R--640-14-3-630-0084 Extract Transform Load (ETL) Licensing Comparison

The Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care Facility located at 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, intends to enter into a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition for the procurement of Extract Transform Load (RTL) Licensing Comparison with Bitscopic Inc. The VA intends to award a sole source, firm fixed price purchase order to, Bitscopic Inc. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals, a solicitation, or request for offerors; however, interested persons may identify their interest and capabilities and respond to this notice to contact@example.gov. Any/all responses to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Inquiries will only be accepted via email to contact@example.gov. No telephone requests will be honored. A determination not to compete is solely within the discretion of the Government. Justification for this sole source procurement is in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), Soliciting from a single source. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Code for this effort is 541511, with a corresponding small business size standard $25.5 million. The estimated date of award for this action is July 15, 2014. ? DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Palo Alto Health Care Facility, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304 2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: Justification and approval for Other than Full and Open Competition for Extract Transform Load (RTL) Licensing Comparison with Bitscopic Inc. 3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs: The Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research (OPHSR), within the Office of Public Health (OPH), conducts public health surveillance and research within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). OPHSR was established in 2006 as the surveillance arm of the Office of Public Health with a primary goal of developing the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Influenza Surveillance System (HAIISS). The utilization of standardized, objective data from the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) electronic health record (EHR) has long been a goal of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in establishing itself as a leader in the field of Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) prevention and monitoring of infection and antimicrobial resistance trends of national significance. 4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: FAR 6.302-1(a)(2). The VA's minimum needs can only be satisfied by unique supplies or services available from only one source (41 USC 253 (c) (1)). 5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority): Bitscopic is the only vendor that is knowledgeable of the Bitscopic Data Platform (BDaP) since it designed and developed the BDaP. Moreover, the BDaP is a highly customized and complex ETL system and no other source is familiar with the design and technology used by BDaP. a) Bitscopic is fully familiar with the infrastructure, software, VA data domains, and the HAIISS business transformation rules used within BDaP. No other source is familiar with the internal methods for applying those HAIISS business rules to the VistA data. b) Further, no other source could support the OPHSR requirements for an ETL licensing analysis at a more reasonable cost. Any new source would require many months of expensive engineering time to study and familiarize themselves with the existing software and technical business requirements before attempting to modify it. Only Bitscopic has the capability to quickly and knowledgeably analyze components of the BDaP and the HDW. c) Awarding the contract to Bitscopic is especially time critical because of the pressing need of OPHSR (and the VA) and other U.S. hospitals to monitor the H1N1 virus outbreak, as well as other emerging threats, in real-time. The swine flu, H1N1 virus - the same "virus responsible for the 2009 global pandemic" - is responsible for "a dramatic rise in flu deaths in young and middle-aged adults and in children this season…The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu has been killing at epidemic levels since mid-January." This flu virus is unusual because it "has hit younger and middle-aged adults harder than in past years….[A]dults between 18 and 64 represented about 61 percent of all flu-related hospitalizations this year, with influenza deaths following the same pattern. This age group accounted for 35 percent of all flu hospitalizations in the previous three flu seasons." H1N1 continues to pose a threat and OPHSR (and the VA) must monitor this flu virus to protect Veterans and the larger community. d) Further, this contract builds upon Bitscopic's prior work. Bitscopic's past performance has been exemplary including delivering within budget and schedule. No other known source can deliver the skillset of expert BDaP knowledge coupled with expert-level HAIISS technical expertise. Overall, the VISN's minimum needs can only be satisfied by unique supplies or services available from only one source (41 USC 253 (c) (1)). 6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: None. OPHSR has determined that selection of Bitscopic to expertly and cost-effectively analyze the HDW ETL licensing alternatives is necessary for this critical HAIISS processing capability. As explained in section 5 and section 8, the Government's unique requirements limit the field of potential suppliers to the one company which performed the prior foundational work and which fully understands the method needed to meet the technical requirements a fair and reasonable cost. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: 8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: The existing, customized BDaP architecture and implementation was completed by Bitscopic and no other source can be identified who has a complete or comparable understanding of the underlying HDW software design and business rules. 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: Contract Number VA118A-12-C-0040 (Contracting Officer: Sharon Bickford, COR: Jude Lopez) was issued on October, 2012. Since the time of the aforementioned contract in which Bitscopic is a major subcontractor, OPHSR has maintained an excellent working relationship with the vendor Bitscopic and the contract/deliverables of the prior contract were determined a success. 10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition: None 11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: None. This service is not available for competition as Bitscopic is the only authorized vendor that can meet all of the scope of work requirements timely and at a fair and reasonable price. 12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Approvals in accordance with FAR 6.304 a. Contracting Officer's Certification: (required) I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. 7/9/2014 ___________________________ ________________________ Rusty Stevenson Date Contracting Officer NCO 21 b. NCM Designee: I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition. _____________________________ ________________________ Mark Mikus Date Supervisor, Services Team Contracting Officer NCO 21