Symphony Licenses J and A 2.16.2021.docx.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

General Services Administration (GSA)

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories (PSHC)

Office of Contract Operations (ConOps)

1) Identification of Requiring Activity and Contracting Activity:

a. Requiring Activity: General Services Administration

Federal Acquisition Service, Professional Services and Human Capital Categories, Office of Project Management (GSA)

1800 F. St. NW

Washington, DC 20006

b. Contracting Activity: General Services Administration

Federal Acquisition Service (FAS)

Professional Services and Human Capital Categories

(PSHC)

Office of Contract Operations (CONOPS)

77 Forsyth St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

c. Contracting Officer: Jeanine Tyson

d. Solicitation Number: 47QFAA21Q0001

e. Estimated Value: $2,531,200.00

2) Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved:

The General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Services (FAS), Office of

Professional Services & Human Capital Categories (PSHC) has an immediate requirement for

Symphony Software Licenses to support the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services

(OASIS) program. Symphony Software is contract management software manufactured by

Apex Logic Inc. This requirement will be procured in accordance with FAR Part 12 and FAR

Subpart 13.5. This requirement will result in a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) order for

Symphony Express procurement suite licenses and customization/integration. The estimated period of performance includes one base year and four, one-year option periods with an estimated total value of $2,531,200.00.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 650AA2E5-4DC7-4F3A-A345-362F38D4D80D

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 2

Contract award will be made to:

Apex Logic, Inc. (Apex)

250 Bell Street

Reno, Nevada 89503-5316

DUNS Number: 10129556

3) A Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency’s Need:

In Fiscal Year 2019, GSA's One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) began a substantial re-solicitation process to on-ramp new OASIS contractors. The on ramps required a customized solution to reduce extensive man-hour requirements for evaluation of offers. Based on market research, a contract was awarded to Apex Logic for their Symphony Express contract management software tool, which allowed oversight and management of the solicitation process, including evaluations. Based on the government’s continued requirement and the positive feedback from all users, GSA is seeking to expand use of the Symphony tool to enable its additional commercial-off-the-shelf features including collaborative workflow between ordering agency, client agency, and industry partners to create, compete, evaluate, and administer task order requirements to support GSA's requirement.

Symphony Software licenses support GSA OASIS (GSA) by allowing the OASIS team access to an online suite of acquisition tools to automate post award programmatic functions to increase transparency; reduce the government’s risk to fair opportunity; shift some of the responsibility for accountability to industry; improve the customer ordering experience; and reduce GSA’s personnel resource allocation and workload. Market research has found no similar tool available on the market for the GSA Enterprise.

The specific quantities and licenses required are detailed below:

CLIN Description CLIN Type Qty

Period of Performance: March 1, 2021 - February 28, 2022

0001 OASIS and OASIS SB Standard Plus Licenses

FFP 228

0002 ISSO FFP 12

0003 Optional: Custom Development (NTE 20K)

FFP 1

Period of Performance: March 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023

1001 OASIS and OASIS SB Standard Plus Licenses

FFP 228

1002 ISSO FFP 12

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 3

1003 Optional: Custom Development (NTE 20K)

FFP 1

Period of Performance: March 1, 2023 - February 29, 2024

2001 OASIS and OASIS SB Standard Plus Licenses

FFP 228

2002 ISSO FFP 12

2003 Optional: Custom Development (NTE 20K)

FFP 1

Period of Performance: March 1, 2024 - February 29, 2025

3001 OASIS and OASIS SB Standard Plus Licenses

FFP 228

3002 ISSO FFP 12

3003 Optional: Custom Development (NTE 20K)

FFP 1

Period of Performance: March 1, 2025 - February 29, 2026

4001 OASIS and OASIS SB Standard Plus Licenses

FFP 228

4002 ISSO FFP 12

4003 Optional: Custom Development (NTE 20K)

FFP 1

4) Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open

Competition:

This requirement will be solicited as a HUBZone sole source in accordance with

FAR 19.1306 and FAR 13.501(a). The procedures in FAR Subpart 13.5 are being utilized in accordance with 41 U.S.C.1901.

5) Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited:

The Symphony software platform is a proprietary software product of Apex Logic, Inc.

Through market research, it was determined that the manufacturer does not have any authorized resellers, nor are the licenses available on any existing contracts. The contractor is a certified HUBZone small business, verified via SBA Small Business

Dynamic Search on November 17, 2020.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-13#FAR_Subpart_13_5 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-13#FAR_Subpart_13_5 http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml;jsessionid=114A3287C7B3359E597506A31FC855B3 http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml;jsessionid=114A3287C7B3359E597506A31FC855B3

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 4

The Symphony software suite is fully Section 508 compliant, offering solicitation/on-ramping and task order management support. Specifically, the solicitation/on-ramping feature streamlines the contract vehicle competition process by validating vendor proposals, managing the Q&As, and managing proposal acceptance deadlines. The task order management feature was specifically designed to manage IDIQ contracts in accordance with the FAR, offering an organized workflow, notifications, task order development, and award decision information.

Currently, Symphony houses all the solicitation/on-ramp data for the entire OASIS

IDIQ (UR, SB, and 8(a)). Without Symphony, managing all the on-ramps and solicitation documentation for the more than 600 vendors would be extremely labor intensive for GSA staff and create risks related to manually managing various documents from various sources. The increased labor on GSA staff would slow the management of the OASIS IDIQ and result in labor hours being redirected to manual tasks that can be automated by Symphony software, ultimately resulting in loss of productivity on other PSHC strategic priorities. Symphony reduces the risk of human error related to managing multiple documents for each vendor and provides a centralized location for all GSA stakeholders to access documentation, reducing time delays responding to vendors and customer agencies.

Using the on-ramp information currently contained in Symphony, GSA would like to continue/expand use of the tool to the additional, previously unused task order management feature. The feature, designed to manage IDIQ contracts in accordance with the FAR, will allow GSA access to leading information about contract usage, as well as automated reporting and controls to increase transparency; reduce the government’s risk to fair opportunity; and shift some of the responsibility for accountability to industry.

There is no similar tool in the GSA Enterprise systems inventory, and the size and scope of the OASIS contract and its more than 1000 vendors requires extensive manual effort by GSA staff. GSA requires improved efficiency and improved controls that are provided by this software tool.

As outlined in the GSA Acquisition Letter MV-19-04, a security controls assessment of the Symphony Express information system was conducted at the Federal Information

Processing Standards (FIPS) in accordance with National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-37 Revision 1, “Guide for Applying the Risk

Management Framework to Federal Information Systems”, and the General Services

Administration (GSA) IT Security Procedural Guide CIO-IT Security-06-30, “Managing

Enterprise Risk”.

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 5

As a result, an Authorization to Operate (ATO) letter was issued by GSA on March 24, 2020 with a formal declaration that the Symphony platform has adequate security controls which provide a satisfactory level of security in the system. The current ATO is in effect for three years and will require renewal after March 2024.

6) Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many

Potential Sources as Practicable:

This requirement is not available for competition. Apex Logic Inc. is the manufacturer and sole proprietor of Symphony software licenses. This is a sole source HUBZone requirement. Symphony licenses are commercially available. As such, a streamlined solicitation for commercial item procedures, in accordance with FAR 12 and FAR 13.5 will be used to synopsize and solicit the requirement on the Federal Business

Opportunity (FedBizOpps) website and will serve as the Government’s notice of intent to sole source the acquisition. The justification for other than full and open competition will be made publicly available within 14 days after contract award, as required by FAR

13.501 (a)(iii).

7) Contracting Officer Determination that Anticipated Price will be Fair and

Reasonable:

GSA has determined the anticipated cost to the Government for this acquisition will be fair and reasonable and, in the Government’s best interest in accordance with FAR Part

12.209 Determination of Price Reasonableness and FAR Part 13.106-3. The

Contracting Officer will use price analysis techniques to ensure a fair and reasonable price. This includes, but is not limited to market research, comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases, current price lists, comparison with similar items in a related industry, comparison of the proposed prices received in response to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) and any other reasonable basis. In accordance with best practices, the Contracting Officer will request a discount from commercially available pricing.

8) A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results or a Statement of the Reason the Market Research was not Conducted:

Market research was conducted in accordance with FAR Part 10. Market research determined that there are no mandatory sources of supply for the requested Symphony

Software. Therefore, in accordance with FAR Subpart 8.004 Use of Other Sources, the use of GSA Federal Supply Schedules was given first consideration as an acquisition vehicle to satisfy this requirement. A search of GSA eLibrary revealed that Apex Logic

Inc. has a MAS Schedule Contract (GS-35F-0608L) for Information Technology

Professional Services.

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 6

The Symphony Licenses are not offered under their GSA Schedule contract. The requested software is not available under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule Program.

An analysis of the acquisition history detailed that Apex Logic Inc. was a sole source manufacturer of the Symphony Software Licenses. On November 16, 2020, a letter was sent to Apex Logic Inc. requesting the name of any distributors, resellers, or dealers that are authorized to offer Symphony Licenses or verification that Symphony is a 100% proprietary software via Apex Logic and that there is no redistribution of any licenses, resale, etc. Ms. Jennifer Dehnadi (Apex Logic inc.) responded on November 16, 2020 stating, “Symphony Procurement Suite is a 100% proprietary software developed and sold by Apex Logic, Inc. exclusively”.

On November 17, 2020, an SBA Dynamic Search confirmed Apex Logic Inc. as a certified HUBZone firm under the Small Business Administration.

9) Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open

Competition:

There are no other supporting facts available currently.

10) A Listing of the Sources, if any, That Expressed, In Writing, An Interest in the

Acquisition:

To date, the Contracting Officer has not received any statements of interest regarding the proposed sole source effort.

11) A Statement of the Actions Taken to Remove or Overcome Barriers to

Competition:

In an effort to remove or overcome barriers to competition in the future, the commercial market will continuously be scanned by the Government for new, open technologies that can satisfy future software requirements. GSA will continually revisit the software currently being used and will research for technology manufacturers and products that will be in the Government’s best interest for future replacement at the agency’s site and at sites the agency supports. As technology evolves technology requirements will be re-evaluated for its ability to support mission critical requirements and provide the best value to the Government. Since there is a continual revisit to the software applications currently being used by the agency, if/when alternatives to the requested items become available, they will be reviewed for approval to use. The government will also research the expansion of government developed software tools.

If it is determined at any time that there are more capable contractors or products that could fulfill the Government's requirement, GSA will conduct a competitive acquisition.

47QFAA21Q0001 J&A Page 7

12. Requiring Agency Certification”

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Ivory Groomes Date

Contracting Officer’s Representative

13. Contracting Officer Certification:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and determine based on the findings above that an exception to full and open competition is in the best interest of the Government. Further the undersigned has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government for this acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

Jeanine Tyson Date

Senior Contracting Officer

14. Approval:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Kristi Irvin Date

Contracting Activity Competition Advocate

DocuSign Envelope ID: 650AA2E5-4DC7-4F3A-A345-362F38D4D80D

2/16/2021

2/16/2021

2/16/2021

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION