Brand Name Sole Source Justification__Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Upon the basis of the following justification, I as Contracting Officer hereby approve use of the other than Full and Open competition for the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of 10 USC 2304(c)(l), only one responsible source and no other supplier or servicing activity will satisfy agency requirements, as implemented by FAR 6.302-1.

I. Contracting Activity

Naval Postgraduate School Department of Contracting and Logistics l University Circle Monterey, CA 93943

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

This justification covers the procurement of a supporting authoring and content management tool to provide a complete Leaming Content Management Systems (LCMS) solution for Curated Heuristic Using a Network of

Knowledge (CHUNK) Leaming from Xyleme, Inc. This justification for other than full and open competition will be posted at the Government wide Point of Entry.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

CHUNK Leaming is a proof-of-concept system designed to provide a personized network of knowledge for synchronous and asynchronous learners applying the underlying theories and principles of self-directed, competency-based learning. A crucial functionality of this system is learning content authoring, publishing content in various formats, content management capability, and metrics associated with thedelivery of learning material to a wide range of audiences. Without an efficient authoring, publishing, and content management capability, the functionality of the system is significantly compromised due to the absence of high-quality quantitative and qualitative content for learners. In other words, without an LCMS, CHUNK Leaming content developers, such as faculty and subject matter experts (SMEs), would not have an acceptable means to enter learning content into the system for timely use by students. CHUNK has unique needs associated with authoring, publishing, storing and distributing learning content, and as a mandatory requirement, any proposed solution must be integrated with CHUNK Leaming via Experience Application Programing Interface (xAPI)/ APL

The estimated cost is -

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Sole Source

FAR 6.302 -- Circumstances Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

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• 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

S. Rational Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

Market research considered potential LCMS providers and the results of such research indicated Xyleme as a mature and unique solution that meet our requirements. It brings together the capability to perform the necessary customization to fulfill the CHUNK LCMS minimal technical requirements as detailed in Table I under Section

8. Xyleme is the only LCMS with the ability to integrate CHUNK LCMS with Sakai Learning Management

System (LMS), locally developed Learning Application Module (LMA), locally developed CHUNK Learning user interface (UI), and all educational mission-critical requirements that must be met to ensure CHUNK LCMS operability and full functionality for faculty and students.

Xyleme is readily deployable with minimal customizations and configuration, allowing NPS to provide timely implementation of the CHUNK Leaming capability into academic curricula in alignment with research sponsor timelines. The CHUNK LCMS must be operational in order to provide NPS facultyt students and sponsors the means to create, organizet use. and upload learning content into CHUNK Learning.

The market research was conducted systematically to assess the minimum set of requirements, in addition to significant capabilities related to content and authoring, interoperability, security, performance, integration and content reuse. The results demonstrate that Xyleme offers key unique features that match the needs of CHUNK LCMS for a customized solution that no other LCMS vendor can provide within the required timeline. The following is a list of key technical requirements and description of how Xyleme meets them:

• Any software solution must be interoperable with existing software capabilities. Existing network/coders have identified Xyleme as the most compatible with least modification necessary for system integration. Xyleme offers a concept and services not otherwise available to NPS; and integration to the existing programs government tailored to the needs of NPS, like Sakai, LMA, and CHUNK Learning prototype.

• Proven, secure hosting - Xyleme is the leading choice for secure learning content management and serves some of the nation's largest and most demanding corporations. Xyleme is certified as secure from both external penetration as well as internal software vulnerabilities.

• Scalable Performance - Xyleme is the de-facto choice for high volume publishers with large user bases, serving customers with millions or learners from massive content libraries. The platform is designed and developed for rapid content development, high capacity storage, and efficient retrieval of learning elements.

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• Powerful Integration application program interfaces (APis) - Xyleme provides deep, highly capable APis enabling integration with both CHUNK Leaming and necessary processes for authoring, publishing and quality control of CHUNK curated content.

• Reuse and Multiple Audience Targeting - Xyleme supports real-world content reuse and enables instructors to take a single set of content and deliver it to multiple audiences, hiding the complexity of the processes required of other solutions.

Several LCMS commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions on the market offer similar capabilities in terms of authoring features and content management. They have a similar level of functionality as Xyleme and offer potential alternatives. However, considering the CHUNK LCMS scope, operational context at NPS, and NPS systems to which the LCMS must interface, Xyleme is unique in providing a thorough capability to implement the minimal technical requirements for the required solution .. To reinforce this point and provide a rational justification, the LCMS COTS required capabilities were categorized and systematically compared with the most popularleading solutions on the market. The categories are as follows:

Standard:

• Authoring

• Publishing

• Storage

• Leamer records/Analytics

Critical:

• Integration to CHUNK

• Security and Risk Management

• Hosting, Architecture & Scalability

• Industry experience

When comparing LCMS COTS tools using the standard capabilities, the majority of solutions have similar features. Nevertheless, when comparing LCMS COTS tools using the critical capabilities (described as minimal technical requirements in Table 1 ), Xyleme is unique in offering a CHUNK LCMS solution that meet the minimum technical requirements and is robust and readily deployable to meet sponsor timelines. The other LCMS

COTS solutions lack the crucial integration capability with NPS in-house developed systems (Sakai, LMA and CHUNK Learning}.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable

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No additional offers were solicited due to the time and mission criticality of this project and the results of the research market comparisons with other LCMS COTS solutions. No other LCMS was identified during market research that was able to meet the minimum requirements of the Government.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

Costs will be determined fair and reasonable at time of award by the Contracting Officer and based on previous contracts and similar contracting efforts.

8. Market Research

The results of the market research are summarized in Table I and Table 2.

Three LCMS COTS tools were compared to Xyleme, using the following criteria: popularity, reviews, and leadership in the market Docebe, Blackboard, and eFront were identified to represent these groups.

Table 1 lists the CHUNK LCMS minimum set of technical requirements to be met by any candidate solution. For each of the selected tools, the matrix indicates if the tool is capable of supporting the requirements described in the corresponding row. A cost comparison of the alternate solutions to Xyleme was not relevant since the options did not meet technical requirements. For these options to meet technical requirements, an in-depth study would be necessary to determine the potential costs of the alternative solutions, which would require engineering and software modifications to meet minimum requirements.

Table 2 includes information on how the tools cover Leamer Records Analytics, Security and Risk Management, Hosting, Architecture & Scalability, and Industry experience.

From the technical standpoint, Table 1 indicates that Xyleme is the only solution that attend the CHUNK LCMS minimum technical requirements. In this context, Xyleme offers a vast industry experience and proven integration abilities.

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Table 1: Minimum Technical Requirements vs LCMS COTS tools support

ID Description eFront

TOI Provide centralization and organization of Yes all related functions into one system.

T02 Provide the capability to store all source, Yes in-progress, and final learning content in one olace

T02 Allow access security based on users' Yes orofiles

T03 Provide a log for all system actions taken No in the repository.

T04 Allow audit of data movement in and out Not supported out of the box, of the repository ( e.g., "process viewer") oossible to create a plugin to meet this requirement.

T05 Allow caching of media contained in the No reoositorv T05 Provide SCORM Compliance Yes interonerabilitv T06 Provide xAPI Compliance interoperability Yes

T07 Allow delivery of HTML5 files (content Yes must be adaoted to mobile learning

T08 Integration features with other Yes systems/applications (communicate and exchange data} via API

T09 Exports data from the repository into a Excel or csv format packaged XML or JSON format.

TIO Provide support for LDAP, SAML2 and Yes Active directory or other single sign on identity management system

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Docebo Blackboard

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

No No

No No

No No

Yes Yes

Yes IYes; not include an xAPI compliant to Leaming Record Store (LRS)

Yes Yes

No Yes csv format Yes

Yes secure RESTful API and pther purpose-built features or the exchange of data with other systems.

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Xyleme

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Tl I Provide remote access ( e.g. web API) to Export reports, create custom query, update, and download all pertinent eports; course content content such as learner's profile "annot be downloaded information, course content, and course metadata.

Tl2 Provide integration with SAKAI (L Tl) and No other LMS platform (IA W with IMS Global Leaming Standards)

Tl3 Provide a scalable solution Yes

Tl4 Content created must be in a non• No proprietary format allowing to easily export.

ble 2: Additional inti - ....... -_. -· ... _...., _______ - --------- -- -- -- Features Xyleme

Leamer Records CDS* Analytics provide in-

Analytics depth analytics on learner behavior and performance, and how are the courses performing.

Security and Support for LDAP, SAML2, Risk Single Sign•On; manage

Management users for authentication;

certified secure from both external penetration as well as internal software vulnerabilities

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Blackboard Offers analytics solutions to support a comprehensive, integrated, and evidence-based approach to teaching, learning and student success.

Blackboard Learn includes secure RESTful API and other purpose-built features for the exchange of data with other systems.;

Yes Yes Yes

No No Yes

Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes eFront Docebo Supports xAPI; industry Monitor course progress and standard for tracking completion and overall train training activities; deliver success with built-in reports xAPI content and can configurable dashboard with track learning activities reporting tools after customization

Support for LDAP, Manual Accounts Active SAML2. Available Directory/LO AP integrations with Okta Integration SAML2/ API and OneLogin identity Integration; Strong management systems. Passwords Restrict Work over a secure registration to specific communication channel. domains Enforce strong password

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Hosting, Solution at A WS; CDS Scalable. It was awarded a Architecture & distributes learning content FedRAMP A TO 2 from the

Scalability to all of organization's National GeoSpatial Intel systems, applications and agency and is one of devices as needed; high educational LMS's to have scalability (individual clients this accreditation.

that run close to I million access.

courses in a month). Price varies with scalability.

Industry Clients across a wide range Clients across a wide range experience of sectors: manufacturing, IT of sectors: education, and telecommunications, government and business finance and aviation, and including Fortune 500 companies.

*CDS: Content Delivery Service

All of COTS LCMS in Table 2 offers 24/7 customer services and training

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Servers combined with Software as a Amazon's Content Service/Cloud Mobile/ Delivery Network Desktop Application;

(AWS) for speedy file offers an expandable LMS, delivery; scalability can for unlimited users, be reached based on the courses. Price varies with number of users and scalability and bandwidth.

pricing. Price varies with scalability Clients across banking, Enterprises (> 10,000);

small retails and Small/Medium Businesses.

automotive industry.

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9. Other Facts Supporting Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition (any additional infonnation -i.e. the product/service compatibiJity, required past perfonnance, technical skills, etc.)

• Past performance: Xyleme, Inc. works with various Federal Government contractors, making the proposed use of Xyleme compatible with other government LCMS solutions and services. The company has vast experience in the industry with a significant number of clients.

• Technical skills: Integration is critical for the CHUNK LCMS solution. Xyleme, Inc. has a team dedicated to developing custom API integrations into platfonns like CHUNK and other client's systems. The Xyleme Content Delivery Service (CDS) offers and AP( which allows learners to interact efficiently with CHUNK Leaming content.

10. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition (what will or could be done to open a future similar requirement for competition? If you anticipate the barriers to competition will still exist, explain why)

• The Government seeks to take advantage of competitive procedures to the maximum extent practicable. For future requirements, the Government will conduct market research to identify new sources of software appropriate to the Government's curriculum development requirements.

• The Government will also solicit requirements using competitive procedures to the maximum extent practicable.

• The Government will conduct a market survey via Sources Sought Notices to identify potential competitors and potential competitors' products. The Government will also conduct a cost-benefit analysis to detennine ifit is financially in the Government's best interest to seek alternative sources of supply.

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CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. To the extent that the J&A/LSJ value is between $3K and $SOOK, the Contracting Officer's signature below also represents approval of the J&A/LSJ.

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY COMPETITION ADVOCATE REVIEW

To the extent that the J&A/LSJ value is between $SOOK and $12.5M, the Competition Advocate's signature below also represents approval of the J&A/LSJ.

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