S01_1_12FPC223Q0038_redacted JA.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture

Brand Name Justification under Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

Control No.:

Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation, Business

Center (FPAC-BC), Acquisition Divis on for use by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Nature and/or Description of the action being approved.

Approval of a firm fixed price purchase order issued through limiting competition to authorized resellers of laptops equipped with the Google brand name specific operating system as described below.

Description of Supplies Required to Meet Agency Needs The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) requires Chromebook laptops designed for safe public use by customers visiting a County Office to:

Sign electronic documents in the County Office (avoiding paper).

Give the public a way to access email, banking or other internet-enabled information that could help them make FSA program decisions.

Enable the public to reach USDA public websites.

Enable a producer to access Farmers.gov Portal (if they have eAuth Level 2 credentials).

Enable a producer to access USDA services to sign up for electronic credentials.

No specific device manufacturer, brand or model is specified. However, the Google Chrome Operating System (ChromeOS) must be installed by the manufacturer as the original operating system on the devices.

FSA requires 5,560 devices equipped with Google ChromeOS to support approximately 2,200 FSA field offices. The total estimated value for this requirement is

The following are features which are essential to the Government's requirement:

1. Control of the customer experience.

FSA requires detailed configuration controls to ensure a low-complexity and intuitive interface is offered to customers using the devices at FSA field offices.

2. Infrequent, minimally disruptive maintenance cycles and configuration with CEC.

FSA requires infrequent maintenance cycles and updates on devices compatible with other shared device support models already in place and supported by the USDA Client Experience Center

(CEC).

3. Adequate security and privacy measures for public facing, Government owned devices.

As the devices running Google ChromeOS will be used by the public at FSA facilities, they must include restrictive security and management settings compared with those for standard productivity-focused laptops or mobile devices issued to Government or contractor employees.

These required settings include:

Restrictions on applications and websites available to the end user.

Remote removal of PII or sensitive data if a device is lost or stolen.

Isolation from internal USDA networks with access restricted to a segregated network segment that provides only for access to the public internet.

Access by persons that lack USDA credentials.

Ease of device registration and imaging.

Identification of the Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition

41 U.S.C § 1901 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures up to $7.5 million, as authorized by FAR

13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The Google ChromeOS contains features essential to the Government's requirement, as outlined in section 3 above, which are unique and other operating system and others lack. These essential features, along with an explanation of how other systems do not have these f tures, are listed below:

Control of the customer experience.

FSA requires detailed configuration controls to ensure a low-complexity and intuitive interface is offered to customers visiting FSA field offices. This level of control is uniquely available through the Google ChromeOS. Due to the simplicity of the Google ChromeOS, the user experience is reduced to a single icon and single default web page that will focus all communications and instructions for the public users of the devices. Visibility to other applications and features beyond a web browser will be eliminated leaving fewer dark corners for customers to explore and making it easier for FSA staff to explain how to use the devices.

Apple and Android operating systems, generally available on mobile devices, are unacceptable for this requirement as neither of these systems provide the necessary interface configuration controls, nor do the designs of the most common mobile devices themselves allow for the level of customer experience control needed by FSA. Operating systems available through Microsoft (MS) and Linux lack the simplicity and necessary interface configuration controls required for the intended use of these public facing devices.

Infrequent, minimally disruptive maintenance cycles and configuration with CEC.

FSA requires infrequent maintenance cycles and updates on devices compatible with other shared device support models already in place and supported by the USDA CEC. All devices require operating system updates and patches; however, ChromeOS offers an Enterprise Management tool through Google which is not available through any other operating system. This tool ensures that updates are installed remotely across all devices which minimizes issues and errors that may occur with downloading and installing updates and standardizes the operating system across all devices using the operating system. A standardized operating system across all the 2,200+ FSA field offices will reduce the management and support burden on FPAC and improve customer satisfaction through consistent performance not compromised by differences in operating versions.

The Google ChromeOS offers the flexibility and ease of being generic, standard, and relatively easy to manage. More complex operating systems such as those available through Android, MS, and Linux require longer and more complex upgrade cycles that can require multiple reboots and special handling when something does not install correctly.

Conversely, ChromeOS offers system updates more easily with little or no awareness by users that an update has occurred. They are specifically designed for automated, hands-off maintenance. Moreover, updates, when needed, are fully managed by Google but scheduled by CEC through the ChromeOS Enterprise Admin Console which ensures that local fleet configuration settings are preserved during upgrades.

3. Adequate security and privacy measures for public facing, Government-owned devices.

As the devices running Google ChromeOS will be used by the public at FSA facilities, they must include restrictive security and management settings compared with those for standard productivity-focused laptops or mobile devices issued to Government or contractor employees.

These required settings include:

Restrictions on applications and websites available to the end user.

Remote removal of PII or sensitive data if a device is lost or stolen.

Isolation from internal USDA networks with access restricted to a segregated network segment that provides only for access to the public internet.

Access by persons that lack any USDA credentials.

Ease of device registration and imaging.

The ChromeOS Enterprise management tool offers higher levels of security for the devices relative to other operating systems as several features become available through remote management. One, the Chromebook can be configured so additional applications and unauthorized websites are not available to users and cannot be accessed or downloaded.

Second, in the event a device running ChromeOS is lost or stolen, the Chromebook can be wiped remotely ensuring no one accesses PII or sensitive data. Third, applications needed on the Chromebooks for future expansion can be distributed and managed through the Enterprise tool reducing security risk and resource burden. Other operating systems available in the commercial market do not accommodate this level of remote management to ensure appropriate and uniform user access as well as sensitive data management. Such remote management needed to meet the current FSA requirement is uniquely available through the ChromeOS Enterprise management tool.

The initial setup and deployment of these devices needs to as streamlined and automated as possible. To be locked and registered as a device managed and owned by USDA, a small electronic USDA-specific token must be placed on each device. This relatively simple task registers and locks a device running ChromeOS as belonging to the USDA and fixes it under the shared device management model. This task can be performed by CEC or optionally, can be performed by an approved ChromeOS provisioning partner before the devices are delivered. In contrast, USDA computers running other operating systems issued to Government staff and contractors require a much longer and complicated imaging process where enterprise applications and configurations must be added before the devices can be issued. These images must be retained and upgrade across the life of each device variant in the fleet. ChromeOS removes and standardizes this dimension to only a set of configuration parameters.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

The solicitation to satisfy this requirement will be issued on the open market via the SAM.gov Government Point of Entry to all small business authorized resellers of the required products.

USDA identified at least six manufacturers currently listed as having devices certified by Google as manageable as Enterprise Chromebooks: Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung.

Several mid-range models available from these manufacturers have been identified that could meet FSA’s needs. As a result, limitations on competition are minimized, as there are several makes/models of laptops available in the commercial market that can meet the requirement.

A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Competitive quotes are expected in response to the solicitation. As a result, a determination of fair and reasonable pricing will be based on comparing quotes. If a single quote is received or reasonableness cannot be based on competition, one or more of the procedures at FAR 13.106-3(a) will be utilized.

A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

FSA refined operating system requirements based on pilot testing which explored various makes/models of devices and OSs.

Also, in May 2023 the USDA FPAC-BC, AD, Enterprise Team conducted a source sought market research initiative on SAM.gov. There was a single response from a small business yielding a reasonable likelihood that capability to meet the requirement resides within small business. To supplement the sources sought and bolster the expectation of achieving competitive bids through a small business set-aside, the Small Business Coordinator provided a list of likely capable small businesses within the contemplated NAICS.

Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

N/A

A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Sources that responded to the sources sought notice:

Sources that responded to the Small Business Coordinator:

A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

Major changes or enhancements in USDA OCIO CEC shared device management capabilities could drive reconsideration of device selection in the future. FSA will certainly revisit the use of ChromeOS devices as kiosks at the time of a major refresh of the devices procured under this current RFQ (expected in or before 2029).