Sole Source Justification for USDA Return To Office Tool

The Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Departmental Management has published a Special Notice regarding a sole source justification for the establishment of a firm fixed-price delivery order under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule Information Technology program. This limited sources justification supports USDA's procurement of Palantir Platform solutions specifically for the agency's Return to Office Tool initiative. The opportunity was posted on February 24, 2026, with a deadline of March 24, 2026. The contracting activity is the USDA Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations Division, while the requesting activity is the USDA Office of the Chief Information Officer. This Special Notice represents USDA's determination to pursue a sole-source award to Palantir Technologies rather than conduct full and open competition.

The Return to Office Tool requires specialized software licenses, configuration services, integration support, and operational capabilities designed to optimize space utilization and employee seat assignments through real-time analytics and advanced data integration. USDA's requirement mandates compliance with FedRAMP High and DoD Impact Levels 4-5 security standards, necessitating a solution capable of operating within secure, accredited internal networks and supporting real-time data fusion and intelligence analysis. Market research identified competing vendors including Databricks, Snowflake, IBM, SAS, Salesforce, and Alteryx; however, USDA determined that Palantir is the sole vendor capable of delivering the required combination of enterprise-scale data fusion, real-time analytics, compliance monitoring, and seamless integration with existing USDA systems. Palantir's existing security accreditations—including SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, FISMA High, and multiple ISO/IEC certifications—along with its current USDA Authorization to Operate, establish the basis for this limited source justification under FAR 8.401(b). The approval authority for this acquisition, which may exceed $75 million, extends to the Senior Procurement Executive.