Two Rocky Linux Annual Licenses

NON-COMPETITIVE COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION Title: Two Rocky Linux Annual Licenses (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) The solicitation number is 75N95024Q00487 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13'Simplified Acquisition Procedures; and FAR Part 12'Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. THIS IS A NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) COMBINED SYNOPSIS SOLICITATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisition (OA), on behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (including brand-name) to CTRL IQ, Inc, 560 Mill St. STE 302, Reno, Nevada 89502-1195 for Two Rocky Linux annual licenses. This acquisition is conducted as non-competitive for a commercial item or service and is conducted pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2024-05, with effective date May 22, 2024. (iv) The associated NAICS code is 513210 - Software Publishers and the small business size standard is $47 million. This requirement is Sole-Single Source Non-competitive. (v) This requirement is for the following items: Two Rocky Linux annual licenses with two option years. (vi) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's leading medical research agency and the primary Federal agency whose mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability, conducting, supporting and making medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which mission it is to catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will enhance the development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and conditions. Rocky Linux is a free Linux-based open-source enterprise operating system, a downstream of Red Hat Enterprise Linux or RHEL. This request is to get high-level technical support for this operating system. At NCATS we have several systems that use Linux-based operating systems opposed to Microsoft Windows or Mac OS systems from Apple. The High-Performance Computing cluster at NCATS is a Linux-based system which uses Rocky Linux as operating system. As Rocky Linux is a free operating system, we need high-level support to ensure availability of the NCATS HPC cluster. The support for the operating system used on the NCATS HPC cluster is in support for scientific computing and a requirement to move forward with scientific analysis to be done using the HPC cluster, i.e., imaging analysis data processing, N3C data processing, Multi-Omics, Virtual Screening, Protein Folding, Docking, Molecular Dynamics Simulations, etc. Rocky Linux has a unique support provider, CiQ. The only vendor currently providing support for Rocky Linux is CiQ. 2 ea. Annual Subscriptions CIQRPSTD: one Base Year consisting of 12 months ARO, then Option Year 1, and Option Year 2 following consecutively at the sole discretion of the government. (vii) The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance is Base Year - September 16, 2024 to September 15, 2025 Option Year 1- September 16, 2025 to September 15, 2026 Option Year 2- September 16, 2026 to September 15, 2027 Delivery will be f.o.b. destination. The place of delivery and acceptance will be 9800 Medical Center Drive- Bldg. B, Rockville, MD 20850. (viii) The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of provision) The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020) FAR 52.204-29, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders - Representation and Disclosures (Dec 2023) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023) FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024) HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015) The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html (End of clause) The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018) FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020) FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2023). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached. FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000). (a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within the current period of performance; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension. (b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause. (c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 3 years. HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015) HHSAR 352.239-74, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 18, 2015) The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text. Offerors MUST complete the provisions below and submit completed copies as separate documents with their proposal. FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021) FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020) FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Feb 2024) NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions (ix) The Government will evaluate quotations or offers in accordance with FAR 13.106-2 and award a purchase order from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate quotes: a. Technical capability of the item offered to meet the Government requirement; b. Price; and c. Past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)]. (x) Offerors must include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items (Feb 2024), with its offer. If the offeror has completed FAR clause 52.212-3 at www.sam.gov, then the offeror does not need to provide a completed copy with its offer. (xi) There are no additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition. (xii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. (xiii) Responses to this solicitation must include sufficient information to establish the interested parties bona-fide capabilities of providing the product or service. The price quote shall include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s), product description, and any other information or factors that may be considered in the award decision. Such factors may include: past performance, special features required for effective program performance, trade-in considerations, probable life of the item selected as compared with that of a comparable item, warranty considerations, maintenance availability, and environmental and energy efficiency considerations. The Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All quotations must be received by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, and reference Solicitation Number 75N95024Q00487. Responses must be submitted electronically to Maggie Brant, Contract Specialist, maggie.brant@nih.gov. Fax responses will not be accepted. The following are attached in full text: Purchase Description The provision at FAR 52.204-24, Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021) The provision at FAR 52.204-26, Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services- Representation (Oct 2020) FAR 52.212-4 Addendum The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders'Commercial Items (May 2024) NIH Invoice Instructions