Notice of Intent to Award on a Sole Source Basis - Annual Maintenance and Support of Genomics and Computer Vision Storage and Computational Servers System

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has issued a Notice of Intent to Award on a Sole Source Basis for annual maintenance and support of genomics and computer vision storage and computational servers system. This special notice indicates the agency's intention to award a sole source contract to Cornell University Biotechnology Resource Center Cornell Research & Innovation for maintenance services. The procurement falls under NAICS code 541690 for Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services and PSC code DF10 for IT Management as a Service. The contract will be processed as a Firm Fixed Price purchase order under FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13 procedures. This notice serves as an informational announcement rather than a formal solicitation for proposals.

The primary purpose of this notice is to inform potential contractors of the government's intent to proceed with sole source procurement while providing an opportunity for other qualified sources to demonstrate their capabilities. Interested parties who believe they can provide the required services must submit substantiating documentation within five calendar days of the notice publication date, with responses due by July 21, 2025. The government explicitly states that oral communications are not acceptable and no telephone calls will be accepted in response to this notice. The services involve annual maintenance of three data storage servers and three computational servers used for storage and computing of grapevine sequencing data and imaging data maintained in a secure bioinformatics facility. The government reserves sole discretion to determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses received, and emphasizes that this notice does not constitute a commitment to award.