SPECIAL NOTICE
70 -- Sole Source Special Notice Concerning E-Filing System for Financial Disclosure Forms of DOT Employees
- Notice Date
- 7/7/2020 3:11:28 PM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 518210
— Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
- Contracting Office
- 693JK4 OST WASHINGTON DC 20590 USA
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- 693JK420R600008
- Response Due
- 7/19/2020 8:59:00 PM
- Archive Date
- 07/21/2020
- Point of Contact
- James H Mowery III, Phone: 20236649597038365924
- E-Mail Address
-
james.mowery@dot.gov
(james.mowery@dot.gov)
- Description
- This is a SOLE-SOURCE Special Notice announcing the intention of the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT), to award, on a SOLE-SOURCE basis, to HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx), a contract (or a purchase order or a delivery order) for HRWorx, LLC to provide�to DOT�s Office of the Secretary (OST), and to DOT�s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and to all interested DOT Operating Administrations (OAs) excluding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)�during a BASE-Year running from approximately August 1, 2020 through approximately July 31, 2021, and possibly during four OPTION YEARS thereafter, a DOT e-Filing System known as Intelliworx FDonline, for the filing by DOT employees and for the retention by DOT of Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports concerning individual DOT employees. Given below in JUSTIFICATION for this intended SOLE-SOURCE acquisition is a supporting statement which follows the format prescribed in FAR 6.303-2. IDENTIFICATION OF AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY � Office of the Secretary (OST) Acquisitions Services Division 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED � The Departmental Ethics Office (DOT Ethics Office), in the Office of the Secretary (OST) within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and all Operating Administrations within the agency (except for the Federal Aviation Administration) has a need for an electronic filing system for confidential financial disclosure reports required to be filed by certain employees with the DOT Ethics Office pursuant to regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE). OGE requires certain executive branch employees to file confidential financial disclosure reports (OGE Form 450). See 5 CFR Parts 2634 & 2638. Each agency determines who must file an OGE Form 450, based on criteria established by OGE. See 5 CFR � 2634.904. The DOT Ethics Office determines the positions and grades of Departmental employees who must file the OGE Form 450, in accordance with 5 CFR � 2634.904. The DOT Ethics Office comprises: (i) OST�s Ethics Office, housed in the Office of the General Counsel�s Office of General Law; and (ii) an Ethics Office in each of the Department�s Operating Administrations. DOT employees who are required to file an OGE Form 450 must submit a new entrant report within 30 days of assuming the duties of their position, unless an extension is granted. Thereafter, employees are required to file an OGE Form 450 on an annual basis. DOT employees currently hand deliver their OGE Form 450 on paper forms to their Ethics Office. DOT Ethics Offices collect these paper forms, review and certify them by hand, and store them in locked file cabinets maintained by each Operating Administration in a locked file room. OGE regulations provide that DOT�s Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) is responsible for determining whether the OGE Form 450 Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports will be collected in an electronic or a paper format (see 5 C.F.R. ��2638.205). In addition, OMB Memorandum M-19-21, Transition of Electronic Records, directs all Federal agencies to ensure that all Federal records are created, retained, and managed in electronic formats, with appropriate metadata. The Deputy General Counsel is the DAEO for DOT. The DAEO has determined that electronic filing of the OGE Form 450 will effectively and efficiently manage DOT�s ethics program and address the intent of OMB Memorandum M-19-21. One of DOT�s Operating Administrations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), already uses on-premise based FDonline to collect, retain, and manage their OGE Form 450s in electronic format. As a result, FAA is not included in the scope of this procurement. This procurement is to acquire an electronic confidential financial disclosure report filing system to facilitate the filing and review of approximately 4,000 OGE Form 450 forms. The majority of Federal agencies have already discontinued the use of paper OGE Form 450s and implemented an electronic filing system. It is also considered a best practice of confidential financial disclosure review in the government ethics practice community. Under this contract, DOT seeks to obtain an electronic Confidential Financial Disclosure Report system for confidential submission, review, certification, and maintenance of OGE Form 450s filed by DOT employees (except FAA). This system will: (1) permit DOT employees to access their OGE Form 450s from any location with Internet access; (2) improve the accuracy of information employees disclose on the reports; (3) improve the quality of legal review of the report; and (4) enable a more efficient experience for both filers and reviewers. The contract will provide for cataloging of forms, searchable access and storage, as well as notification options for filers and reviewers.� This procurement is for a cloud-based, commercial-off-the-� shelf (COTS) electronic confidential financial disclosure report system, to allow DOT employees and ethics officials (except FAA) to electronically file and review the annual and new entrant OGE Form 450. The system is expected to meet all of the agency�s confidential financial disclosure report program requirements. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY�S NEEDS � The DOT Ethics Office requires a COTS-based electronic confidential disclosure report system that does the following: Support PIV/CAC single sign on logins; Be FedRAMP authorized; Be Section 508 compliant; Provide the most current version of the OGE Form 450; Permit access from any location with internet access; Provide encryption of the data consistent with Federal encryption requirements; Provide instructions to filers for what and how to report items in each section; Save each version of the form; Have functionality that permits the automatic deletion of reports beyond the required retention period that the DAEO has the ability to adjust as necessary to avoid deletion of reports where appropriate; Provide report functions that can be tailored by, among other things, date, filer, reviewer, or due date � at no additional cost; Automatically populate annual reports with data from previous electronic forms; Collect reportable information from filers through an interview wizard; Allow reviewers to provide comments on the reports; Allow documents to be uploaded and attached to the submission; Allow reviewers to separate certified reports that have no reportable information; Permit reviewers to change and update the list of filers and filings as necessary; Permit the DAEO to restrict access of field ethics officials to reports only for employees in their offices; Retain all records for the required timeframes, including those records from filers who leave a covered position; Purge records once they are no longer required to be maintained; Support 4,000 concurrent users; and Integrate training/helpful hints into filing process to aid in the completion and review of submissions. In addition, DOT requires that up to 10 on-site and/or virtual training sessions for the e-filing system be provided for DOT ethics officials and OGE Form 450 filers, and that training materials be made available to DOT for use after training sessions. Estimated Contract Value:���� $800,000 � IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION � The statutory authority for the proposed contract is 41 U.S.C. � 253(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a), which states that an executive agency may use procedures other than competitive procedures only --- (2) �When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source . . . and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.� DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR�S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED DOT�s needed contract (or purchase order, or delivery order) MUST provide the following essential features: License for a COTS electronic confidential disclosure report which shall meet the following requirements: Support PIV/CAC single sign on logins; Be FedRAMP authorized; Be Section 508 compliant; Provide the most current version of the OGE Form 450; Permit access from any location with internet access; Provide encryption of the data consistent with Federal encryption requirements; Provide instructions to filers for what and how to report items in each section; Save each version of the form; Have functionality that permits the automatic deletion of reports beyond the required retention period that the DAEO has the ability to adjust as necessary to avoid deletion of reports where appropriate; Provide report functions that can be tailored by, among other things, date, filer, reviewer, or due date � at no additional cost; Automatically populate annual reports with data from previous electronic forms; Collect reportable information from filers through an interview wizard; Allow reviewers to provide comments on the reports; Allow documents to be uploaded and attached to the submission; Allow reviewers to separate certified reports that have no reportable information; Permit reviewers to change and update the list of filers and filings as necessary; Permit the DAEO to restrict access of field ethics officials to reports only for employees in their offices; Retain all records for the required timeframes, including those records from filers who leave a covered position; Purge records once they are no longer required to be maintained; Support 4,000 concurrent users; and Integrate training/helpful hints into filing process to aid in the completion and review of submissions. � DOT�s intended SOLE-SOURCE contractor, HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx), is the exclusive provider of the ONLY commercially available, off-the-shelf electronic filing solution for OGE Form 450s that DOT has identified as meeting ALL of DOT�s special needs as listed above.� HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx) developed, owns, and maintains FDonline, the proprietary software that is used to automate the ethics financial disclosure reporting process for multiple federal agencies. FDonline is the only commercially available automated financial disclosure product that meets DOT�s financial disclosure requirements for OGE Form 450s. As detailed in Section 8, below, DOT conducted research to identify all available electronic filing systems for OGE Form 450s that could meet the agency�s requirements. The only commercially available, off-the-shelf electronic filing system that DOT has identified as meeting the agency�s needs is FDonline. No other comparable COTS products exist on the market that are tailored specifically to managing e-filing of OGE Form 450s. Therefore, no other vendor can meet DOTs requirement for a commercially-available software that is available now, that will avoid the additional time and expense that would be required for a software developer to create a new solution for DOT. Because DOT will need to implement the online filing system by January 2021 in order have it up and running in time for the February 15th annual filing deadline for OGE Form 450s, the time and expense required for a custom solution is not feasible, making a COTS product the only viable option. FDonline is the only COTS product available that meets all of DOT�s requirements as described in Part 3, above, and in the Statement of Work. HRWorx (d/b/a Intelliworx) is the sole owner and exclusive licensor of FDonline. EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN COMPETITION, AND WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY FAR SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER FAR 5.202 APPLIES � This SOLE-SOURCE Special Notice is being publicized, in Beta.Sam.gov (formerly known as FedBizOpps) as is required by FAR Subpart 5.2. �If and ONLY if, as a result of this publishing of this Sole Source Special Notice, any responder (OTHER THAN HRWorx, LLC) e-mails, to james.mowery@dot.gov and to lynn.deavers@dot.gov and to laura.wainwright@dot.gov,� by 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, July 19, 2020, any Statement of Qualifications proving, in DOT�s SOLE judgement, the responder�s CAPABILITY of performing this project at the high level of QUALITY and with the full list of special FEATURES indispensable to DOT, then in that event the Contracting Officer would convert this procurement from a sole-source acquisition to a competitive one. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE: � The rates proposed by DOT�s intended sole-source-awardee-company were reviewed and accepted by the cognizant DOT Program Office. And the Contracting Officer concurred with the recommendation of accepting those proposed rates. Moreover, each invoice submitted by the contractor-company during performance of any resulting sole source contract will be scrutinized for allowability, allocability and reasonableness of billed cost in accordance with FAR Part 31. These procedures will ensure that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable. A DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON THAT MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED: DOT researched possible e-filing systems that could meet the agency�s requirements. Only one commercially available, off-the-shelf solution was identified: FDonline. HRworx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx) developed, owns, and maintains FDonline, the proprietary software that is used to automate the ethics financial disclosure reporting process for multiple federal agencies. FDonline is the only commercially available automated financial disclosure product that meets DOT�s financial disclosure requirements. OGE has recognized the benefits of the electronic processing of confidential financial disclosure reports and has encouraged its implementation. Some federal agencies have built their own agency-specific financial disclosure system, but those systems were built at a cost that is prohibitively high or are not available for use by other agencies. Others have purchased FDonline. Market research conducted of potential vendors revealed that only FDonline meets DOT�s confidential financial disclosure processing requirements. FDonline is the best software for the agency�s electronic financial disclosure system. There are 25 other federal agencies successfully using FDonline. Market research showed other vendors do not provide necessary services for our financial disclosure requirements. Internet searches were conducted for commercially available, off-the-shelf solutions but only FDonline was identified as a possible solution that could meet the agency�s requirements. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: � The vendor is the only known source of a COTS-based e-filing system for OGE Form 450s that would meet DOT�s needs. That system is used by 25 other federal agencies. A LIST OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION � None, as of the date of publication of this Sole Source Special Notice. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THESE SERVICES: � The Contracting Officer will take all steps necessary to ensure that all the rules of procurement integrity are followed in addition to ensuring compliance with the Competition in Contract Act. And one of those steps is DOT�s publishing of this Sole Source Special Notice. Any individual or entity (OTHER THAN HRWorx, LLC) that believes, notwithstanding all of requirements specified above, that it can satisfy all of DOT�s needs by providing the full array of above-specified essential special features at the high level of quality indispensable to the Department, may�NOT LATER than 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time July 19, 2020�attempt to prove its capability by providing, via an E-MAIL to be sent to james.mowery@dot.gov and to Lynn.Deavers@dot.gov and to laura.wainwright@dot.gov, a fully-supporting Statement of Qualifications. This is a SOLE-SOURCE Special Notice announcing the intention of the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT), to award, on a SOLE-SOURCE basis, to HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx), a contract (or a purchase order or a delivery order) for HRWorx, LLC to provide�to DOT�s Office of the Secretary (OST), and to DOT�s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and to all interested DOT Operating Administrations (OAs) excluding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)�during a BASE-Year running from approximately August 1, 2020 through approximately July 31, 2021, and possibly during four OPTION YEARS thereafter, a DOT e-Filing System known as Intelliworx FDonline, for the filing by DOT employees and for the retention by DOT of Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports concerning individual DOT employees. Given below in JUSTIFICATION for this intended SOLE-SOURCE acquisition is a supporting statement which follows the format prescribed in FAR 6.303-2. IDENTIFICATION OF AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY � Office of the Secretary (OST) Acquisitions Services Division 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED � The Departmental Ethics Office (DOT Ethics Office), in the Office of the Secretary (OST) within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and all Operating Administrations within the agency (except for the Federal Aviation Administration) has a need for an electronic filing system for confidential financial disclosure reports required to be filed by certain employees with the DOT Ethics Office pursuant to regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE). OGE requires certain executive branch employees to file confidential financial disclosure reports (OGE Form 450). See 5 CFR Parts 2634 & 2638. Each agency determines who must file an OGE Form 450, based on criteria established by OGE. See 5 CFR � 2634.904. The DOT Ethics Office determines the positions and grades of Departmental employees who must file the OGE Form 450, in accordance with 5 CFR � 2634.904. The DOT Ethics Office comprises: (i) OST�s Ethics Office, housed in the Office of the General Counsel�s Office of General Law; and (ii) an Ethics Office in each of the Department�s Operating Administrations. DOT employees who are required to file an OGE Form 450 must submit a new entrant report within 30 days of assuming the duties of their position, unless an extension is granted. Thereafter, employees are required to file an OGE Form 450 on an annual basis. DOT employees currently hand deliver their OGE Form 450 on paper forms to their Ethics Office. DOT Ethics Offices collect these paper forms, review and certify them by hand, and store them in locked file cabinets maintained by each Operating Administration in a locked file room. OGE regulations provide that DOT�s Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) is responsible for determining whether the OGE Form 450 Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports will be collected in an electronic or a paper format (see 5 C.F.R. ��2638.205). In addition, OMB Memorandum M-19-21, Transition of Electronic Records, directs all Federal agencies to ensure that all Federal records are created, retained, and managed in electronic formats, with appropriate metadata. The Deputy General Counsel is the DAEO for DOT. The DAEO has determined that electronic filing of the OGE Form 450 will effectively and efficiently manage DOT�s ethics program and address the intent of OMB Memorandum M-19-21. One of DOT�s Operating Administrations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), already uses on-premise based FDonline to collect, retain, and manage their OGE Form 450s in electronic format. As a result, FAA is not included in the scope of this procurement. This procurement is to acquire an electronic confidential financial disclosure report filing system to facilitate the filing and review of approximately 4,000 OGE Form 450 forms. The majority of Federal agencies have already discontinued the use of paper OGE Form 450s and implemented an electronic filing system. It is also considered a best practice of confidential financial disclosure review in the government ethics practice community. Under this contract, DOT seeks to obtain an electronic Confidential Financial Disclosure Report system for confidential submission, review, certification, and maintenance of OGE Form 450s filed by DOT employees (except FAA). This system will: (1) permit DOT employees to access their OGE Form 450s from any location with Internet access; (2) improve the accuracy of information employees disclose on the reports; (3) improve the quality of legal review of the report; and (4) enable a more efficient experience for both filers and reviewers. The contract will provide for cataloging of forms, searchable access and storage, as well as notification options for filers and reviewers.� This procurement is for a cloud-based, commercial-off-the-� shelf (COTS) electronic confidential financial disclosure report system, to allow DOT employees and ethics officials (except FAA) to electronically file and review the annual and new entrant OGE Form 450. The system is expected to meet all of the agency�s confidential financial disclosure report program requirements. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY�S NEEDS � The DOT Ethics Office requires a COTS-based electronic confidential disclosure report system that does the following: Support PIV/CAC single sign on logins; Be FedRAMP authorized; Be Section 508 compliant; Provide the most current version of the OGE Form 450; Permit access from any location with internet access; Provide encryption of the data consistent with Federal encryption requirements; Provide instructions to filers for what and how to report items in each section; Save each version of the form; Have functionality that permits the automatic deletion of reports beyond the required retention period that the DAEO has the ability to adjust as necessary to avoid deletion of reports where appropriate; Provide report functions that can be tailored by, among other things, date, filer, reviewer, or due date � at no additional cost; Automatically populate annual reports with data from previous electronic forms; Collect reportable information from filers through an interview wizard; Allow reviewers to provide comments on the reports; Allow documents to be uploaded and attached to the submission; Allow reviewers to separate certified reports that have no reportable information; Permit reviewers to change and update the list of filers and filings as necessary; Permit the DAEO to restrict access of field ethics officials to reports only for employees in their offices; Retain all records for the required timeframes, including those records from filers who leave a covered position; Purge records once they are no longer required to be maintained; Support 4,000 concurrent users; and Integrate training/helpful hints into filing process to aid in the completion and review of submissions. In addition, DOT requires that up to 10 on-site and/or virtual training sessions for the e-filing system be provided for DOT ethics officials and OGE Form 450 filers, and that training materials be made available to DOT for use after training sessions. Estimated Contract Value:���� $800,000 � IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION � The statutory authority for the proposed contract is 41 U.S.C. � 253(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a), which states that an executive agency may use procedures other than competitive procedures only --- (2) �When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source . . . and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.� DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR�S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED DOT�s needed contract (or purchase order, or delivery order) MUST provide the following essential features: License for a COTS electronic confidential disclosure report which shall meet the following requirements: Support PIV/CAC single sign on logins; Be FedRAMP authorized; Be Section 508 compliant; Provide the most current version of the OGE Form 450; Permit access from any location with internet access; Provide encryption of the data consistent with Federal encryption requirements; Provide instructions to filers for what and how to report items in each section; Save each version of the form; Have functionality that permits the automatic deletion of reports beyond the required retention period that the DAEO has the ability to adjust as necessary to avoid deletion of reports where appropriate; Provide report functions that can be tailored by, among other things, date, filer, reviewer, or due date � at no additional cost; Automatically populate annual reports with data from previous electronic forms; Collect reportable information from filers through an interview wizard; Allow reviewers to provide comments on the reports; Allow documents to be uploaded and attached to the submission; Allow reviewers to separate certified reports that have no reportable information; Permit reviewers to change and update the list of filers and filings as necessary; Permit the DAEO to restrict access of field ethics officials to reports only for employees in their offices; Retain all records for the required timeframes, including those records from filers who leave a covered position; Purge records once they are no longer required to be maintained; Support 4,000 concurrent users; and Integrate training/helpful hints into filing process to aid in the completion and review of submissions. � DOT�s intended SOLE-SOURCE contractor, HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx), is the exclusive provider of the ONLY commercially available, off-the-shelf electronic filing solution for OGE Form 450s that DOT has identified as meeting ALL of DOT�s special needs as listed above.� HRWorx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx) developed, owns, and maintains FDonline, the proprietary software that is used to automate the ethics financial disclosure reporting process for multiple federal agencies. FDonline is the only commercially available automated financial disclosure product that meets DOT�s financial disclosure requirements for OGE Form 450s. As detailed in Section 8, below, DOT conducted research to identify all available electronic filing systems for OGE Form 450s that could meet the agency�s requirements. The only commercially available, off-the-shelf electronic filing system that DOT has identified as meeting the agency�s needs is FDonline. No other comparable COTS products exist on the market that are tailored specifically to managing e-filing of OGE Form 450s. Therefore, no other vendor can meet DOTs requirement for a commercially-available software that is available now, that will avoid the additional time and expense that would be required for a software developer to create a new solution for DOT. Because DOT will need to implement the online filing system by January 2021 in order have it up and running in time for the February 15th annual filing deadline for OGE Form 450s, the time and expense required for a custom solution is not feasible, making a COTS product the only viable option. FDonline is the only COTS product available that meets all of DOT�s requirements as described in Part 3, above, and in the Statement of Work. HRWorx (d/b/a Intelliworx) is the sole owner and exclusive licensor of FDonline. EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN COMPETITION, AND WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY FAR SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER FAR 5.202 APPLIES � This SOLE-SOURCE Special Notice is being publicized, in Beta.Sam.gov (formerly known as FedBizOpps) as is required by FAR Subpart 5.2. �If and ONLY if, as a result of this publishing of this Sole Source Special Notice, any responder (OTHER THAN HRWorx, LLC) e-mails, to james.mowery@dot.gov and to lynn.deavers@dot.gov and to laura.wainwright@dot.gov,� by 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, July 19, 2020, any Statement of Qualifications proving, in DOT�s SOLE judgement, the responder�s CAPABILITY of performing this project at the high level of QUALITY and with the full list of special FEATURES indispensable to DOT, then in that event the Contracting Officer would convert this procurement from a sole-source acquisition to a competitive one. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE: � The rates proposed by DOT�s intended sole-source-awardee-company were reviewed and accepted by the cognizant DOT Program Office. And the Contracting Officer concurred with the recommendation of accepting those proposed rates. Moreover, each invoice submitted by the contractor-company during performance of any resulting sole source contract will be scrutinized for allowability, allocability and reasonableness of billed cost in accordance with FAR Part 31. These procedures will ensure that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable. A DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON THAT MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED: DOT researched possible e-filing systems that could meet the agency�s requirements. Only one commercially available, off-the-shelf solution was identified: FDonline. HRworx, LLC (a Veteran Owned Small Business doing business as Intelliworx) developed, owns, and maintains FDonline, the proprietary software that is used to automate the ethics financial disclosure reporting process for multiple federal agencies. FDonline is the only commercially available automated financial disclosure product that meets DOT�s financial disclosure requirements. OGE has recognized the benefits of the electronic processing of confidential financial disclosure reports and has encouraged its implementation. Some federal agencies have built their own agency-specific financial disclosure system, but those systems were built at a cost that is prohibitively high or are not available for use by other agencies. Others have purchased FDonline. Market research conducted of potential vendors revealed that only FDonline meets DOT�s confidential financial disclosure processing requirements. FDonline is the best software for the agency�s electronic financial disclosure system. There are 25 other federal agencies successfully using FDonline. Market research showed other vendors do not provide necessary services for our financial disclosure requirements. Internet searches were conducted for commercially available, off-the-shelf solutions but only FDonline was identified as a possible solution that could meet the agency�s requirements. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: � The vendor is the only known source of a COTS-based e-filing system for OGE Form 450s that would meet DOT�s needs. That system is used by 25 other federal agencies. A LIST OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION � None, as of the date of publication of this Sole Source Special Notice. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THESE SERVICES: � The Contracting Officer will take all steps necessary to ensure that all the rules...
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