70 -- SSA Intends to Negotiate Solely with Kestrel Associates, Inc.

The Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Telecommunication and Systems Operations (OTSO) intends to negotiate solely with Kestrel Associates, Inc., Versar Center, Suite 200, Springfield, VA 22151 to acquire maintenance service for Hardware already supported by Kestrel Associates, Inc. Maintenance service is for Gateway Servers installed on the Main Library System. Maintenance would include Hardware support and assistance to any upgrades to be released. The Hardware is currently in use on the Agency?s Main Library System, located at 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD. Additional components are to be added to an existing computer system supporting the Agency?s Main Library System and is considered to be an additional requirement. The Agency is recommending that Kestrel Associates, Inc. because of their established maintenance experience with the existing system fulfill this procurement action and associated system upgrades performed during the course of an existing contract. Contracting the maintenance service to another vendor may cause delays or disruption in maintenance service due to a learning curve or the use of unfamiliar components or modifications. As Kestrel Associates is maintaining the majority of this equipment, selecting another vendor for this support may complicate the route of responsibility, such as contacting the correct technical assistant for maintenance assistance. Therefore, Kestrel Associates is the only viable vendor that can supply the necessary required maintenance support. This is not a request for quotation or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation. Request for copies of a solicitation and/or telephone calls will not be honored or acknowledged. The government will not pay for information received. If after March 29, 2002, no viable responses have been received in response to this announcement, SSA shall initiate negotiations solely with Kestrel Associates, Inc. You may either mail your information to the attention of Cynthia Spencer, Contract Specialist at the address provided herein or email to Cynthia.Spencer @ssa.gov. The size limitation for email attachments is five megabytes per individual email message. The SSA utilizes Microsoft WORD 97 as the standard word processing software. Respondents should refer to Reference Number: SSA-02-KESTREL.