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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 FBO #5418
DOCUMENT

D -- TAC-16-35486_Debt Management Center Implementation of MuleSo - Attachment

Notice Date

9/21/2016
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

334111 — Electronic Computer Manufacturing
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;23 Christopher Way;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11816Q1496SEWP42662
 

Archive Date

12/20/2016
 

Point of Contact

Tinamarie Giraud, Contract Specialist
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG15SC03B VA118-16-F-1512
 

Award Date

9/21/2016
 

Awardee

CARAHSOFT TECHNOLOGY CORP.;1860 MICHAEL FARADAY DR, SUITE 100;RESTON;VA;20190
 

Award Amount

$404,625.38
 

Description

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1. Contracting Activity:Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 2. Description of Action: This 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 Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name MuleSoft software and software maintenance support services. 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), Debt Management Center (DMC) requires a total of 22 brand name MuleSoft software products and associated software maintenance support services in order to allow VA to interconnect and communicate with internal and external systems such as Department of Housing and Urban Development or Department of Treasury for data transfer and updates. VA-DMC relies on a conglomerate of legacy Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL), Natural, JAVA and JAVNat computer code produced over a period of 35 years to perform its mission. VA DMC utilizes two primary systems, Centralized Accounts Receivable System (CARS) and the CARS Online System (CAROLS), and their associated databases. Since the existing framework is antiquated and has limited capabilities, DMC must replace systems under the CARS/CAROLS Enhancement Project. The MuleSoft software to be procured under this effort is required to create a seamless application network that will enable VA to build a new framework onto existing VA systems to allow for transfer and updates of internal and external information to meet its mission. All software shall be due within 30 days after receipt of order. Additionally, this acquisition includes software maintenance support for all software for a period of 12 months which will commence upon Government acceptance of the software. The period of performance for this effort shall be 12 months including two 12 month option periods for continued services. 4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting this 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 Above: The proposed source for this action is Carahsoft Technology Corporation, 1860 Michael Faraday Drive, Suite 100, Reston, Virginia 20190. Carahsoft currently has an exclusive partnership agreement with MuleSoft as the sole authorized reseller of MuleSoft software and associated maintenance and support services. The implementation of MuleSoft is necessary for the DCM to modernize by creating an integration platform across existing VA systems that will enable the DMC to effectively communicate with internal and external systems and databases to allow for seamless transfer and updates of internal and external information. MuleSoft software is the only software that is built to meet all of VA's functional requirements which include an open source capability and contain cryptographic modules to allow for encrypted connections between internal and external databases without proprietary vendor locks or application/infrastructure stack dependencies that will restrict the incorporation of future products. An open source software that also contains cryptographic modules are both critical functional requirements that no other brand name item possess. As such, MuleSoft is the only platform that can support DMC's requirement for a modular platform that can effectively and seamlessly integrate with future applications to be implemented under the CARS/CAROL Enhancement Project. In addition, although the MuleSoft platform is built with open source technologies, the MuleSoft source code itself is proprietary to MuleSoft. Therefore, only Carahsoft, as MuleSoft' s only authorized reseller, can provide the requisite software maintenance as no other vendor has the ability or data rights to access the software source code in order to develop and push software updates, patches, or provide technical support on its products. Specifically, if any other source was to provide these maintenance services without the MuleSoft proprietary source code, it would not be able to push upgrades to the existing software or fix, and configure the software. Access to the proprietary source code is critical to meet the VA's need to maintain the MuleSoft software as operational. 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) the resulting contract award will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page within 14 days of award and this justification will be made publicly available. This Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be posted on the NASA SEWP V website with the solicitation. 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 that will enable future requirements to be competed. The Government will also perform market research prior to exercising each option period to determine if it is the most advantageous method of fulfilling the Government's need. 8. Market Research: MuleSoft is a commercially available off-the-shelf software license package currently in use in VA. When conducting market research in September 2015, the Government's technical experts reviewed similar software products to ascertain if these items could meet VA's requirements. Specifically, the Government's technical experts conducted web-based research on similar software products available from Talend, Oracle, Microsoft, and International Business Machines (IBM). The research revealed that no other products are capable of meeting all of Government's requirements as outlined in section 5 of this justification. The Talend Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) software is open source, but does not meet the VA functional cryptographic modules requirement that would ensure the protection of sensitive information. Talend is made up of components that are not capable of cryptographic modules, and would therefore put data transfers of VA Personally Identifiable Information (PII) at risk. The software products available from Oracle, Microsoft and IBM are not open source and have proprietary locks that will restrict integration of future applications; thereby significantly hindering DMC's ability to effectively integrate future applications as part of the CARS/CAROL Enhancement Project. Furthermore, the Microsoft product only has a partial module which does not meet VA's requirements. In addition, the market research confirmed that the source code required to issue the updates is proprietary, and therefore, only MuleSoft or its authorized reseller, Carahsoft, has the tools and can access the source code and other proprietary data to provide the necessary maintenance support. Additional market research was conducted in August 2016 by the Contract Specialist utilizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Provider Lookup tool that identified Carahsoft Technology Corporation as the sole provider of brand name MuleSoft software and maintenance support that meet the requirements of this acquisition. The Contract Specialist also contacted a MuleSoft sales representative who confirmed that Carahsoft currently has an exclusive partnership agreement in place with MuleSoft as the sole authorized reseller of MuleSoft software and associated maintenance and support services. 9. Other Facts: None.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/b3593b7e6cab428a578bab3ca231ff12)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: NNG15SC03B VA118-16-F-1512 NNG15SC03B VA118-16-F-1512.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3018432&FileName=NNG15SC03B-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3018432&FileName=NNG15SC03B-000.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN04281446-W 20160923/160921234819-b3593b7e6cab428a578bab3ca231ff12 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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