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70 -- Exception to Fair Opportunity (FAR 16.5)

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GS001-GS032Federal

Contract Overview

Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.

AI Contract Overview

The General Services Administration's Office of the Chief Information Officer intends to award a sole source task order under the NIH ECS II contract to continue using the Gentran EDI product suite for establishing an ancillary environment with development, test, and production tiers. This decision is based on the need to create a mirrored system to support business continuity and disaster recovery, as the current environment relies on a single production machine, which poses a significant risk in the event of a system failure. The existing Gentran product, in use since 1995, is already fully integrated and meets current operational requirements, making it essential to maintain compatibility and avoid the substantial costs and risks that would be associated with transitioning to a different solution. Since Gentran’s product suite has a decade of programmer investment and supports critical EDI transactions nationwide, the government has determined that substituting this suite with an alternative would undermine interoperability, increase costs, and imperil mission-critical activities. The acquisition is conducted as an exception to the Fair Opportunity requirement under FAR 16.5, reflecting the unique necessity to replicate the existing environment exactly. This notice of intent is not a solicitation for offers but serves to inform interested parties that questions or concerns about the acquisition can be addressed to the designated contracting officer.

General Info

GSA awards sole source task order to maintain Gentran EDI suite for disaster recovery environment.

Agency

General Services Administration → Interagency Contracts Gsa/fas Itc Office Of Acquisition Operations

NAICS

519190 - All Other Information Services

Place of Performance

Set-Aside

NONE

Documents

No documents available

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Uniform Contract Format

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Timeline

PostedDec 19

special-notice

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Organization & Contact Information

AgencyGeneral Services Administration → Interagency Contracts Gsa/fas Itc Office Of Acquisition Operations

Contacts1 person available

OfficeWASHINGTON, DC, 20405, USA

Organization / AgencyGeneral Services Administration → Interagency Contracts Gsa/fas Itc Office Of Acquisition Operations

Office AddressWASHINGTON, DC, 20405, USA

Contacts

Holly T CarrContracting Officer

contact@example.gov

+1 (555) 000-0000

Full Description

This serves as a - Notice of Intent to award a sole source task order for Gentran EDI product suite. under the NIH ECS II contract, pursuant to FAR 16.5 (exception to Fair Opportunity). The General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) has a requirement to establish an ancillary environment (development/test/production tiers) for translation software to process EDI transactions using a product that is scalable to handle the demands of both our internal and external customers across the continental United States. The system must be capable of ensuring secure transactions and to be expandable to process XML capabilities. The Gentran product manufactured by Sterling Commerce was originally purchased in 1995, and currently supports the existing environment. Since the original installation in 1995 (ten years ago) the need to add an ancillary environment (development/test/production tiers) has been established on the basis of disaster/ recovery planning. The current environment consists of only one production machine'a single point of failure. In the event of a catastrophe, the Government would experience severe hardships trying to recover financial transaction without a backup, mirrored environment. Therefore a mirrored environment is required. Since the Gentran product suite is already in-house and has been for over 10 years, it is necessary to continue using the existing product suite. That is, the Office of the Chief Information Officer has already determined that the Gentran product suite meets current operating needs, and there is no requirement to incur additional costs to convert to a new environment. Substitution of Gentran products with an alternative product would defeat the purpose of establishing a mirrored (exact duplicate) environment. Substitution would als jeopardize interoperability and compatibility efforts within the agency and impair activities from meeting their current mission requirements. There are literally thousands of programmer hours invested in the current environment. The cost of trying to replace an entire EDI/EC translation software package would be far more costly and incur unnecessary risk at this time. It is essential that the development/test/production environment mirror the current environment that has been in operation for 10 years. All interested parties may communicate concerns, or direct any questions concerning this acquisition to Holly Carr +1 (555) 000-0000, email: contact@example.gov. This notice of intent is not a request for proposals, nor a solicitation for offers.