Description
SOLE SOURCE AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION POSTING. PER FAR PART 6.302-1 AND 6.302-2, AND THE JUSTIFICATION BELOW, THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION IS ISSUING THIS SOLE SOURCE AWARD TO AVANTSTAR INC, 18872 LAKE DR E, CHANHASSEN MN, 55317, FOR THE AVANTSTAR QUICK VIEW 12 STANDARD SOFTWARE. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION Solicitation No.: N/A Project Name: Avantstar Quick View Standard Software and Maintenance In accordance with FAR 6.302, the proposed contractual action is pursuant to the statutory authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) & (2). 1. Agency and Contracting Activity: PN Region, Boise ID. 2. Nature/Description of Action: A Firm Fixed Price procurement for this software is being requested. Funding will be FY13, NTE $33,000.00 3. Description of Supplies/Services: Quick View Plus 12 is the solution for preserving legacy e-mail messaging content. Message files must remain and be accessible in their native format for litigation purposes. The estimated value of this procurement is $32,265.00. Due to the recent efforts to fast tract implementation of a unified department wide messaging system (Bison Connect) has created an urgent need to preserve our existing legacy messaging content and acceptable e-Discovery FOIA acceptable formats. Bison Connect uses completely dissimilar and incompatible technology with our existing legacy messaging system. The PN Region was unaware, until very recently, that no effort had been made by DOI to ensure the archiving of the legacy system. Upon realizing this shortcoming the Technical Team began a search for programs that would, at a minimum, address the following critical criteria: - Read and access Outlook *.msg files and associated attachments pre and post Google migration - Maintain *.msg files in their native format for litigation purposes - if we were to convert all *.msg files to a different format for accessibility, we would still have to keep the original file resulting in a duplication of storage - Maintain orginial structure of *.msg file with associated attachments - Security - User interface must run in least user privilege - Conversion and/or viewing must not require administrative access to function - Product must be stable and reliable - Attachments and message must be accessible. 4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2), FAR 6.302-2 - Unusual and compelling urgency 5. Demonstration of Contractor's Unique Qualifications: This software will allow the Government the ability to archive the current e-mail system and messages once Bison Connect is deployed on December 7, 2012. If this software is not in place prior to deployment, any information stored in the current system will be unavailable for any FOIA requests or litigation issues. Avantstar Inc produces software specifically for legal case management, litigation support, eDiscovery, computer forensics and advanced enterprise and government file viewing requirements. Since 2001, Avantstar has focused on solving digital content viewing and content management issues for government agencies. A delay in the purchase of this software would be detrimental, as the PN Region would lose the archiving capability with the current e-mail system. Quick View Plus can view content from more than 300 different programs and saves the government the considerable expense of buying unnecessary programs just to view content. A government organization with 1000 employees could save well over $250,000 in software licensing costs. And when standardized on Quick View Plus as the file viewing program, the government is protected from damaging macro viruses. 6. Description of efforts made to maximize competition: As soon as it was discovered that additional software was going to be needed for the conversion, a technical team was assembled to explore third party products to allow preservation of existing content. 4 separate programs were reviewed and tested: Neevia, Birdie MSG, Adobe Acrobat and Avantstar. As a result of their technical review, the Avantstar Quick View product was the only product that was able to address and meet ALL of the critical technical needs. 7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost: The vendor was contacted for a cost estimate for the product licenses required and the maintenance of the software for 1 year. The cost given by Avantstar for 1200 licenses and support and maintenance for 1300 licenses (the PN Region already has 100 licenses), the cost was $26.55 per new license, support and maintenance included in the price. The total cost for this requirement is $32,265.00. When using Avantstar's website to 'order' the same products the cost was $40.00 per new license when purchased in a bundle of 50 (support and maintenance included), or $49.00 individually with support and maintenance separate. A single license for Adobe Acrobat 10 Pro is $179.00 with 12 months support and maintenance for $74.48. Birdie MSG Software is $49.00 per license with online chat support included. Neevia Technology offers a 10 license pack for $2,999.00 with $99.00 for annual support and maintenance. NOTE: Regarding pricing for Adobe, Birdie andNeevia, it is understood that discounts may be offered for the large quantity order, this comparison is based off of published retail pricing. License Cost Maint Licenses Maint. TOTAL Adobe Acrobat $179.00 $74.48 232700 96824 329524 Avantstar $22.50 $4.05 27000 5265 32265 Birdie MSG $49.00 $0.00 63700 0 63700 Neevia $299.00 $99.00 388700 128700 517400 # of Licenses 1200 Avantstar Only # to support 1300 # of Licenses 1300 Adobe Acrobat, Birdie and Neevia # to support 1300 8. Description of Market Research Conducted: An initial market research was conducted by the customer confirming that the product was indeed a commercial item, using the World Wide Web, and viewing the pricing and companies that supplied similar products. The Reclamation Enterprise Messaging Team found four different software programs that addressed our need for working with .MSG files after the conversion: Neevia, Adobe Professional, Birdie Converter and Avantstar Quick View. The Contracting Officer also conducted a market research to find available software for this requirement, and found the same companies. Further, there were several software programs that were analyzed by a technical team that found only the Avantstar program to meet our critical needs. The company was contacted to see if they had any resellers that could be used for competition, and per an e-mail that was received on 11/19/2012, Avantstar does not have any resellers, and only sells direct to government entities (see attached). Some of the other software companies found by the Contracting Officer include Oracle, TeamViewer, UVNC, Informative Graphics Corp, and Disk Size Explorer. Many of these have the main purpose of file management or document mark-up, rather than being an archive tool to a defunct e-mail program. Due to the security restrictions set on the government computer, UVNC and TeamViewer were unable to be viewed by the Contracting Officer. GSA Advantage was searched for MSG Document Converter software, and while there were document converter programs available, the main function was to convert PDF documents into searchable digital files, rather than integrate into a legacy e-mail system such as Outlook in order to archive pertinent documents. 9. Any Other Supporting Facts: Under 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(2), FAR 6.302-2 - Unusual and Compelling Circumstances, if this software isn't purchased and installed prior to the Bison Connect Deployment on 7 December, 2012, the Bureau of Reclamation will lose the archive ability for their Outlook e-mail. Due to the requirement to save documentation for any litigation possibility, this would be a detriment to the Government. A technical team has already spent the time reviewing numerous products, this is a time sensitive project, and valuable data (e-Discovery, FOIA, litigation materials) will be lost when the new Bison Connect is implemented on 12/07/12. 10. Listing of Interested Sources: N/A 11. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Competition: With this implementation, it has been explained to the IT Department that at least two months is required to ensure a proper acquisition timeline for adequate competition. While it was discovered through the market research done by the technical team that Avantstar software is the best fit for the needs of the government and was the only software of the four tested to meet ALL critical needs of the government, it was very obvious that there are other software publishers that MAY be able to be competitive. In the future, when an implementation is announced, the IT Department has been advised to do everything it can to ensure that a need like this will be addressed to make sure that proper competition is sought if the need arises.