Brand_Name_Justification.pdf

SUBJECT: Brand Name Justification, MathWorks Software Licenses

SOLICITATION NUMBER: SB1341-15-RQ-0237

CONTACT POINTS: RICHARD KIM, Contract Specialist (301) 975-6219;

KEITH BUBAR, Contracting Officer (301) 975-8329

DESCRIPTION: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate with authorized resellers for the brand name procurement of MathWorks Software

Licenses to be used at the Office of Information Systems Management, at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 USC

3304(a)(5).

***** Brand Name Justification is based on the following: MathWorks MATLAB and its

Toolbox product enables NIST to perform high-level technical computing language and use an interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numeric computation that serve the missions of their laboratory and the agency. Capabilities provided by the toolbox include channel coding, source coding, modulation, equalization, synchronization, and channel modeling. Statistics Toolbox provides statistical and machine learning algorithms and tools for organizing, analyzing, and modeling data. Curve Fitting

Toolbox provides an app and functions for fitting curves and surfaces to data. Signal Processing

Toolbox provides algorithms and apps for analog and digital processing. Parallel Computing toolbox provides the full processing power of multicore desktops by executing applications on workers (MATLAB computational engines) that run locally. Without changing the code, users can run the same applications on a computer cluster or a grid computing service.

The requirement consists of a software product license file that specifies the number of concurrent licenses of the MATLAB product that can be used in the NIST current MATLAB license pool. The license provides the right to use the software for a fixed duration and

MathWorks software maintenance services is included in the license fee. The license and software maintenance service will expire at the end of the term period.

MathWorks and its authorized resellers are the only sources capable of providing the required software licenses. Without the required MathWorks software licenses, NIST will be unable to perform algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numerical computation in its current programming environment, which facilitate the solution of technical computing problems more efficiently than with traditional programming languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran.

Purchasing new software would result in significant redundant costs to the government and impose a substantial learning curve for government employees.