AWARD
D -- VETSNET, VETSNET Code 1 S/W
- Notice Date
- 11/27/2019 3:17:23 AM
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CENTER NJ (36C10B) EATONTOWN NJ 07724 USA
- ZIP Code
- 07724
- Solicitation Number
- 36C10B20Q0010
- Archive Date
- 01/25/2020
- Point of Contact
- Joseph.Pignataro@va.gov, David.Sette@va.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
joseph.pignataro@va.gov
(joseph.pignataro@va.gov)
- Award Number
- NNG15SC39B36C10B20F0033
- Award Date
- 11/26/2019
- Awardee
- IMMIXTECHNOLOGY, INC.;8444 WESTPARK DR STE 200;MCLEAN;VA;22102
- Award Amount
- 266850.24000000
- Description
- JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the renewal of brand name Pitney Bowes licenses and maintenance support services. 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), Enterprise Program Management Office has a requirement for the renewal of 32 existing Pitney Bowes licenses and maintenance support services for the current Veterans Service Network (VETSNET) Compensation and Pension suite of applications that facilitate the compensation and pension claims process and are critical business systems for the delivery of benefits to eligible Veterans. The VETSNET suite is currently designed using the Code-1 software application-programming interface (API) which provides the system and address validation. The universal Code-1 software is provided by Pitney Bowes Software Inc. (PBSI). Maintenance and support shall include periodic updates, enhancements and corrections to the software along with technical support. This proposed action is for renewal of maintenance services only; no additional software licenses will be procured. The period of performance for this action is 12 months with one 12-month option period. The total estimated value of the proposed action inclusive of the option period is $ 4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR Subpart 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 Above: The VETSNET application suite is currently designed using the Pitney Bowes Code-1 software of which a key component is the JAVA-based API. Pitney Bowes Code-1 is the only software that has gone through the rigorous testing process required before any software may be installed onto VA computers and its infrastructure; accordingly it is the only software that is presently on VA s Technology and Technical Standards List of approved software, applications, and add-ons. To attempt to procure a software other than Pitney Bowes Code-1 would require either a complete redesign and code rewriting of the VETSNET software suite or the full testing of another software in one of VA s production environments in order to be VA-approved. Neither of those possible solutions would be cost effective or timely, even less so if the other software failed to pass the testing phase and third (or fourth or fifth) software had to be tested. Implementing another software would take years to execute and the estimated cost would be over millions of dollars for both the VETSNET redesign and the retraining for numerous staff. Only the Pitney Bowes Code-1 software has the ability to meet VA s functional requirements. Any universal coder software to be used by VA s VETSNET application suite must support a JAVA-based API due to the current suite of utilizing JAVA. Additionally, the software is required to be Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)-certified, as this certification enables the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to save money, time, and manpower by reducing the volume of non-deliverable mail, unsorted mail, and mail that can be delivered but not without significant effort due to incorrect mailing data. The USPS itself evaluates and certifies software and maintains a list of all the CASS-certified products on its website. The Pitney Bowes Code-1 software supports not just U.S. and Canadian addresses, but also British and European addresses, which is a requirement given that there are Veterans that live overseas and in Canada.Lastly, the Code-1 software is the proprietary property of PBSI. PBSI is the owner, developer and manufacturer of the source code and has exclusive rights to distribute the software; no other vendor has the ability to utilize the source code for any purpose, be it updates, maintenance, or bug fixes. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this justification. No competition is anticipated for this brand name acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), award of the resultant delivery order will be synopsized and this justification will be made publicly available on the Federal Business Opportunities Page within 14 days of award. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A), the justification will be posted with the request for quote on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website with the solicitation to notify all interested parties. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the Government will continue to perform market research to determine if there are any new products or maintenance services available in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be fully competed.8. Market Research: Market Research was conducted by the Government s technical experts in August 2019 to explore alternative products and found only Pitney Bowes Code-1 licenses and maintenance support services will meet the Government s requirements. The VA Program Manager and team reviewed the current commercial market for alternative universal coder software that could meet VA s functional requirements which must be CASS certified, support JAVA-based API, support British, European, and Canadian addresses, and must be on VA s Technology and Technical Standards List. The products reviewed were Authenticom Inc. s suite of address data services (Authenticom), Melissa Data s Mailers+4, CDYNE Corporation s CDYNE Postal Address Verification (PAV) software, and Informatica s AddressDoctor. Authenticom is not CASS-certified per the USPS website, nor does it support JAVA-based APIs or British, European, or Canadian addresses, therefore it doesn t meet VA s requirements. Mailers+4 is not CASS-certified per the USPS website and doesn t support JAVA-based APIs or British or European addresses, therefore it also does not meet VA s requirements. Although CDYNE PAV software is CASS-certified, appears to support JAVA-based APIs, and supports U.S. and Canadian addresses, it does not support British or European addresses. Further, CDYNE PAV has not been vetted by VA s OI&T and thus is not authorized to be installed on VA s systems as it is not on the Technology and Technical Standards List. Finally, AddressDoctor is also CASS-certified, appears to support JAVA-based APIs, and supports U.S., Canadian and some European addresses (France). However, AddressDoctor does not support British addresses and is not on the Technology and Technical Standards List.Further Market Research was conducted in August 2019 to ascertain the extent of limited competition among resellers of the required renewal of licenses and maintenance support services. Through the use of the Provider Look-up tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website, five (5) Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses were identified as resellers of Pitney Bowes products and services. Upon verifying five resellers being identified, PBSI was contacted regarding resellers of Pitney Bowes of its products and services. PBSI confirmed via a letter dated September 17, 2019 that the Code-1 software licenses is the proprietary property of PBSI. Since PBSI is the owner of the source code, the company has exclusive rights to distribute the software licenses and grants authorization for resellers to distribute the software licenses and associated renewals and maintenance support services. PBSI further stated that ImmixTechnology, Inc. is the sole, authorized, reseller of the required renewal of licenses and maintenance support services. 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. 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 anticipated limited competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable and more competitive pricing may result from competition. Finally, the successful quote will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate. 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. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(C)(1) serves as approval. Date: ________________________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ____________________________
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