Description
JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 260 Industrial Way West Eatontown, New Jersey 07724 2. Description of Action: The 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) IV Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), for the purchase of Adobe LiveCycle software module licenses and Adobe support licenses to complete the suite required for the development of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) enrollment forms. The Period of Performance is twelve (12) months from date of award. 3. Description of Supplies or Services: The proposed action is to procure the Adobe LiveCycle software module licenses to support and maintain PDF enhancement, process management, interactive forms, forms libraries, authentication, form and workflow change management, transactions, approvals, and content access needed for VHA enrollment forms. Existing forms creation for the Online 10-10EZ project are supported through the Adobe Reader Extension Enterprise Server currently owned and in production in the VA environment. The Online 10-10EZ is a main VHA enrollment form that is available online, allowing Veterans to apply for Health Benefits. This form in concert with other VHA enrollment forms, are programmed and available through Adobe. Additionally, this proposed action also includes Adobe support licenses to maintain the software through patches and upgrades. 4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 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: Based on extensive market research, as described in paragraph eight of this document, it was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for this brand name item. This is a brand name justification in support of FAR 11.105, Items Peculiar to One Manufacturer. Adobe LiveCycle software module licenses and Adobe support licenses are the only commercial off-the-shelf software that can build integrated, native web, authentication, usability, content management, workflow, and maintenance into VA's existing Adobe PDF-based forms. The currently fielded VHA enrollment forms, specifically the Online 10-10EZ and other VHA enrollment forms are built in, and rely upon, the Adobe Reader Extension Enterprise Server software currently owned and deployed by VA. The current Online 10-10EZ creates an encrypted email form that can be consumed directly by the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA ) to enroll the Veteran. Only the use of the Adobe LiveCycle software module licenses maintains these forms compatibility with VistA and allows for future compatibility with the VHA's Enrollment System environment. No other commercially available off-the-shelf brand name software is able to provide single point integration of workflow, web availability, authentication, content management and form maintenance for the online VHA application used to enroll Veterans in VA health benefits. No other commercially available off-the-shelf brand name software has out-of-the-box interoperability and compatibility necessary for the Online 10-10EZ to pass information to VistA. The current forms have limited interoperability with computer operating systems (i.e. Apple). While usable on other internet appliances (e.g. cell phones and tablets) the forms do not function to VA's specific needs. The Adobe LiveCycle software module licenses and Adobe support licenses requested in this acquisition provide a solution that would provide ability for Veterans to use these forms from any device they might have, regardless of the operating system involved. No other commercially available, off-the-shelf, brand name software provides PDF interoperability with these additional operating systems and form factors. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional commercially available off-the-shelf software packages that can meet the Government's requirements. There will be limited competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2), this action will be synopsized at award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) and the justification will be made publicly available. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes to software available in the market place that provide off-the-shelf integration of the specific capabilities provided by the Adobe LiveCycle modules and compatibility with Adobe form creation software that would enable future actions to be competed. 8. Market Research: The Government's technical experts conducted market research by reviewing other similar software. This market research is an ongoing process starting in 2010 and continuously being conducted. Reviews of commercial catalogs, technical reviews, and professional reviews have been conducted yearly, beginning in October 2010, with the latest performed in March 2012, specifically for this acquisition. A review was conducted in September 2012 of the materials available on Adobe LiveCycle and its competitors from the sources used from the research performed in March 2012 and there have been no updates. This research resulted in similar software being reviewed including PerfectForms, Frevvo, ExtremeForms, ProcessMaker, and RJSSoftware. Based on technical and professional reviews of these products as previously discussed, the Government's technical experts determined that none of these products can meet the Government's interoperability and compatibility requirements, or provide the required functionality referenced above in paragraph 5. Additionally, none of these other products can offer the total integration with Adobe-based forms that Adobe provides. Additionally, VA forms and workflow Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct Internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software is available. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government's technical experts have determined that only Adobe LiveCycle brand name software can meet all of VA's needs.. The option of replacing the current Adobe forms for another software solution was estimated to cost twice the Adobe LiveCycle cost just in labor and would add 12 to 18 months to the delivery schedule for the new online form. This delay would prevent the timely development and deployment of version of the Online 10-10EZ that is required to meet the policy requirements of the Affordable Care Act. 9. Other Facts: N/A.