Description
Application for Brand Name JustificationEach justification shall contain sufficient facts and rationale to justify the use of the specific authority cited. As required of FAR 6.302-1( c ), each justification shall include the following information: 1. Requesting Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting activity: Austin Automation Center 1615 Woodward Street Austin, TX 78772 2. Nature and/or description of the action: This is a Name Brand Justification for VA to pursue an award for a delivery order against NASA SEWP for information technology (IT) software in support of the SAM Project. Specifically, the purpose of this acquisition is to acquire M Data Extractor (MDE) software and associated licensees for SAM data management efforts at the FLITE Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) Beta sites. Award of a Firm, Fixed-Price (FFP) delivery order is anticipated. The Department of Veterans Affairs Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise (FLITE) has two primary components: an asset management component referred to as the Strategic Asset Management (SAM) Project, and a financial management system component referred to as the Integrated Financial Accounting System (IFAS) Project. The SAM Project is deploying an information technology (IT)-based asset management system, and the IFAS Project will provide the compliant integrated federal financial management system processing. The SAM Project is comprised of five phases: Advanced Concept Exploration (ACE) Phase (completed in October 2006 and was not an acquisition), Pilot Phase, Beta Phase, Demonstration and Validation Phase, and National Deployment Phase. VA requires legacy data extraction software to support SAM data management efforts for the Development, and Test environments. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value): The brand-name items which are requested are Strategic Reporting Systems, inc. M Data Extractor (MDE) licensees. M Data Extractor (MDE) software has two distinct methods of licensing: 1. A client service plan for Oracle. a. Annual support for site license with unlimited site clients for data extraction from VistA to Oracle database. b. Yearly purchase required for M Data Extractor (MDE-V5.X- Oracle license). 2. M Data extractor subscription rental for Oracle. a. Annual rental of a server site license with unlimited site clients for data extraction from VistA to Oracle database including the client service plan. ITEM NO. Contract Type Part Number Product Description NTE Quantity 0001 FFP SUB-V5.x-ORACLE M Data Extractor Subscription Rental for Oracle - Version 5.x Annual rental 3 Option Year One 1001 FFP SUB-V5.x-ORACLE M Data Extractor Subscription Rental for Oracle - Version 5.x Annual rental 3 Option Year Two SUB-V5.x-ORACLE M Data Extractor Subscription Rental for Oracle - Version 5.x Annual rental 3 4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. FAR Part 6.302-1 "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements" 5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. During the Beta phases of the program the SAM system will be hosted at the AITC, which is a pre-configured, established and Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level II compliant data center. The asset management software package which will be implemented for SAM is IBM; s Maximo. The Maximo product is designed to function in conjunction with an RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) as per FLITE/SAM configuration architecture the RDBMS is Oracle. The VistA (Legacy) system is the current operational computer application platform and the technical infrastructure that supports the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provision of health care to the nation's veterans. It includes the hardware, software (over 100 applications), databases, and staff necessary to operate and maintain the system. VistA (Legacy) was developed using the MUMPS language that is becoming increasingly difficult to support as the number of qualified MUMPS software developers is diminishing. While the existing design was key to meeting VHA needs over the past 20 years, too much time and resources are now needed to maintain the VistA (Legacy) platform. Today, more modern and efficient technical alternatives exist to support the VistA (Legacy) functions, which will make it easier and less costly to maintain. The data storage utilizes is an open system architecture, public domain, vender independent technology called FileMan. FileMan consists of a set of M routines and functions like any DBMS, has some distinct limitations: 1. Built with MUMPS 2. Hierarchical Storage The SAM system hardware which will be utilized in the AITC will be configured using a UNIX operating system. The UNIX operating system does not support the installation of M-based systems and thus cannot be considered as a candidate for the SAM database environment. The Department of Veterans Affairs selected the UNIX operating environment as the OS of choice as part of its enterprise architecture over 10 years ago. The UNIX OS is a standard enterprise server system specification at all VA hosting facilities including AITC and the Regional Data Processing Centers. The SAM system requires an enterprise-wide extraction of legacy data that spans many departments, sites, and facilities to provide the depth and breadth of the Maximo Asset Management system's data requirement into a RDBMS environment. But, meeting this requirement in M-based systems is constrained by M's inherent hierarchical data organization and storage. Several approaches have been developed in an attempt to remedy this constraint. They include: " Creating interface engines " Writing M routines " Adding an SQL layer " Developing custom interfaces Each of these approaches has demonstrated certain value in limited contexts but each has also experienced severe limitation: " Interface engines offer are expensive to build, costly to maintain, and incomplete in their ability to access and retrieve all data from an M-based system. " Writing M routines to call specific pieces of M data requires the technical expertise of an M programmer, which can create technical dependencies again costly. " Adding an SQL layer to FileMan data structures is prohibited in a VA production Vista system: the key statement in the April 23, 2008 CASH Mapper Memo is: "Implementation of the subject software tool in VistA production environments is strictly prohibited. This prohibition will continue from the date of this memorandum until further analysis of the tool can be conducted and specific recommendations and procedures are published by Enterprise Infrastructure Engineering (EIE)." Give the aforementioned limitations to these approaches, and within the scope of the FLITE program is the requirement to provide a BETA extraction solution: " In line and in support of the One VA initiative " Seamlessly spanning functions, departments, sites and facilities " Is inexpensive to develop, deploy and maintain " Is capable of accessing all data stored within an M-based system " Is up and running within hours of installation. M Data Extractor (MDE) however is a COTA product that makes possible robust, high performance data extractions from FileMan-based systems, running on M and Cache platforms. The extractions are placed into RDBMS', ready for use by mainstream technologies such as data warehouse/mart, or software applications and meets the challenge by addressing three principal issues: 1. How to extract and migrate large amounts of M data from FileMan data structures to relational databases 2. How to conduct large-scale data analysis on data located in M-based systems. 3. And non SQL Mapper solutions mature and robust to meet FLITE/SAM requirements. The central values of the M Data Extractor (MDE) are: " Requires no changes to be made to the FileMan system, " Requires no changes to be made to the M code " Does not use SQL, ODBC or data mappings to produce data extractions " Does not add any layer of technology to the FileMan data structure itself " Automatically recognizes and adapts itself to any updates or modifications made to FileMan data structures " Uses a familiar easy-to-understand Window GUI interface for data extraction process " Uses a simple installation process " Can be run in both interactive (manual) and batch (automated) modes. 6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies. This requirement will be solicited on either a SEWP or GSA schedule, allowing many resellers to compete for this requirement. 7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. SEWP and GSA have already competed the products on their schedules. The previous price competition ensures that the pricing of the latter orders are considered fair and reasonable. 8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted. This item is widely available on SEWP and GSA schedule. By searching on the part number in the established catalog or price lists available at the websites of http://www.sewp.nasa.gov and http://www.gsaadvantage.gov it can be shown that many vendors are able to compete for this requirement. 9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as: (i) Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available. (ii) When 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived. (iii) When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government. N/A 10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. N/A 11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. See the answer to questions 8 and 5.