NNG15SD33B 36C10B21F0261.docx

Control Number VA-21-00004998 Nintex Enterprise Edition Annual Subscription Control Number VA-21-00004998

GENERAL INFORMATION

BASE NOTICE TYPE

SET-ASIDE

Technology Acquisition Center

23 Christopher Way Eatontown NJ 07724

POINT OF CONTACT*

Jamie Valentine Jamie.Valentine@va.gov

AWARD INFORMATION

LINE ITEM NUMBER

AWARDEE ADDRESS LINE 1*

AWARDEE ADDRESS LINE 2*

AWARDEE ADDRESS LINE 4*

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

Award Notice Award Notice

DESCRIPTION

*= Required Field Award Notice Award Notice

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Eatontown, New Jersey 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a Firm-Fixed-Price Delivery Order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for one Nintex Enterprise Edition annual subscription of licenses, software maintenance, and support services.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Philadelphia Information Technology Center (PITC) has a requirement for one Nintex Enterprise Edition annual subscription for licenses, software maintenance, and support services. The Nintex Enterprise Edition plan is required for the PITC Enterprise Web Infrastructure Support to provide expansion of the VAShare SharePoint 2013 production environment without having to continually procure additional separate licenses each time the environment is scaled out. Each time additional servers are added to the production environment, additional separate licenses would need to be procured. Nintex Enterprise alleviates the separate procurements because unlimited licenses would be available on demand. The one annual subscription required shall be delivered no later than 30 days after receipt and processing of the order. The period of performance for the base period shall be August 31, 2021 through August 30, 2022, with two 12-month option periods. The total estimated price of the proposed action is $__________, inclusive of options.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, the Government anticipates limited competition among authorized resellers for the required Nintex Enterprise annual subscription for licenses, software maintenance, and support services. Only Nintex Enterprise will maintain current operability and capabilities for 79 customers that spread between the Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health Administration, and Office of Information Technology whose website is hosted by VAShare at the Philadelphia Information Technology Center. Only Nintex Enterprise Edition can provide on demand licensing and support for customers already utilizing Nintex for workflows in the SharePoint environment. Nintex Unlimited is an enterprise-wide plan that offers unlimited workflows and accompanying platform capabilities and can be deployed in the cloud, on premises, or in hybrid deployment models. In addition, full compatibility with existing workflows is essential for those sites that utilize Nintex to continue uninterrupted operation and functionality. Utilizing similar or incompatible software could result in project delays, data loss, and the unacceptable risk of interrupted web site functionality for Veterans’ patient care and benefits.

Only the Nintex Enterprise Edition annual subscription for licensing and support will meet the VA’s need for scalability of the current VAShare SharePoint 2013 platform. Nintex Enterprise Edition is fully compatible with Nintex Workflow software which is already installed and operational in the VAShare 2013 production environment. Nintex Enterprise Edition is the upgrade to Nintex Workflow so will remain fully compatible with current Nintex installations and functionality. In addition, full compatibility with existing workflows is essential for those sites that currently utilize Nintex Workflow to continue uninterrupted operation and functionality. Utilizing similar or incompatible software could result in project delays, data loss, and the unacceptable risk of interrupted web site functionality for Veterans’ patient care and benefits.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. However, it was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for Nintex Enterprise Edition. In accordance with FAR 5.301,16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D) and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), this action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities website and the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award. Additionally, in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be fully competed.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in March and April of 2021 to ascertain other products which may satisfy VA’s requirements. Specifically, licensing, features, and support options were examined for K2 Blackpearl and Formulos product lines. Although the K2 product has some functionality that is similar to the Nintex Enterprise software, the K2 product was developed separately from the SharePoint platform. The Formulos product is a highly sophisticated forms technology which uses InfoPath for form design. Formulos will not meet VA’s requirements since Microsoft has announced plans to retire InfoPath technology adding an unacceptable level of risk to VA if this product was used. Based on reviews of these products, the Government’s technical experts determined that only Nintex Enterprise meets the VA’s technical requirements as discussed in Section 5.

Additional market research was conducted in July of 2021, wherein the Contract Specialist utilized the Provider Lookup Tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website to ascertain the extent of limited competition among resellers for the required Nintex Enterprise annual subscription for licenses, software maintenance, and support services. The research shows that there are a total of eight Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business contract holders identified as resellers of brand name Nintex. Therefore, limited competition is expected among SDVOSBs for this proposed action.

9. Other Facts: None.

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date:

Division Chief Signature:

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based upon anticipated competition and discounts among NASA V GWAC holders who are authorized resellers of the required brand name Nintex described herein. Additionally, NASA SEWP determines that the catalog prices on its GWACs are fair and reasonable. Finally, price analysis shall be conducted by comparing the successful quote to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

Date:

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature:

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date:

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature:

Approval

In my role as Procurement Service Director, One Level Above the Contracting Officer, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Nintex Enterprise annual subscription, in accordance with VAAM M816.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1), on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: ____________ Signature: ______________________________ Procurement Service Director Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics