AWARD
J -- Point of Sale System Sustainment
- Notice Date
- 5/21/2015
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Interior, National Park Service, NPS - All Offices, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Post Office Box 25287, Denver, Colorado, 80225-0287
- ZIP Code
- 80225-0287
- Solicitation Number
- P15PS00385
- Archive Date
- 6/20/2015
- Point of Contact
- Marian Gordon, Phone: (303) 969-2340, Heather Madsen, Phone: (303) 969-2363
- E-Mail Address
-
Marian_Gordon@nps.gov, heather_madsen@nps.gov
(Marian_Gordon@nps.gov, heather_madsen@nps.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- P15PC00229
- Award Date
- 5/21/2015
- Awardee
- Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. DBA Crimson Transaction Technologies, 160 East Beaver Creek Rd Unit 16, Richmond Hill, Non-U.S. L4B 3L4, Canada
- Award Amount
- $681,001.68
- Line Number
- CLIN Items 0010-00110
- Description
- This contract action was awarded using other than competitive procedures IAW FAR 6.302-1. Please see posted Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition for further information. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION In accordance with the authority granted under 41 U.S.C. 253(c), this request for award under other than full and open competition is hereby submitted. 1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity. DOI-NPS-WASO/WCO S72 (2623) 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This is a follow-on contract to a pre-existing competed contract action. The Government intends to make a sole source award to Millenium Retail Solutions Inc. (MRS) (doing business as Crimson Transaction Technologies) to provide ongoing system administration and technical support services for the sustainment of the NPS Point of Sale System (POSS), consisting of: • Millenium Retail Solutions Inc. proprietary Scoria software suite (formerly named In The Black (ITB)) • The NPS POSS Web Reports application • PC-Based POS Terminals used at the POSS parks: o Pippard Inc., Modular Retail Terminals (MRTs) o Hewlett-Packard HP RP7800 POS terminal and subsequent models, o WebDT tablet PC Additionally, two parks, with critically failing equipment and poor vendor support, Glacier National Park (GLAC) and Yellowstone National Park (YELL), must be added to the POSS system. These two parks have equipment that is failing and can no longer be repaired. If this situation is not remediated immediately, the park's entire fee collection operations would be jeopardized. Current programming at these parks is unable to meet requirements outlined in Director's Memo "Request for Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act Fee Rate Changes in Calendar Year 2015." Purchase of additional POS terminal units (HP RP7800 or equivalent) is required along with appropriate peripherals, the POSS Scoria software licenses, and configuration, installation, training and implementation. Allowing these two failing parks to be added to the National Park Service POSS is the only feasible way to keep the fee collection system operational and allow the federal government to continue to receive fee revenue at these parks. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value). The NPS requires the following supplies and services for 6 POSS parks (the 4 existing POSS parks and the addition of 2 critically failing parks): • Technical support (Tier 1and Tier 2) of the Scoria software, POS terminals and peripheral hardware • Operations and system administration of the system, including credit card processing, credit card compliance, transaction monitoring, validation of system inventory, periodic cloning of production servers to development servers, disaster recovery, and IT security support • Ongoing monthly consultation with the POSS team on how to use the system more effectively • Replacement of failing POS hardware as required for existing NPS POSS parks. In addition, for the two new critically failing parks to be added to the POSS, the NPS requires: • POS hardware (HP RP7800 or equivalent) • Scoria software licenses • Configuration of park servers and POS units for the two parks, and integration of the new parks into the existing system • On-site installation, implementation, and go-live support for the two parks • On-site user training on system usage and maintenance The total estimated cost for these goods and services for approximately a two year period of performance is $850,000.00. 4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements - 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). 5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. Software: Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. is the sole owner and developer of the Scoria software suite which the NPS purchased under contract C2608080056. Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. is the primary resource who configured and customized the software (known at the time as In the Black) to meet the NPS POSS technical and business requirements. The system is currently deployed in four parks (Yosemite National Park (YOSE), Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (CASA), Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SLBE) and Fort Pulaski National Monument (FOPU). The POSS Headquarters database server, the Park Manager databases, and NPS Web Reporting server are all hosted in a production and testing environment at the NPS Denver Data Center located in Lakewood, CO. All POSS servers are supported by NPS IT Infrastructure Services Team, POSS Security Manager contracted, and Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. through government issued laptops and Active Directory accounts obtained after completing the required HSPD-12 background clearances and IT Training. The NPS actively maintains infrastructure, including servers, to support these parks on POSS, in order to meet all NPS IT security requirements. The system received Authority to Operate in 2012. In the time frame that this requirement is needed, the NPS does not have the capability to deploy and manage two different sets of infrastructure, and addition of a new system would require the extensive process of receiving Authority to Operate on the DOI ESN (NPS network). As well, the system was extensively customized and configured over a period of several years in order to meet the NPS fee collection and back office operational needs, DOI and FISMA IT security, Treasury and industry credit card processing, banking, and PCI DSS requirements. All customization and configuration was performed by Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. NPS requires the continuity in knowledge of the system in order to sustain the functionality critical to collecting fees at the POSS parks. The configuration of new software and a new system would be infeasible in the time required for deployment. Additionally, there would be extensive rework to re-install and configure the NPS-specific POS terminal unit image, and configuration of the Tripwire file integrity monitoring software required for PCI compliance. In addition, the POSS solution is categorized as a Major Application, which required extensive configuration, customization, and documentation to meet the FISMA security requirements as defined by NIST 800-53. Deployment of a different software solution would require identifying another contractor to re-perform this work, overseeing a new assessment and authorization process with an independent security auditor, and months of additional work in updating security documentation. In addition, the NPS would be required to go through the change management process to have the new system added to the NPS Categorized Software list. Market research was performed in April 2014 through industry day presentations from six vendors. Only the Scoria software with the NPS Webreports currently met the 69 NPS Business Use cases. Each of the other 5 presentations required development, configuration, and implementation in order to meet the NPS Business Use Cases. Hardware: The POS hardware sold to NPS under contract C2608080056 (the Modular Retail Terminal and the POD) was manufactured by Pippard, a Canadian manufacturer who was dissolved under bankruptcy in April 2011. The key technical employee from Pippard (who also owns the intellectual property for the POD hardware) was hired by Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc., and is the only person with the capability of supporting the Pippard POS hardware (POD as well as the Standard POS terminals). The Scoria software and all peripheral hardware (receipt printer, bar code scanner, P2PE and EMV certified credit card payment device, etc.) have specific drivers which must be installed on the PC-based POS Terminal or government laptop in order for the POSS to work properly with the Scoria software suite and approved NPS operating system configuration. Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. is an authorized distributor of multiple POS hardware and peripheral brands (e.g., NCR, HP, Verifone, ScanSource) and holds partnerships with critical service providers essential to POSS operations (e.g., credit card processor Vantiv). Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc. is in the best position to deliver and support the hardware as they have developed and tested their software with the specific hardware in use at the NPS. Most importantly, by procuring the hardware, software, and services in one contract, the government has one vendor to contact to resolve system failures. The government is not put into the position of determining if it is a hardware or software defect and adjudicating which vendor is responsible for resolving the issue. 6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 5.2, and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies. In accordance with FAR 5.2, a synopsis was posted to FedBizOps on January 30, 2015. The synopsis provided a summary of the requirement and indicated that all responsible sources may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency. One submission was received; however, the documentation submitted did not demonstrate capability for completing the government requirement. Additionally, the vendor was not licensed or certified to modify the source code of the current POS system. An internet search and a search of GSA Advantage were conducted to identify any resellers of the Scoria suite and none were found. Millenium Retail Solutions, Inc (currently doing business as Crimson Transaction Technologies) is the sole owner of the source code to the Scoria software suite. 7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable and the basis for that determination. The Contracting Officer (CO) has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government of this procurement will be fair and reasonable. 8. A description of the market research conducted (FAR part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted. Market research was performed in April 2014 through industry day presentations from six vendors. Only the Scoria software with the NPS Webreports currently met the 69 NPS Business Use cases. Each of the other 5 presentations required development, configuration, and implementation in order to meet the NPS Business Use Cases. A synopsis was posted to FedBizOps on January 30, 2015. The synopsis provided a summary of the requirement and indicated that all responsible sources may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency. One submission was received; however, the documentation submitted did not demonstrate capability for completing the government requirement. Additionally, the vendor was not licensed or certified to modify the source code of the current POS system. An internet search and a search of GSA Advantage were conducted to identify any resellers of the Scoria suite and none were found. 9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition (FAR 6.302(a) (9)). The effort to identify and purchase the Scoria (formerly ITB) software was the result of an extensive full and open competition. The effort took almost three years -- two years to develop the requirements and solicitation and a year to compete it. The ITB software solution was selected under contract C2608080056 to meet the NPS technical requirements, which were extensively validated by an interdisciplinary team of subject matter experts. To write and advertise another full and open competition for continued support services for the existing parks would take between six months and a year, and even during this time, supporting the current four POSS parks using this software would be essential. Technical support and hardware and software sustainment for the four parks is essential to continue fee collecting operations at Yosemite NP, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Fort Pulaski, and Castillo de San Marcos. There is a significant learning curve for any other Government or contractor resource to acquire the knowledge of how the ITB Software is configured for the NPS in order for them to provide the technical, consultation, and training requirements in the time period requested. In addition, two of the top 10 fee-collecting parks, Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP, are currently experiencing critical and urgent failure of their existing equipment. It is no longer possible to repair or replace their existing equipment, and a full upgrade is required. It is in the best interest of the NPS to implement POSS (including HP hardware and Scoria software at these two parks) to keep their fee collection operational. Providing a solution to allow these two parks to continue to collect fees without interruption is essential. 10. A listing of sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. PurePayments, Brewster, New York 11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the same supplies or services. This contract is for a base period award and multiple option periods (to address internal administrative purpose for funding), for a total of two years. During this time, the NPS is working on a follow-on acquisition for a service wide point of sale, including software, hardware, implementation, training, technical support, and ongoing operations and maintenance of POS Software and hardware. This competitive acquisition will be open to other products besides the existing Scoria software. Market research has identified several products and systems that could potentially meet NPS technical and operational requirements after a sufficient period of configuration and customization. This follow-on acquisition will be for a national solution which will be for a set number of parks based on what the NPS can manage under a national contract. In order to do this, the NPS requires additional staff to manage the contract and project deliverables. NPS leadership is in the process of obtaining the approval to hire a FAC-P/PM Level 3 for this follow-on acquisition. The purpose of this POSS Bridge acquisition is to sustain existing NPS fee collection operations during the time that a competitive service wide acquisition is being developed and released. PREPARED BY: ___________________________________ ________ Amy Pedersen, Requisitioner Date 12. The ordering activity Contracting Officer's certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer's knowledge and belief. ___________________________________ ____________ Marian Gordon, Contracting Officer Date Over 650K Approval: CONCUR: __x____ NONCONCUR: _________ ______________________________ __________ Elizabeth Walden Date Chief, Washington Contracting Office ______________________________ ______________ Patrick Breen Date Bureau Procurement Chief
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOI/NPS/APC-IS/Awards/P15PC00229.html)
- Record
- SN03738677-W 20150523/150521234906-4e46cbd6e933bee332ae5af20f4d32f1 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |