IBM COGNOS Licenses and Maintenance

Defense Contract Management Agency

Procurement Center

Limited Sources / Brand Name Justification

Identify contracting activity and agency: This combined limited sources / brand name justification is requested by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Procurement Center, Fort Lee, Virginia.

Nature and/or description of the action: The Defense Contract Management Agency Procurement Center proposes to purchase IBM COGNOS Software and Maintenance. This requirement shall result in a five year blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to the sole source General Services Administration (GSA) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) contractor, Immix Group.

Description of the supplies/services required: The software provides reporting and ad hoc query capabilities that are integrated into the DCMA eTools database and most applications that support the agency in its contract administration mission. This agreement will provide the agency the ability to procure several thousand licenses of various types, to include their respective maintenance support. The BPA will have a maximum contract value of $15 million.

The contractor, IMMIX Group, is the sole provider of COGNOS software under the mandatory procurement source, the General Service Administration (GSA) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) Program. The GSA ESI program has proven that managing the acquisition of commercially available software at the enterprise level reduces costs. GSA ESI enables the aggregation of software requirements and promotes the use of Enterprise Software Agreements that leverage the DoD's buying power.

Justification rationale: This justification is required when restricting consideration based on one of the following:

[ ] An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays. Reference FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A)

[ ] Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. Reference 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B)

[ ] In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable FSS ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole -source or limited sources procedures. Reference FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C)

[ X] Brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts.DCMA eTools systems have been created utilizing the various COGNOS software products being procured herein. DCMA proposes to restrict competition based upon the fact the software is integral to the DCMA infrastructure; replacement costs of new software to run the several dozen etool systems would cost the agency several million dollars in new licenses, programming, and training. Furthermore, by replacing the pre-existing COGNOS software with an alternate product, DCMA would lose thousands of dollars and man-hours expended to create this system utilizing the COGNOS platform. Current year budget cuts and efficient fiscal stewardship justifies the continuation of the COGNOS products to support the agency mission. FAR 8.405-6(b)(1).

Market research: DCMA has investigated other possibilities and has not found a technically acceptable solution. DCMA has been replacing many COGNOS reports with other report functions, but the systems and functionality specific to the etools programs are labor intensive; the process to migrate will take several years.

Best value determination: This acquisition will be evaluated as 'lowest price technically acceptable'; predicated upon this, a determination of best value will be expected to result from the evaluation of a technically acceptable proposal with the lowest evaluated price. In this situation, the evaluation of the contractor's price will be based upon an analysis of their offer to the Government's pre-established Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE). The IGCE has been established from a market research quote secured from the contractor, as well as alternate price comparisons researched through the GSA database. Although IAW FAR 8.404(d), GSA has already determined the prices of supplies under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable, the Government will enter into negotiations should the contractors exceed the IGCE.

Other facts supporting the justification: Not applicable.

Statement of subsequent actions: DCMA will continue to search for cost-effective alternatives to COGNOS products. As new software is identified, the agency will continue to convert reports into alternate formats through the use of alternate products when and where technically acceptable.