DABS Business Research Services

The Utah Division of Purchasing has published a Notice of Intent to Award a Contract Without Engaging in a Standard Procurement Process for DABS Business Research Services, with a notice-publication due date of September 18, 2026. This is a sole-source or non-competitive procurement justified on grounds that transitional costs are a significant consideration or that standard procurement procedures would be impractical and not in the best interest of the state under the Utah Procurement Code.

The scope covers business research services to support the Division of Administrative and Business Services (DABS) operational and strategic initiatives. The specific research deliverables, analytical requirements, and reporting standards are outlined in the attached Scope of Work document. The procurement unit's justification identifies an incumbent provider or specialized vendor with established knowledge of DABS operations and systems as necessary to minimize disruption and implementation expenses, implying continuity of service or deep integration with existing systems is a material factor.

The contract will be subject to Utah's Standard Terms and Conditions for Goods and Services (Attachment A) and Standard Information Technology Terms and Conditions (Attachment B). IT security and data handling requirements include NIST SP 800-53 and GovRAMP or FedRAMP compliance; encryption of all state data in transit and at rest using current TLS standards; storage exclusively within United States data centers; Federal Criminal Background Checks and drug testing for personnel with unescorted access; and prohibition on using state data to train generative AI models without written permission. Contractors must maintain cyber security insurance with limits ranging from $2 million for low-risk data to $10 million for high-risk data, and must report security incidents without unreasonable delay. Standard insurance requirements include $1 million per occurrence / $3 million aggregate commercial general liability coverage.

The Division of Purchasing must issue a written determination approving the non-competitive award justification before contract execution. Contract termination for convenience is permitted with thirty days' written notice.