NOTICE OF INTENT TO PURCHASE BRAND NAME SOFTWARE LICENSE RENEWAL ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS

The U.S. Department of Education ("the Department") intends to renew annual subscription licenses from FEDMINE LLC on a sole source basis in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b). STATEMENT OF NEED: The Department requires immediate access to consolidated reporting based on several years of data from multiple sources, including the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS) Federal Business Opportunities (FBO), Grants.gov, and the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) protest database. The required solution is commercially available license-based software that allows the user to: 1. Track small business contracting accomplishments (with and without goaling exclusions applied) by contracting office across several years 2. View the socioeconomic status of all vendors in FPDS 3. View all contracting data in multiple year comparative views (multiple years of FPDS data available immediately for additional analysis) 4. Access numerous pre-developed reports, such as an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) report (integrating both FBO and FPDS data), an expiring contracts report, and an active contracts report, using appropriate predetermined logic and exclusions, all in one user interface 5. Create unlimited custom agency-specific reports instantly (for example, a "high risk" contract report developed from Office of Federal Procurement Policy logic) 6. Conduct Market Research on capable vendors by socioeconomic status, including vendor profiles, market views, expenditure reports 7. Determine acquisition strategies by comparing similar buys made by other offices 8. Track when companies receive awards from other agencies 9. Respond quickly and efficiently to Congressional inquiries involving contracting data 10. View GAO protests in real-time along with the actual FBO solicitation ONLY ONE SOURCE AVAILABLE: After thorough market research that included surveying product catalogs, searching GSA schedules and vendor websites, and contacting various vendors, the Contracting Officer concluded that while many companies may be able to develop a solution, only one product that is currently available in the commercial marketplace is capable of immediately meeting the Department's needs without further development. This solution, "FEDMINE," is available in a subscription-based "software as a service" delivery model only through FEDMINE LLC. FEDMINE LLC is registered in the Central Contractor Registry as a Small Disadvantaged Business located at 13708 Ginkgo Terrace, Rockville, MD 20850. RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE: This posting is a notice of intent to renew (purchase) annual subscription licenses on a sole source basis in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b). No solicitation will be issued. This notice is not a request for competitive quotes, however, all responsible sources who believe their existing commercial-off-the-shelf product meets these requirements may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quote to Virginia.Boateng@ed.gov no later than 2:00 pm on August 24, 2012. If no quotes are received by this time, the purchase order will be issued to FEDMINE LLC without further notice. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer. ANTICIPATED AWARD: Award is anticipated on or about September 7, 2012 with a period of performance of one year from date of award. The Department intends to purchase annual subscriptions to FEDMINE for 8 users, including unlimited downloads and user support. The Product Service Code is 7030 and the NAICS Code is 511210 with a size standard of $25 million. This procurement will be processed pursuant to FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items, and FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. Address questions and responses to the Points of Contact identified in this posting.