SOLICITATION NOTICE
70 -- HP Mercury Software Renewal
- Notice Date
- 9/11/2009
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- Contracting Office
- 1701 N. Ft. Myer Drive, ARLINGTON, VA 22209
- ZIP Code
- 22209
- Solicitation Number
- 1050930519
- Response Due
- 9/14/2009
- Archive Date
- 3/13/2010
- Point of Contact
- Name: Terry Lord, Title: Contract Specialist, Phone: 703-875-4801, Fax: 1111111111
- E-Mail Address
-
lordtg@state.gov;
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Bids are being solicited under solicitation number 1050930519. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; bids are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation is issued as an invitation for bids (IFB), unless otherwise indicated herein. If your company can provide the product/services listed on the solicitation and comply with all of the solicitation instructions, please respond to this notice. To view the specifications, please go to www.FedBid.com and reference Buy No. 155888_01. GSA Schedule Bids Only: Sellers bidding on this opportunity MUST have the items requested on an existing GSA Schedule. The Schedule must either be in the Seller's name or the Seller must be able to document its ability to act as an agent of a partner's Schedule. Sellers must not bid more than their applicable contract ceiling price, excluding the FedBid Fee, for contract-specific items. If FedBid receives notice that, due to inclusion of the FedBid Fee, the Selected Bid's line item pricing is higher than the Selected Seller's applicable published government contract pricing, the FedBid Fee will be reduced to ensure the Selected Bid's line item pricing does not exceed the Selected Seller's applicable contract pricing. Sellers may offer Open Market items only in accordance with the approved Terms and Conditions of their respective GSA Schedule AND upon approval from the soliciting Contracting Officer. Information regarding GSA Schedules can be found at www.GSA.gov. This requirement is unrestricted and only qualified sellers may submit bids. The solicitation pricing on www.FedBid.com will start on the date this solicitation is posted and will end on 2009-09-14 13:30:00.0 Eastern Time or as otherwise displayed at www.FedBid.com. FOB Destination shall be Arlington, VA 22209 The Department of State requires the following items, Exact Match Only, to the following: LI 001, HP LoadRunner Cntrl & Monitors SW LTU PoP: 12/24/2009 through 12/23/2010, 1, EA; LI 002, HP LoadRunner WebMM ProBdl 1-100VUser SW LTU PoP: 12/24/2009 through 12/23/2010, 100, EA; LI 003, HP LoadRunner WebMM ProBdl 101-2500VUser SW LTU PoP: 12/24/2009 through 12/23/2010, 900, EA; For this solicitation, Department of State intends to conduct an online competitive reverse auction to be facilitated by the third-party reverse auction provider, FedBid, Inc. FedBid has developed an online, anonymous, browser based application to conduct the reverse auction. A Seller may submit a series of pricing bids, which descend in price during the specified period of time for the aforementioned reverse auction. Department of State is taking this action in an effort to improve both seller access and awareness of requests and the agency's ability to gather multiple, completed, real-time bids. All responsible Sellers that respond to this solicitation MUST submit the pricing portion of their bid using the online exchange located at www.FedBid.com. There is no cost to register, review procurement data or make a bid on www.FedBid.com. Sellers that are not currently registered to use www.FedBid.com should proceed to www.FedBid.com to complete their free registration. Sellers that require special considerations or assistance may contact the FedBid Helpdesk at 877-9FEDBID (877-933-3243) or via email at clientservices@fedbid.com. Sellers may not artificially manipulate the price of a transaction on www.FedBid.com by any means. It is unacceptable to place bad faith bids, to use decoys in the www.FedBid.com process or to collude with the intent or effect of hampering the competitive www.FedBid.com process. Should Sellers require additional clarification, contact FedBid at 877-9FEDBID (877-933-3243) or clientservices@fedbid.com. Use of FedBid: Buyers and Sellers agree to conduct this transaction through FedBid in compliance with the FedBid Terms of Use. Failure to comply with the below terms and conditions may result in offer being determined as non-responsive. New Equipment ONLY; NO remanufactured or "gray market" items. All items must be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Bid MUST be good for 30 calendar days after close of Buy. Shipping must be free on board (FOB) destination CONUS (Continental U.S.), which means that the seller must deliver the goods on its conveyance at the destination specified by the buyer, and the seller is responsible for the cost of shipping and risk of loss prior to actual delivery at the specified destination. Offeror must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database before an award can be made to them. If the offeror is not registered in the CCR, it may do so through the CCR website at http://www.ccr.gov. A) The offeror shall provide the government, with its offer submission, written verification from the GSA schedule holder that an agreement exists that validates the offeror's right to offer the GSA schedule items on behalf of the GSA schedule holder, if other than the offeror; and, B) By proactively complying with this offer term, sellers accept that the government will make award to the GSA schedule holder only, as the sole awardee. Further, the sole awardee and only the sole awardee shall submit its invoice to the government and receive payment from the government. GSA schedule orders may include "open market" items, i.e., items not on the awardee's list of GSA schedule items, only in compliance with FAR 8.402(f). Offerors should verify in writing which items are listed on their GSA schedule contracts and which items are "open market" items. For an offer to qualify as an offer based on a GSA schedule contract, the value of "open market" items included in the offer may not exceed the applicable micro-purchase threshold as defined in FAR 2.101.In order to notate which items are open market, in accordance with FAR 8.402(f)(3), Seller must write "open market" in the Line Item Description for any item not currently active on the cited contract, or list in the Seller Bid Description field all open market line numbers (e.g. "Open Market Items: Lines 1, 2, 3.") 2.State the nature and/or description of the action being approved.The subject action would be a new contract for the procurement of HP LoadRunner software support on a brand name only basis. It is contemplated that this will be accomplished by means of a firm fixed price contract. 3.Describe the supplies or services required to meet the stated need: As it is currently designed and configured, ILMS requires the following:*Load Runner Controllers and Monitors*Load Runner Web and Multimedia Virtual Users Bundle *Load Runner Group Protocols 4.Identify the statutory authority that permits other than full and open competition:The accomplishment of this procurement action without undertaking full and open competition is justified by the fact that there is only one responsible source for these products and services -- there are no other suppliers or services that will satisfy the State Department's requirements. The statutory authority is found in 41 USC 253(c) (1) and in FAR 6.302-1.5.What are the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor? Alternatively, what is the nature of the acquisition that supports the use of the cited authority?LoadRunner is a performance and load testing product by Hewlett-Packard (since it acquired Mercury Interactive in November 2006) for examining system behavior and performance, while generating actual load. LoadRunner can emulate hundreds or thousands of concurrent users to put the application through the rigors of real-life user loads, while collecting information from key infrastructure components (Web servers, database servers etc). The results can then be analyzed in detail, to explore the reasons for particular behavior. Unauthorized maintenance support or modifications to the software by any third party was specifically prohibited under the terms of the design and development contracts executed by Mercury Interactive and Accenture (operating as the State Department's contractor for the design, development and deployment of ILMS). 6.Describe efforts to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable. Also describe the extent of effective competition anticipated for this acquisition.This acquisition will be synopsized in FedBizOpps. It is anticipated that, due to the factors described above, there will be no competition for this acquisition.7.Is it the determination of the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the U.S. Government is fair and reasonable?The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost is fair and reasonable.8.Describe the extent and the results of the market research conducted to identify all qualified sources.Market research indicates that there are no commercial or non-developmental items that would satisfy the State Department's needs. The software and support services provided were specifically designed to perform crucial functions within the existing production version of ILMS. The overriding need for software components and support services that do not compromise ILMS functionality cannot be restated in a way that would permit the use of commercial or non-developmental items.9.Describe any other factors that support the use of less than full and open competition.In the course of the development of ILMS, the Government made a serious effort to assure that Accenture, as the prime contractor, obtained as much competition as possible in subcontracting components of the task -- such as the support contracts that it executed with Mercury Interactive.10.List the sources that have written to express interest in the acquisitionTo date, no sources have written to express an interest in this acquisition.11.What actions, if any, could the State Department take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required?When the Government assumes responsibility from a contractor for software licenses and support requirements that are integral to much larger IT systems, it is effectively precluded from competing the periodic renewal of such licenses and support agreements -- particularly if the systems involved have been customized and involve numerous proprietary components. The best alternative available to the government is to negotiate and contract for long-term license and support agreements at the offset.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/State/FedBid.com/FedBid1/1050930519/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Arlington, VA 22209
- Zip Code: 22209-1000
- Zip Code: 22209-1000
- Record
- SN01951027-W 20090913/090912001240-554bcb395bc901dbe4a3afd779407501 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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