Notice of Intent to Award: Single Source Shadowbase Software

The United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Cotton and Tobacco, intends to award a firm fixed price one year contract to Hewlett Packard Enterprises to procure proprietary software and maintenance upgrades on the existing system. The USDA Cotton and Tobacco (C&T) program is responsible for facilitating marketing by providing standardization, grading, and market news services for cotton, cotton related products, and tobacco.

The core foundational equipment for maintaining the functionality of these programs requires software and maintenance upgrades which are proprietary in nature. These items are available from a single source with no resellers.

This purchase will be made utilizing Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 -Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.106-l(b) for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000. The Nonstop Kernel Operating System is comprised of software that is proprietary in nature, there is a single source capable of providing the required upgrades.

The upgrades required to all components must be compatible in all aspects with existing systems that are presently utilized in the C& T classing facilities nationwide. C&T utilizes this software for mission-critical HPE NonStop-to-Windows Server data replication in real-time. This software is critical to the daily operations, replication of data to other government entities outside of C&T and for continuous functionality. This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive proposals.

This is not a solicitation or request for offers. No solicitation package is available, and telephone requests will not be honored. Interested parties may respond to this requirement within ten (10) calendar days of the publication of this notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct competitive procurement.

A determination by the Government not to complete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. No reimbursement for any cost connected with providing capability information will be provided. The point of contact is:

Latisha Hollman, Email: Latisha.A.Hollman@usda.gov Please reference this Notice of Intent number, 1155939, on your correspondence and in the "Subject" line of your email. No phone calls will be accepted.