70 -- Zycus Model Maintenance

This serves as a - Notice of Intent to award a sole source delivery order open market to Zycus, to provide Model Maintenance software license for the General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) for FSS Programs. GSA/FAS OCIO plans to negotiate with Zycus to purchase this Model Maintenance software license as a commercial item. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) operates GSA Advantage, Virtual IT Market Place (VITM), Air Force Advantage, Veterans Affairs (VA) Advantage, and the Department of Agriculture USDA Advantage applications, critical to the operation of the GSA Schedules program. Included within these web-based systems is the ability to assign over 10 million products, a UNSPSC code. The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code provides an open, global multi-sector standard for efficient, accurate classification of products and services. These codes are then used to sort and present, accurate results to customers when searching for products and services. The original Zycus software license, which currently supports this cataloging capability was purchased in September, 2003 off GSA Schedule. This purchase was conducted in direct response to a GAO report, which cited the need to improve the catalogue capability. Since implementation, a need has arisen for an additional Zycus model maintenance software license. This proprietary software license will allow GSA to continue its on-going product and service classifications, and improve the accuracy of displaying the correct search results to customers. The use of UNSPSC will also provide a rich data set for GSA initiatives such as Strategic Sourcing and Spend Analysis. The increase in Sales for GSA Advantage from FY04 to FY05 was significant. Implementing categorization for GSA Advantage! played the largest part in this increase as customers are finding the products they need much faster. Continued increase in usage is anticipated, and the model management software will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the current operation. The proprietary Zycus model maintenance software license is not currently available on GSA Schedule. Therefore, it shall be purchased from the open market from Zycus. It is not possible to solicit offers from numerous potential sources because the Zycus software is proprietary and can be obtained from only one vendor. Because the office of the Chief Information Officer has already determined that Zycus meets current operating needs, there is no requirement to incur additional costs (such as procurement, installation, programming, test, and deployment costs) to convert to a new environment. The software runs on Sun Hardware with Sun Solaris as the Operating System. Any attempt to migrate to another hardware or software platform would incur integration, implementation, life cycle, service and support costs--not presently required as long as the current environment remains in effect. The period of performance is delivery of the software in 30 days and maintenance upgrades for one base year, with three, one-year option periods to be exercised at the Government's discretion [FAR 52.232-19, Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year, applicable]. All interested parties should request additional information, 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. RE: Note 22.