Sole source justification questionnaire.pdf

Sole source justification questionnaire

What is the business need or problem that requires this contract?

GMB is a small agency of about 115 FTEs. Under WaTech oversight, the agency is engaging in a project to replace end-of-life systems. To complete this project, GMB originally competitively procured for services through ITPS contract 08215, engaging CimpleSquare in a one-year contract with an option to extend for an additional year. The contract was signed in December of 2022; Due to extensive background check requirements required because GMB is a law enforcement agency, work did not begin until April of 2023. The current contract expires November 20, 2024, with no option to extend.

This contract will provide continuity of services by continuing to utilize the contracted business analysts that have been working with GMB on this project since April of 2023.

Describe the unique features, qualifications, abilities or expertise of the contractor proposed for this sole source contract.

CimpleSquare was awarded a contract as a result of a 2nd tier competitive procurement under statewide contract 08215. The contracted business analyst resources have been working with GMB for 18 months on the agency's multi-year IT modernization project. As a result, CimpleSquare staff have learned the nuances of the regulatory and law enforcement work GMB does, and have helped agency staff document business process flows, ideal future state processes, and have been deeply involved in capturing and documenting this information in the last 18 months. A new contractor would be required to complete an extensive background check that can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks to complete, with no guarantee they would pass GMB requirement.

When a new contract does pass background check, they would experience a steep learning curve, we estimate they would need at least 8-10 weeks to get up to speed and be productive in moving the project forward.

What kind of market research did the agency conduct to conclude that alternative sources were inappropriate or unavailable? Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the sole source contract, including methods used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources. Use DES’ Market Research Template if assistance is needed.

GMB issued Work Request R2303 in October of 2022 to the vendors pre-qualified in categories 02, 04, 06, and 08 of statewide contract 08215. The agency received four responsive proposals, which were then evaluated by a team of four individuals. The top two vendors then participated in oral interviews with the scoring team; CimpleSquare was identified as the successful vendor in that process.

The agency determined that alternate sources to continue the needed business analyst work are inappropriate because a new contractor would need at least 8-10 weeks to address the learning curve and be productive in the project.

What considerations were given to unbundling the goods and/or services in this contract, which would provide opportunities for Washington small, diverse, and/or veteran-owned businesses.

Provide a summary of your agency’s unbundling analysis for this contract.

The original competitive procurement was for four resource categories: business analysis, project management, software testing, and database services.

This sole source request is only for the continuation of business analyst services; the other categories will be awarded in separate contracts using statewide contracts 16322 and 14822, as appropriate. Additionally, CimpleSquare is a self-attested small business.

As part of the market research requirements, include a list of statewide contracts reviewed and/or businesses contacted, date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

Competitive procurement Work Request R2303 was issued in October of 2022 to the vendors pre-qualified in categories 02, 04, 06, and 08 of statewide contract 08215. The agency received four responsive proposals from accelBi, ISG, CimpleSquare, and Cogent.

Proposals were then evaluated by a team of four individuals. The top two vendors then participated in oral interviews with the scoring team; CimpleSquare was identified as the successful vendor in that process.

Per the Supplier Diversity Policy, DES-090-06: was this purchase included in the agency’s forecasted needs report?

No. The forecasting needs report template indicates listing statewide contracts are out of scope for the report. The agency's expectation was that category 02 of contract 08215 would be procured and awarded prior to expiration of the current contract, allowing the agency to use the newer statewide contracts that do not require 2nd tier solicitation.

Describe what targeted industry outreach was completed to locate small and/or veteran-owned businesses to meet the agency’s need?

The original competitive procurement (R2303) was conducted prior to the outreach requirements in the supplier diversity policy. Additionally, because the work is resulting from a 2nd tier procurement, only those entities with an agreement in place for contract 08215 were allowed to submit responses to the procurement.

Provide a detailed and compelling description that includes quantification of the costs and risks mitigated by contracting with this contractor (i.e. learning curve, follow-up nature).

The current contracted resource has been working with the agency on documenting business flows, technical requirements, and business requirements for 18 months.

A new contractor would need at least 8-10 weeks to address the learning curve and be productive in the project, resulting in timeline slippage of the project, lost productivity of other contractors engaged in the project, and unanticipated expenditures while the new contractor is paid for their time while the come up to speed.

Maintaining forward momentum on the project and ensuring optimal use of funds is of utmost importance. GMB's legacy systems are end-of-life and need replaced as soon as practicable. Additionally, the agency is self-funded through gambling licensing fees and tribal reimbursements; being a good steward of funds and demonstrating prudent use of funds to our licensees and tribal partners is imperative.

Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of special circumstances such as confidential investigations, copyright restrictions, etc.? If so, please describe.

N/A

Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of unavoidable, critical time delays or issues that prevented the agency from completing this acquisition using a competitive process? If so, please describe. For example, if time constraints are applicable, identify when the agency was on notice of the need for the goods and/or service, the entity that imposed the constraints, explain the authority of that entity to impose them, and provide the timelines within which work must be accomplished.

N/A

What are the consequences of not having this sole source filing approved? Describe in detail the impact to the agency and to services it provides if this sole source filing is not approved.

GMB will be required to issue a new 2nd tier solicitation through statewide contract 08215, evaluate proposals, conduct oral presentations for top scorers, and negotiate a new contract. We will then also be required to have new resources complete law enforcement level background checks before work can recommence on the project; this would result in a timeline slippage of anywhere from two and a half to five months.

this timeline slippage would likely also result in loss of assigned resources on the two other contracts related to this project - the WaTech-required Quality Assurance contractor and the implementer. If that occurred, there would then be additional timeline delays as new resources would have to undergo background checks and then be brought up to speed.