TAC-17-33368 SW_R_IBM-PPA_Software Maintenance

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY



1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Acquisition Operations

Technology Acquisition Center

23 Christopher Way

Eatontown, New Jersey 07724



2. Description of Action: This proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price task order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC).



3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Service Delivery and Engineering, Enterprise Operations (EO) has a requirement for maintenance and support of International Business Machines (IBM) products that are only available under IBM's Passport Advantage (PPA) Agreements program. The software maintenance and support will consist of software upgrades and updates to include major releases, point releases, service releases, and security releases of applicable software on a quarterly basis, or within 48 hours in cases in where a high risk vulnerability fix becomes available. The software upgrade and updates are necessary for EO to continue to operate successfully. The period of performance is 12 months, and the total estimated price of the proposed action is $XXXXXXX.



4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled "Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized."



5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited: Based on extensive market research, as described in section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available for the aforementioned IBM PPA software maintenance and support. The current EO infrastructure is based on existing IBM software product lines acquired under IBM's PPA program and VA requires support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. It is critical that this infrastructure remain operational at all times and maintenance and support services be continuously available. Only IBM's PPA Division or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary software updates, because of the proprietary source code required to develop and implement software updates. No other source is capable of providing the required software maintenance that meets VA's unique functional requirement. In addition, current IBM software licenses were purchased through the IBM PPA program and have been installed and integrated into EO's IBM mainframe customer service packages. Replacing the existing software by purchasing new software, would require onsite installation and configuration of the new software and re-training of all VA information technology support staff. The new software would also have to meet the qualifications of VA's stated functional needs, and would require multiple support costs if the IBM PPA software licenses were abandoned in favor of a different product. No other license is compatible and interoperable with the existing IBM PPA proprietary database structures, protocols, and software application programming interfaces. The IBM PPA software maintenance and support is the only software maintenance that meets the Government's requirement.



6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), this action will be synopsized within 14 days of award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page. In addition, the Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity shall be posted to NASA SEWP V GWAC website along with the solicitation.



7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the agency will work with the program office to continue to perform market research to ascertain if any other sources can provide these services in the future. Although the Government is limiting competition as a result of specifying brand name items, there are multiple authorized resellers of the required brand name items on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. Limited competition among these vendors is anticipated.



8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in June 2016. The Government's technical experts reviewed similar service providers to determine if the current IBM PPA software being utilized in VA can be supported by other service providers. Specifically, the Government's technical experts conducted web-based research on Luxoft and Silicus products. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that due to proprietary nature of the source code, IBM PPA is the only source capable of providing the required maintenance and support of the software. IBM PPA product line is software maintenance that covers multiple software packages currently in use in EO. No other service providers have the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for the software necessary to support existing EO requirement. Based on the above, only IBM PPA software maintenance and support meets all of the Government's requirements. In addition, a Request for Information (RFI) was issued on July 22, 2016 by utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC web portal to identify interested sources capable of providing the required maintenance and support. The RFI resulted in submission from two vendors . Both vendors proposed maintenance and support for brand name IBM PPA software, meeting the minimum requirement. Furthermore, NASA SEWP has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests; therefore, as long as the required item or service is within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC, items and services can be added to the catalog on a daily basis. This requirement was determined to be within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC under a separate determination. Therefore, VA anticipates limited competition.

9. Other Facts: None

























































































10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.



Roy McBrayer Date: ______________________



Project Manager Signature: ______________________



11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison of the successful quote with the Independent Government Cost Estimate. Additionally, pricing for products awarded on NASA SEWP V GWAC have already been determined to be fair and reasonable and more competitive pricing may result from competition.



Jan Oberdick Date: ______________________



Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________



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





Jan Oberdick Date: ______________________



Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________



13. Legal Sufficiency Certification: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity and deem it legally sufficient.





Date: ______________________



Legal Counsel Signature: ______________________



Approval





In my role as Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the Firm-Fixed Price delivery order for IBM PPA software maintenance and support, on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property herein described has otherwise been authorized for acquisition.



Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________

Ronald J. Bakay

Advocate for Competition

Technology Acquisition Center

Office of Acquisition Operations