The Social Security Administration (SSA) hereby gives notice of their intent to award a purchase order to International Business Machines (IBM), located at 6710 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817, NACIS Code 811213, on a sole source basis in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 13.106-1(b), Soliciting from a single source. SSA has a requirement to provide yearly hardware maintenance for IBM System I and Power System Platform. The maintenance support services require 24 x 7 support with a two hour response time - to include repair/replacement of any equipment or component that is not functional. The existing software developed by IBM is proprietary in nature. Market research has revealed this contractor as the only source capable of providing the required services. Therefore, the Government intends to procure these services on a sole source based from IBM. This Notice of Intent is Not a Request for Competitive Quotes. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information for this requirement will not be received. Point of contacts for this requirement is Michele Tubman410-965-9463, (
[email protected])