Inactive

Identification of the agency and the contracting activity: The Department of State Office of Acquisition Management proposes to award task/deliver order under multiple award contract with exception to... Identification of the agency and the contracting activity: The Department of State Office of Acquisition Management proposes to award task/deliver order under multiple award contract with exception to fair opportunity for for AvePoint Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Solution on behalf of Systems and Integration Office (IRM/OPS/SIO). The total estimated cost is $XXX. 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. The requested action for approval is a firm-fixed-priced order under SEWP for licensing and maintenance renewal for AvePoint SaaS Solution for a one-year period of performance: 9/28/2021 to 9/27/2022. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the Department’s needs. The requirement is to provide an additional year of licensing and maintenance coverage at a total cost of $XXX USD. The following tool(s) are required: Part Number Description Qty. AOS-O365-GAO- CMPL-MOD- EPGL-03 AvePoint Cloud Governance Complete for Office 365 (50,001+ Users) - FedRAMP Moderate. Automate the provisioning, governance and lifecycle of Office 365 collaboration spaces with AvePoint Cloud Governance. 108,000 AOS-O365-BUR- UNLM-MOD-USR- 01 Cloud Backup for Office 365 Unlimited User Program - Unlimited Retention - FedRAMP Moderate?QTY: 11,423 GB?Protect content stored in Office 365 Project, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange, Teams and Groups for an unlimited number of users, up to your organizational capacity. 1 PROFSRV-MS- TAM-GOLD TAM: Gold Yearly subscription service in addition to maintenance. This service provides escalation management by a dedicated senior resource, biweekly planning meetings with the customer, operations and best practice guidance. Monthly status reports, beta participation, priority for planning and delivery and emergency remediation of issues that cannot be resolved by support. Minimum purchase of 256 hours. 1 AVE-ALL-HYB- EPGL-01 AvePoint Complete for SharePoint and Office 365 (50,001+ Users).? 108,000 The above listed software product(s) are necessary to work with the existing products used by IRM/OPS/SIO. This will allow IRM/OPS/SIO to migrate, manage, and protect data in the Department’s Microsoft 365 (M365) platform. 4. Authority permitting a Fair Opportunity Exception and the supporting rationale. This acquisition is conducted pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 4103 and 4106 as implemented by FAR 16.505(b)(2) and substantiated by the following: ? FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) – Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized. The required items are renewals of software licenses already in use by IRM/OPS/SIO. The AvePoint Solution is deeply integrated with the Department’s M365 platform and supports multiple practices and is necessary for the continued efficacy of business performance. Interruptions in service will impact current system operations and the mission of the Department. Licensing for the current proprietary software product is available only from the original software manufacturer and its authorized partners, and therefore precludes consideration of any other brand. As this product is already tested, deployed, and working satisfactorily, procurement of substitute products would require unnecessary investments in training, environment expansion, and ongoing maintenance. This product also offers several features not readily available from competitors. 5. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a SEWP V contract. Additionally, the DOS program office will provide an evaluation and statement that the total price is reasonable for this order. By signing the justification the Contracting Officer makes a determination that the cost to the Government are expected to be fair and reasonable. 6. Any other facts supporting the justification. Market research among schedule holders was conducted for the product occurred in August 2014, June 2017, and again in May 2020. At each review, multiple vendors were examined for the required functionality. In the most recent review of the marketplace, no other vendors were found able to meet Department requirements. Product status within the FEDRAMP market place was reviewed and only the AvePoint solution met Federal cloud security requirements and provided the functionality needed by the Department. The AvePoint product was confirmed as the only product in the market able to meet the Department’s needs. Vendors were reviewed based on their ability to meet critical federal requirements for Cloud SaaS systems, breadth of functionality and other key needs of the Department. Key features examined included: FedRamp authorization (moderate level) Perform backup and restoration of M365 data using Department created encryption keys to protect backups Ability to use Department storage locations to house backup data Ability to automate management tasks Ability to apply custom security policies to SharePoint site collections Ability to manage SharePoint site collections (move/copy/rename/export) Ability to manage MS Teams to include self-service restoration, and form driven branching logic for user automated provisioning Ability to apply custom policies and automate review processes for guest users On-premise deployed option and cloud-based options As this is a proprietary brand name only justification, no one contractor's unique qualifications are used as the basis for this justification. Rather, the products identified by brand name herein have been identified as the only products that will meet the Department's requirements as part of the Department's IT infrastructure. It is anticipated that the requirement will be competed among authorized resellers and award will be made based on that SEWP V competition. 7. Actions the agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Increase Fair Opportunity before any subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services is made. IRM/OPS/SIO keeps current regarding new and emerging tools by reviewing technical publications and checking vendors’ websites. IRM/OPS/SIO regularly performs technical assessments, including cost/benefit analyses, to determine whether product retention or transition is in the best interest of the government.