Redacted_J&A_-_Brand_Name_(Microsoft).pdf

Control No: 2019-88 Program/Equipment: Microsoft Software Licenses

Version – March 2017 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR SUBPART 13.5 SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL

ITEMS – SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

Program/Equipment: Academic tenant software license and annual renewals for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Visio Pro, and Microsoft Project Online for use at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, CA.

Authority: Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 13.5.

Amount: inclusive of a twelve-month base period, three twelve-month option periods, and a six-month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8, “Option to Extend Services.”

Prepared by:

Contracting Officer:

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support limiting competition.

Small Business Specialist, Small Business Program:

Legal Counsel:

Contracting Office Division Chief:

Director, MICC – Fort Leavenworth:

Deputy Assistant Director Small Business Program:

FAR Subpart 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items Sole Source Justification and Approval

1. Contracting Activity: Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC), Fort Leavenworth; 535 Kearny Ave., Bldg. 338; Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027

2. Description of Action: The DLI Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) requests afirm-fixed-price contract with a responsible Microsoft authorized reseller. The Government projects award for September 2019 and fiscal year 2019, Operations and Maintenance, Army (OMA) funds will be used.

An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

This requirement is a follow-on to delivery order W91QF4-18-F-0262, awarded on 27 September 2018 to CDW-G via a brand name restricted competition within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) vehicle. That delivery order was not competed under the authority of FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (brand name).

Paragraph, “Actions to Increase Competition” of the previous justification, stated: “This acquisition action will be fully competed, amongst authorized resellers. The required software licenses, subscription, and SA are proprietary and are only available from MS or their authorized resellers. MS owns the copyrighted source code with all legal rights, privileges, and ownership contained therein. No other source may legally modify or change the software, nor would they have access to the source code to do so.” Those actions were accomplished by soliciting the requirement through the NASA SEWP Quote Request Tool (QRT) portal and receiving three quotes. The previous approved justification is included as Attachment 1 to this document.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The previous requirement was for 6,000 Microsoft Office 365 (O365) licenses, 100 Visio Pro licenses, and 100 Project Online licenses.

During the past year, DLIFLC’s requirement changed – requiring an additional 300 Microsoft Office 365 licenses as well as 6,300 Microsoft Azure licenses. The purpose of incorporating the Azure licenses into the requirement is to add scalability to the O365 licenses and provide identification management in the cloud. While conducting market research, DLIFLC discovered significant cost savings could be achieved by procuring Microsoft 365 A5 Academic Licenses in lieu of Microsoft Office 365 E1 Government Licenses. Microsoft 365 Academic licenses can be procured at a significant discount and include Azure functionality - eliminating the need to separately procure Azure licenses.

Additionally, one Microsoft 365 Academic license covers multiple users, therefore reducing the total number of licenses required. The Visio Pro and Project Online requirement remained unchanged.

software would impact the functionality, security, and operations of the network.

Microsoft software products currently in use have been certified and accredited. A change in the brand of software or elimination of Microsoft would have a direct and negative impact on the ability to provide the highest quality of foreign language education, training, and evaluation – all of which are critical to enhancing the national security of the United States. Failure to continue to license Microsoft software would jeopardize system performance and availability, ultimately affecting DLIFLC’s ability to execute its mission.

c. The verified minimum requirements of the Government are detailed in Table 1. The current rights to use the licenses will expire on 29 September 2019. DLIFLC requires approximately four years of renewed usage of the licenses, to be achieved by soliciting for a contract consisting of a one-year base period and three one-year option periods.

Due to the ever-changing nature of information technology, it is likely that the requirement will evolve after the four-year period of performance contemplated by this requirement; thus, any additional option periods are unnecessary.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.201.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The contract specialist posted a sources sought notice to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on 15 August 2019 notifying potential vendors that the Government intends to issue a brand name solicitation for Microsoft software. The notice encouraged interested vendors to identify any condition or action that may have the effect of unnecessarily restricting competition and to identify alternatives or solutions. Vendors were given until 19 August 2019 to provide a response. At the time of closing, no responses were received. This requirement will be solicited through the FBO website with a copy of the brand name Justification and Approval. All authorized Microsoft resellers will have an equal opportunity to respond to the solicitation.

8. Market Research: MICC Fort Leavenworth conducted market research in July and August 2019. The Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) 5139.101- 90(a)(1) names the Army’s Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) as the mandatory source for commercial information technology hardware and software purchases. Within CHESS, the Army has a Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) with Insight Public Sector (Insight). The Contract Specialist contacted Insight by email to verify whether the required software licenses are available under the ELA. The contractor responded and confirmed that only Visio Pro is available on the ELA; all other products would be quoted outside of the ELA contract. Also within CHESS, the Department of Defense (DoD) has a suite of Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) with six contractors that comprise the Microsoft Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI). The Contract Specialist contacted the government contracting officer responsible for the Microsoft ESI BPA and inquired whether academic licenses were part of the agreements.

The contracting officer responded and confirmed that academic licenses need to be purchased outside of ESI.

The Contract Specialist brought this market research to DLIFLC, and the customer submitted a Statement of Non-Availability (SoNA) request through the CHESS website.

The SoNA was approved on 14 August 2019, granting DLIFLC the ability to procure its required Microsoft software outside of CHESS solutions.

The Contracting officer searched for the required part numbers on the General Services Administration (GSA) eBuy website, as well as on the SEWP website; neither sources offer academic licensing. An internet search of the open market revealed multiple vendors with the ability to provide the required software. Accordingly, the requirement will be solicited through FBO for open market quotes.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History Contract: NNG15SC04B, Delivery Order W91QF4-18-F-0262 Contractor: CDW Government, LLC Award Date: 27 September 2018 Competitive Status: Brand Name Restricted via NASA SEWP GWAC Authority: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – approved by the MICC Command Advocate for Competition on 13 September 2018 via document Control No: 2018-74

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under mycognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

IT Support Director

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under mycognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

CIO

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. This determination will be made on the basis of price analysis. It is anticipated that adequate price competition will be obtained. In the event that only one quote is received, price analysis will be based on historical prices paid and published price lists for identical items. As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data is not required because the item and/or services being acquired are considered commercial.

Contracting Officer

14. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Microsoft 365 Academic, Visio Pro, and Project Online software for the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California on a sole source (brand name) basis pursuant to the authority of the Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by FAR Subpart 13.5. The estimated value of the delivery order is for up to a four year period of performance consisting of a base year, three option years, and a six-month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8, from 30 September 2019 through 29 March 2024. The approval is subject to availability of funds and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition

Alternate Advocate for Competition U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, TX