NOTICE OF GOVERNMENT INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT TO IBM INFORMIX FOR THE PROCURMENT OF PROPRIETARY LEGACY SOFTWARE LICENSES.

Tue. December 09, 2008; Posted: 11:07 AM

DATE POSTED: 08-DEC-08

AGENCY: Department of the Army

OFFICE ADDRESS: US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, ATTN: MCMR-AAA, 820 Chandler Street, Frederick, MD 21702-5014

SUBJECT: Notice of Government Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract to IBM Informix for the procurment of Proprietary Legacy Software licenses.

CLASSIFICATION CODE: 00 - None

SOLICITATION NUMBER: W81XWH0912009

CONTACT: Kelly R. Green, 301-619-1346 mailto:kelly.r.green@det.amedd.army.mil [US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity]

SETASIDE: N/A

NOTICE TEXT: Department of the Army U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Any Firm that believes it can provide the stated capabiltiesis invited to submit written notification to the Contract Specialist by 11 Dec 08 12PM EST. Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficent detail to demonstrate the firm's ability to provide the stated capability. Information can be sent to kelly.r.green@us.army.mil. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Responces received will be evaluated; however; a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurment based upon responces to this notice is soley within the discretion of the Government. If no responces are received, USAMRAA will proceede with the sole source contract. 1. Contracting Activity. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) 820 Chandler Street Fort Detrick, MD 2. Description of Action. The action being approved is for a new firm fixed price contract using FY09 O&M funds. 3. Description of Supplies or Services. This contracting action is for the continued service and license maintenance for IBM Informix software. Base year and four option years. 4. Authority Cited. 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. 5. Reason for Authority Cited. The Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) Program has a requirement for continued service in supporting the software product Informix for the period of 1 January 2009 through 31 December 2009 with four additional options. IBM is the current TMA vendor and exclusive licensor of the Informix software product. Informix software is an integral product to the DMLSS Release 3 application currently operating at over 200 sites worldwide. Informix is the database engine for the current production version of DMLSS. If the Informix Software is not renewed all DMLSS retail and wholesale action will cease affecting all Military Health Service beneficiaries worldwide. IBM is the manufacturer of Informix and owns proprietary data rights for license and maintenance distribution. IBM is the only source capable of continued support of Informix software and would not honor the warranty of the product if serviced through any other vendor. Informix software has been integrated with the DMLSS Family of Systems (FoS) since 2005. Informix is used in the current version of DMLSS that is soon to be replaced and will no longer require Informix. Rollout of the new DMLSS version with ORACLE is scheduled over 36 months and begins in December 2008. However, if there are any issues with service networking architecture with ORACLE that are not resolved the deployment schedule could be delayed beyond 36 months. Therefore, the Government is asking for a base period and four options to to provide a pre-negotiated and priced contingency in case of schedule slippage. The current production of DMLSS utilizing Informix must be maintained until all sites receive the new version of DMLSS. It would be a costly, time intensive undertaking for the Government to implement another software product to replace Informix in a soon to be legacy version of DMLSS. We estimate the cost of replacement to be in excess of $10M. This estimate was obtained and expending these funds would not be in the Governments best interests. The required delivery of the IBM Informix License Renewal is by 31 Dec 08. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition. A search was conducted on both the Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) and General Services Administration (GSA) website. It was found that only one vendor, IBM can provide Informix software which is proprietary in nature with IBM. 7. Actions to Increase Competition. No efforts will be taken to increase competition as IBM owns proprietary data rights. Future acquisitions supporting the DMLSS functions will be examined for application of competitive procedures when purchasing software products. 8. Market Survey. A search was conducted within the last 30 days to find software products, comparable to Informix, available for purchase, and the Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) and General Services Administration (GSA) websites were searched for resellers of Informix maintenance renewals or a comparable product. After reviewing the specifications of the Information Management software available, it was determined that no other source is able to provide the Informix Software other than by IBM. The license and maintenance renewals to be acquired under this procurement are only available through IBM. IBM Informix is a proprietary product to IBM. 10. Other Factors. The government conducted a Fair Opportunity Competition for the initial agreement and Informix was selected for the DMLSS application because it provided the best value to the government. a. Procurement History. (1) Contract numbers and dates of the last several awards: Term of contract PoP Dates CA Degree of Comp Delivery Order 1 Year 1/1/05 - 12/31/05 USAMRAA Fair Opportunity W81XWH-05-P-0247 1 Year 1/1/06 - 12/31/06 USAMRAA Logical Follow On W81XWH-06-F-0073 Base 3/6/07 - 12/31/07 USAMRAA Sole Source W81XWH-07-P-0260 Option 1 1/1/08 - 12/31/08 USAMRAA Option Period W81XWH-07-P-0260 (2) Competitive status of these actions: Fair Opportunity, Sole Source, respectively. (3) Authority for less than full and open competition previously used: FAR 6.302-1 (4) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, provide a summary of the contents of paragraph 7 of the justification for that procurement and an explanation of the results. IBM, as the manufacturer of Informix, will not honor the warranty if another vendor is awarded the service contract. They are the only source able to maintain license support for the DMLSS program. (5) If any prior award was accomplished by full and open competition, provide a detailed explanation of the changed circumstances. There have been no Full and Open Competitions. Previous awards were either Fair Opportunity, Sole Source or Logical Follow On. (6) Provide an explanation of any unusual patterns which may be revealed by the history, e.g., several consecutive, urgent buys. Informix software has been database engine for the current version of DMLSS for the past four years. As IBM owns proprietary data rights to this software no other vendor is allowed to maintain license support without invalidating the warranty of the Informix Software product. (7) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, briefly describe the circumstances justifying the buy and whether there have been any significant changes. The product and services needed are available from only one source, IBM the manufacturer and distributor. After review of the current market, IBM is still the sole provider of the Informix software and maintenance. DMLSSs requirement for Informix has not changed. b. Acquisition Data Availability. Technical data for IBM Informix is not available as this data is proprietary in nature. Informix is used in the current version of DMLSS that is being replaced by ORACLE software and therefore will no longer require Informix after completion of the deployment schedule. Rollout of the new DMLSS version is scheduled over 36 months and begins in December 2008. If there are any issues with service networking architecture with the ORACLE software that is not resolved the deployment schedule could be delayed beyond 36 months. The current production of DMLSS utilizing Informix must be maintained until all sites receive the new version of DMLSS. c. Unusual and Compelling Urgency. Not applicable d. Subcontracting Competition. Not applicable.

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