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PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT NON-COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION NUMBER 75N95023Q00296 TITLE The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) Sci... PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT NON-COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION NUMBER 75N95023Q00296 TITLE The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) Scientific Computing Infrastructure (SCI) team at the Information Technology Resources Branch (ITRB) requires 2 each Rocky Linux annual licenses. CLASSIFICATION CODE 7B20 - IT AND TELECOM - HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTE (HARDWARE AND PERPETUAL LICENSE SOFTWARE) NAICS CODE 511210 Software Publishers RESPONSE DATE May 24, 2023 PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT Nick Niefeld Contract Specialist nick.niefeld@nih.gov (301) 827-2094 DESCRIPTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). On behalf of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Office of Acquisition (OA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with CITQ for the requirement of 2 Rocky Linux annual licenses for one 12-month base period and three 12-month option periods. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 511210 Software Publisher with a Size Standard of $41.5M. This acquisition is NOT set aside for small businesses, but rather is a sole-source acquisition to MathWorks Inc. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements. FAR Subpart 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source provides that: For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, Contracting Officers may solicit from one source IF the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name OR industrial mobilization). The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2023-06 dated March 16, 2023. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT BACKGROUND, PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 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. Furthermore the Division of Preclinical Innovation (DPI) plans, conducts and uses both internal and contract resources to advance collaborative research projects across the preclinical phases of the translational science spectrum. Specifically, this division: - Plans, conducts and collaborates on research to develop new methods and technologies to enhance preclinical processes. - Plans, conducts and collaborates on research to evaluate existing and developing approaches, technologies, and processes in the preclinical spectrum. - Supports training programs relevant to preclinical phases of translational science. - Allocates DPI resources to preclinical extramural and intramural investigators. - Collaborates with other NIH Institutes and Centers and the scientists they support. - Consults with stakeholders, including patients, industry and regulators. As such, 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. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The anticipated period of performance is one year from date of award and three option periods: Base Year: June 12, 2023 through June 11, 2024 (12-months) Option period 1: June 12, 2024 to June 11, 2025 (12-months) Option period 2: June 12, 2025 to June 11, 2026 (12-months) Option period 3: June 12, 2026 to June 11, 2027 (12-months) PLACE OF PERFORMANCE NCATS 9800 Medical Center Dr Building B Rockville, MD 20850 CONTRACT TYPE A firm-fixed price type contract is planned for this acquisition, consistent with commercial practices. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. Specifically, CIQ Inc is the only vendor in the marketplace that can provide the products required by the NCATS. The essential characteristics of the Rocky Linux license is to provide corrective software updates and support as needed. Only this suggested source can furnish the requirements, to the exclusion of other sources. CIQ is the only vendor capable of providing the Rocky Lunix licenses to ensure continuity of science. This is for a brand-name only proprietary software. Rocky Linux was referred by the HPC community in response to Red Hat deciding to terminate of support for CentOS back in 2020. Rocky Linux is called to be the natural successor of CentOS as operating system for HPC clusters since Red Hat decided to no longer support this Linux distribution; the preference of CentOS as operating system across HPC sites was mostly due by involved costs (it was freely available and supported by Red Hat). Most referenced HPC sites have migrated their systems to Rocky Linux by including the NIH main HPC cluster: Biowulf. Rocky Linux has a unique support provider, CiQ. The only vendor currently providing support for Rocky Linux is CiQ. The intended source is: Company Name - CIQ, Inc. Company Address - 1050 North Hills Blvd Unit 61180 Reno, NV 89506 Point of Contact - Justin Burdine Contact Phone - 979 571 3111 Contact Email Address - jburdine@ciq.co CLOSING STATEMENT This Notice of Intent to Award on a Sole-Source Basis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must provide evidence that they can provide the services that meets all of the requirements in this announcement. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, 75N95023Q00296. Responses must be submitted electronically to Nick Niefeld, Contract Specialist, at nick.niefeld@nih.gov. U.S. Mail and fax responses will not be accepted.