Sources Sought for management IT infrastructure & computer services currently provided by SoftComputer Consultants

Acquisition Description:

This is a Notice of Intent, not a request for proposal.  The National Institute of Health, Clinical Center (NIH-CC) intends to negotiate on an other than full and open competition basis with Soft Computer Consultants Inc.

The National Institute of Health Clinical Center’s Department of Clinical Research Informatics (NIH-CC DCRI or Program) is responsible for the operation and management IT infrastructure that supports patient care and research. Program needs to obtain software and hardware license and maintenance services for the IBM hardware and AIX operating system for servers that support the existing Laboratory Information System (LIS). Specifically, the contractor will be required to provide onsite support on the LIS and provide genuine IBM hardware replacement parts as required within 4 hours from notification of failure.  The contractor will be required to provide application level support to all the modules that the Clinical Center currently has installed.  In addition, the contractor will provide device specific interface support for the laboratory equipment, which communicates with the LIS system. In addition, the contractor will provide device specific interface support for the laboratory equipment, which communicates with the LIS system.  These services and products are to be available to the agency 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.  

Justification:

Soft Computer Consultants Inc (SCC) has been the incumbent since the initial install of the software. Due to its proprietary nature they have performed the ongoing maintenance and support on the system. All of the previous awards were made on a sole source basis due to the proprietary nature of the LIS Software and the fact that SCC does not allow third party maintenance for the software. The current LIS software system is proprietary to SCC who developed it. SCC does not permit 3rd party maintenance and will not release their source code to other entities. As the LIS modules in the Clinical Center are currently handling large volumes of patient data and test and diagnostic results, it is absolutely imperative that there be no interruption in the ongoing operation/functioning of the existing system.  Patient safety is of great concern if there is a system failure or interruption in service. Therefore it is critical that the system continues to be maintained by SCC who is the only source capable of providing the necessary maintenance, including making revisions to the source code as circumstances may dictate. Because the LIS helps support patient diagnosis and care activities, it is deemed a mission critical system for the Clinical Center. Thus, SCC is the only vendor qualified to perform the required maintenance services.

Furthermore, a sources sought was posted on SAM.gov under SS-CC-25-008398. Several vendors responded with capability statements, but Program evaluated them and determined them to be not technically capable/insufficient. The current NIH systems run on SCC propriety software and code that is not offered to outside vendors or resellers. These other potential vendors do not have a Letter of Authorization from SCC to ensure the company can provide the level of services and support for the system. Thus, these other vendors cannot perform work on the system that is currently run on SCC’s proprietary software as they did not have authorization to use SCC’s proprietary software and systems.

Requirement:

See List of Services and Statement of Work documents.

Place of Performance or Delivery:

The Period of Performance is:

Base period: 09/27/2025 – 03/27/2026

Option period: 03/28/2026 – 03/27/2027

Place of Performance: NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD

The statutory authority for this sole source requirement is 41 U.S.C. 1901 (a) (1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1 only one responsible source and no other supply of service will satisfy agency requirements. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.  All responsible sources that could provide the required may submit a capability statement that will be considered by email (subject line to reference NOI-CC-25-008398) by 10:00 AM eastern standard time on 9/25/2025 to: lu-chang.lu@nih.gov

All responses received by the closing date of this synopsis will be considered by the Government.  A determination not to compete this requirement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.