Redacted Limited Sources Justification Grant Mgmt Software 11.2.2021 FINAL.pdf

UDPaaS Software and Services Control Number: VA-22-00008941

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR A LIMITED SOURCE AWARD UNDER A FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics

Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Boulevard, Suite 600 Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price Task Order (TO) to be issued under the General Service Administration (GSA) Multiple-Award Schedule (MAS) for a brand name Universal Design Platform as a Service (UDPaaS) Grant Management Software, consultation and training services. UDPaaS software is a Fedramp version of the SmartSimple platform which contains proprietary information for the Department of V s (VA) Grant Management Program. The TO will be awarded to eTranservice, 107 Westwood Office Park, Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5115, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The VA Homeless Program Office, Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, has a requirement to continue service for annual online grant management services. The online grant management system is designed to support the tracking, monitoring, reporting and comprehensive application, review and award cycle of grants administered by the SSVF, Grant and Per Diem (GPD) and Suicide Prevention programs. The grant management software must allow for on-demand access to data contained in the grant applications. The grant management software will provide access to a contractor hosted system and configurable tables, forms, fields, reports and dashboards to meet a broad range of grant administration and monitoring activities, the ability to set up workflows that automate monitoring through stages and the capability for user activity history. VA also requires a shared platform, access to custom fields, consultation and product training. The base period of performance is November 9, 2021 through November 8, 2022, with two, 12-month option periods. The total estimated price of the proposed action is (inclusive of options).

4. Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the MAS program. The specific authority providing for a limited source award is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly speci

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source is eTranservices. Based on market research, as described in section eight of this justification, it was determined that there is no competition, as eTranservice is the proprietary owner of SmartSimple software and services and the only authorized vendor that can provide the required brand name UDPaaS Grant Management Software, consultation and training services. Since November 2020, eTranservices (previously Innovation Network) has provided this grant management service to SSVF and GPD

UDPaaS Software and Services Control Number: VA-22-00008941 under Order 36C24521P0078. The period of performance for this order ends on November 8, 2021. Disruptions associated with not having an adequate grant management system will impact access to care, an inability to account for the use of federally appropriated funds, inability to comply with mandated request for information and an inability to execute grant rounds necessary for the continuation of safe housing and services for Veterans. A lapse in service would impact nearly 200,000 homeless and at-risk Veteran households. In addition, no other vendor has proprietary rights to the UDPaaS Grant Management software and other software platforms would create interoperability and capability issues with the existing data contained within the UDPaaS software.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research conducted did not yield any additional sources that can meet the irements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 8.405-6(a)(2) the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed. Specifically, the Government will continue to monitor the market place to determine whether another brand software could meet the VA s Grant Management requirement.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in September 2021 by the ical experts to ascertain if other products could satisfy the VA requirement. Specifically, VA technical experts reviewed similar grant management systems from Submittable, Capterra, HORUS and Foundant for Grantmakers. These systems did not offer compatibility and interoperability with the existing UDPaaS Grant Management System that is currently in use by SSVF and GPD provided under Purchase Order 36C24521P0078. eTranservice is the only provider for the UDPaaS Grant Management Services. It was determined that although these vendors provide similar software capabilities, they do not have access to the UDPaaS Grant Management Services proprietary source code and therefore cannot provide the required software access, consultation and training services to sustain the existing UDPaaS platform. eTranservice is the only source that can provide access, consultation and training for the current UDPaaS software. As a result, it was determined that only eTranservice requirements. Based upon previous acquisition history, it is estimated that to replace the existing UDPaaS platform would cost an estimated $800,000 in duplicative costs. These estimated duplicative costs would not be recovered through competition.

Additional market research was conducted by the Contract Specialist (CS) in September 2021. The CS requested a copy of eTranservice GSA schedule and requested a market research quote that shows the service provided under its GSA schedule, to include unit cost. eTranservice provided its GSA schedule and market research quote on September 30, 2021. The CS reviewed the information provided and