SSJ_WRDS_2019.REV_Redacted.pdf

Office of Contracting and Logistics Management Revised 13 August 2018

2. Specify characteristics of the material or service that limit the availability to a sole source/brand product (unique features, function of the item, etc.). Describe in detail why only this source/brand can furnish the requirements to the exclusion of other sources/brands.

WRDS is a proprietary, single solution platform for large-scale current and historical company financial and statistical data access and manipulation. This product is the de facto standard for business data. Access to these curated and normalized data sets is necessary for conducting high-level corporate financial analysis and quantitative data research. Researchers in the School of Business and Public Policy need access to this product in order to generate top-quality academic accounting and financial research results. Using WRDS, researchers can import, export, compare, and manipulate very large sets of company financial and statistical data that are not available elsewhere in this form and aggregate. WRDS is recognized by the academic and financial research community around the world as the leading business intelligence tool. No similar comparable product exists.

3. Indicate if the requested material or service represents the minimum requirements of the Government.

Yes, the requested materials represent the minimum requirements of the Government as described on the Market Research Memorandum and Statement of Requirements.

4. Indicate if the material or service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems presently installed/performing. Describe the equipment/function you have now and how the new item/service must coordinate, connect or interface with the existing system.

The service and platform must be compatible with existing data sets desired for subscription – in particular, S&P’s Compustat and Audit Analytics. Data access needs to be available via Matlab, R, and Python.

5. Does a patent, copyright or proprietary data limit competition?

Yes. The platform and its features, as well as the data sets in their normalized state are proprietary to WRDS and only available under license.

6. Are the items “direct replacement” parts/components for existing equipment? If so, provide the information about the Next Higher Assembly (NHA)/equipment which the replacement parts are going into (e.g., description, model, part number, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), etc.).

N/A

Office of Contracting and Logistics Management Revised 13 August 2018

7. Provide any additional information to support a sole source/brand name sole source procurement. The rationale must justify “either” substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not recovered through competition or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the mission of the agency.

WRDS is a business data research service from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Developed in 1993 to support faculty research at Wharton, the service has evolved to become a common tool for research for over 400 institutions in 30+ countries around the world.

Every major U.S. MBA program, including 100% of the top 20 business schools subscribe to WRDS. Not having access to the same data integration package as other researchers puts NPS at a significant disadvantage.