FALCON - DARTTS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ) intends to issue a modification to an existing task order (HSCETC-13-F-00030) awarded to Palantir Technologies for brand name licenses and operations and maintenance (O&M) support services related to the inclusion of the FALCON-DARTTS (Data Analysis and Research for Trade Transparency System) extension to the existing interface that will allow the Homeland Security Investigation's (HSI) Trade Transparency Unit (TTU) of ICE to manipulate and analyze a very large data set of information related to international trade. Additional datasets, as outlined in the attached Limited Source Justification (LSJ), are anticipated to be migrated to the existing FALCON system during the period of performance of the existing task order. ICE requires additional software licenses peculiar to Palantir Technologies in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 3102 et. seq, as implemented under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart FAR 8.405- 6(b)(1). ICE also requires O&M services for the additional software licenses from Palantir Technologies in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 3102 et. seq., as implemented in FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. It is anticipated a formal solicitation and other related information will be released and posted to e-Buy on or about September 10, 2013 under GSA Schedule 70 - General Purpose Commercial Information Technology Equipment, Software, and Services, Category 132 32 - Term Software License. An award is anticipated on or about September 20, 2013. The Performance Work Statement (PWS) falls under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 511210. FALCON is the implementation of a commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) product, Palantir Government (aka Gotham). It provides HSI's agents and analysts with a key investigative resource: a wholly integrated, consolidated platform performing federated search, analytics, geospatial referencing, reporting and situational awareness capabilities across a broadly diverse universe of structured and unstructured law enforcement data residing in numerous, disparate source environments. The addition of FALCON DARTTS and other datasets will expand the capabilities of the system and will allow agents and analysts more search capabilities. A sources sought notice was posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) on August 7, 2013 to determine the availability of vendors capable of providing the additional supplies and services necessary to maintain the efficiency of the existing FALCON Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Support Services task order. Interested vendors who felt they could meet the requirements outlined in the notice were requested to submit written capability statements to ICE no later than 12:00 PM ET on August 13, 2013. The responses to this notice were evaluated and determined that no other vendor had the full capability to provide the required supplies and support services as well as be compatible with the existing Palantir Gotham software under the existing FALCON system deployed by ICE. Based on the market research outlined above, Palantir Technologies is determined to be the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and owner of the source code information of the original Palantir licenses being utilized by ICE. Additionally, Palantir Technologies is the only manufacturer that can provide the required annual maintenance support for these licenses. Notwithstanding, any vendor that believes they are capable of meeting ICE's requirements as outlined in the LSJ may submit evidence of such capability within 15 days of this posting. The Government will consider all capability statements received within the time frame outlined above; however, a determination not to compete this requirement is solely within the discretion of the Government. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not a request for quotation. No solicitation is available at this time and telephone or email requests for a solicitation will not be honored. No modification to the existing task order will be issued on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. All questions or comments regarding this procurement shall be addressed in writing to the Contract Specialist, Vanessa McNair, at vanessa.p.mcnair@ice.dhs.gov or the Contracting Officer, Harold Honegger, at harold.honegger@ice.dhs.gov.