducted throughout the lifecycle to examine suitability of emerging software technologies and products. If new software is capable and compatible, full and open competition will be sought to the maximum extent possible.

Additionally, under Better Buying Power 2.0, the Marine Corps is seeking to incentivize productivity and innovation in Industry and Government by thoroughly defining technically acceptable requirements that ensure needed quality while using the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) selection method.

CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION:

I certify the facts and representation under my cognizance, which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate.

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS COGNIZANCE:

LtCol Ross Monta Date Product Manager Tel: (703) 432-7886

REVIEW FOR LEGAL SUFFICIENCY:

I have determined this Justification is legally sufficient.

Mr. Brendan Klapak Date Counsel Marine Corps Systems Command (LAW) Tel: (703) 432-3893

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Mrs. Constance D. Ealey Date Contracting Officer Marine Corps Systems Command Tel: (703) 432-7498 c image1.png