Notice ID: 47QTCA22A0004
Contract Award Number: 47QTCA22A0004
General Services Administration (GSA) Information Technology Category (ITC) Special Projects Branch intends to establish a single award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its GSA Advantage Select platform to support procurement of Microsoft products. This Limited Source Justification (LSJ) is designed to justify limitation of sources to a single manufacturer (Microsoft) to acquire software products and licenses across all of HHS and its Operating Divisions (OpDivs) and Staff Divisions (StaffDivs).
Microsoft products and services will be acquired under a single BPA issued against the GSA MAS Schedule for Information Technology. Competition is restricted to Microsoft brand name products only, through Microsoft-authorized resellers. The applicable SIN 518210C will maximize competition, while allowing HHS to meet its goals and objectives for this acquisition. OCIO initiated this HHS-wide Microsoft ELA effort to acquire and deliver volume-discounted products, leveraging HHS-wide purchasing power to secure significantly discounted prices. The Microsoft ELA program staff conducted market research, collected product information, and collaborated with the HHS Contracting Officer (CO) on vendor negotiations to obtain the best possible price at the BPA level, which will result in substantially lower pricing of individual licenses for Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) products. The Microsoft ELA program will generate cost savings in the form of volume discounts and reduced management overhead, allowing customers to select the most effective product pricing options at the order level. Additionally, a central HHS Program Management Officewill offer streamlined processes to manage costs and forecast demand. Thus, the administrative overhead that would result from separate acquisition efforts by each OpDiv/StaffDiv will be significantly reduced.
The estimated value of the BPA DocuSign Envelope ID: 97DBACC8-75F0-441A-BC87-71C8C6DA5ACD DocuSign Envelope ID: FE173EB9-D196-401A-B869-439AF3646AFB DocuSign Envelope ID: 5ED78171-CE7B-4531-B828-B24337A86D98 CUI//SP-SSEL 3 is $480 million. The estimate was derived by totaling the aggregate cost of the current contracts/agreements held by HHS and their various operatives while also considering inflation. The BPA will have an ordering period of one year with four one-year optional ordering periods. The period of performance will allow the agency the flexibility (and reduces the risk of loss of support) to review the strategy prior to executing any option periods to determine if use of the BPA remains in the best interest of the government. It is currently anticipated that the BPA will transition onto the government cloud BPA as option periods arise. Orders may be issued for a base year with four 12 month option periods for a total ordering period of five (5) years.
GSA will issue a competitive solicitation among the 6 identified firms, to establish a single award BPA to a single vendor which will allow HHS to better manage the purchase and administration of Microsoft products. This proposed BPA will provide products and services beyond the scope of the existing OpDiv/StaffDiv contracts. HHS managers will be able to DocuSign Envelope ID: 97DBACC8-75F0-441A-BC87-71C8C6DA5ACD DocuSign Envelope ID: FE173EB9-D196-401A-B869-439AF3646AFB DocuSign Envelope ID: 5ED78171-CE7B-4531-B828-B24337A86D98 CUI//SP-SSEL 8 approve, order, and track acquisition of all Microsoft products by OpDiv/StaffDiv, and manage the inventory. In addition, OpDiv/StaffDiv managers will be able to access essential information such as license status, application of software assurance benefits, expiration dates, and depletion rates for Azure cloud services. The LSP will also provide training in use of the portal function, the ordering process, and the differences between licenses and software maintenance options. Implementation of this ELA is expected to improve HHS’s ability to manage its large investment in Microsoft products across the enterprise, and optimize use of licensing through a single HHS wide view of actual license use, enabling transfer of licensing between OpDivs/StaffDivs.
In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)(i)(B), this Limited-Sources Justification will be posted to e-Buy (http://www.ebuy.gsa.gov). Any responses to the Limited Sources Justification will be noted and considered for use in future procurements similar to this one. In addition GSA MAS – IT Software Category will continue to conduct market research as they craft a government wide BPA and reevaluate the marketplace prior to the issuance of any future single award BPA’s. Additionally, when conducting the annual review of the BPA the requirements will be reevaluated to determine if any other sources are capable of providing the software solutions and support.
