Sole Source Award for Subject Matter Expert Consulting Services

Sole Source Authority: The Patent and Trademark Acquisition Guidelines (PTAG) specifically exempts USPTO from the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA - 41 USC 253). Reason for Sole Source: Only one responsible source: the supplies or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirements. Anticipated Contract Award Date: January 6, 2011 Synopsis: The United States Patent & Trademark Office intends to issue a sole source Blanket Purchase Agreement to Race Corporation for financial management systems subject matter expert (SME) with emphasis on the Federal acquisition process, the applicable Momentum Acquisitions functionality within Momentum Financials, and the associated integrations and components including the Vendor Self Service (VSS) component, and integrations between Momentum and VSS, FedBizOpps, and the Federal Procurement Data System. Mrs. Mary P. Brown of the Race Corporation possesses a unique combination of knowledge, experience and expertise not available from any other source. Her unique qualifications are detailed below: From January of 1990 to December of 1999, Mrs. Brown worked as a civil service senior procurement analyst in the USPTO's Office of Procurement. Her accomplishments include assisting in the implementation of: the Federal Financial System (FFS), the USPTO's first automated financial system; Procurement Desktop (PD) the USPTO's first fill-fledged automated procurement system; the Internet Purchasing Application (IPA), the USPTO's first electronic commerce system; and Program Office Desktop (POD), the precursor to Momentum Financials. All of these implementations required extensive knowledge of USPTO's business practices and procedures for conducting FAR transactions; a detailed understanding of each system's functionality; and keen analytical skills. During this time, Ms. Brown was also responsible for reporting within and outside the USPTO on completed FAR transactions. During her ten years in the Office of Procurement, Mrs. Brown expanded her existing knowledge of the Federal procurement process and gained extensive experience implementing, utilizing, and maintaining Federal procurement and related systems. In December of 1999, Mrs. Brown began working in the Financial Systems Division (FSD) of the Office of Finance. Because of the above described experience, she became the System Development Manager (SDM) for PD. This role required detailed knowledge of PD's functionality; an understanding of the USPTO's Office of the Chief Information Officer's (OCIO) system implementation and maintenance requirements; the aptitude to analyze and resolve complicated user issues; the ability to work cooperatively with the software vendor; and a talent to bridge the gaps between different organizational objectives. In a short time, Mrs. Brown was also designated as the SDM for POD. She continued in this role when the USPTO retired FFS and moved to Momentum Financials, and maintained this responsibility until her retirement in February of 2005. Also, from early 2004 until the time of her retirement from civil service, Mrs. Brown worked extensively to prepare for the Momentum Financials upgrade and the Momentum Acquisitions implementation. Following her retirement, FSD retained Mrs. Brown's services which included: preparing for the Momentum Acquisitions implementation; providing training and user support to the Office of Procurement and the delegated Contracting Officers prior, during, and after the implementation; identifying and resolving system issues; testing system functionality; and preparing for maintenance releases, upgrades, and the Vendor Self Service (VSS) implementation.