This is not a request for quotations or an announcement of a forthcoming solicitation, but merely notification of the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) intent to issue, on a sole-source basis, a firm fixed-price purchase order to Pluralsight, LLC for access to their online subscription entitled, "The Pluralsight Subscription." under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.302-1, the Contracting Officer has determined that the circumstances of the contract action deem there is only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Pluralsight Subscription is only available from its producer and manufacturer and not through dealers or distributors. The period of performance will be for twelve months, from August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2020. SSA employees within the Operations offices use Pluralsight for developers and information technology (IT) staff as an online education resource for software development, administration, and creative professionalism. While other companies may offer similar resources, they are highly focused on business production and progress. pluralsight is focused more on technical IT skills, specifically for the Windows-based hardware and software that we use at SSA.

Plurarlsight stands alone on the market due to how comprehensive its courses are. They are the only Software as a Service (SAAS)-based "In-Classroom Training" alternative that provides a full and deep breadth of today's newest and most in-demand technologies. Pluralsight offers over 5,000 proprietary expert-authored courses, which cover topics such as: SharePoint, Data Mining, Enterprise Architecture, Java, and Tech Support. They have a patented "Smarterer "technology, which allows users to determine their proficiency on a given topic within minutes and subsequently follow a customized skill path to reach a higher level of proficiency.

With this license, users get access to Pluralsight courses, discussion forums, exercise files, course learning checks, transcripts, and CodeSchool. Pluralsight is browser-based, but users also have the ability to download content so that they can take courses while offline. Additionally, Pluralsight offer significantly more Microsoft.NET training than any other site and is the only site we found where all of the content works through the SSA firewall. A determination by SSA not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of SSA. Information received will be considered for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The Government does not intent to pay for information provided in response to this notice.

Written responses to this notice shall contain sufficient documentation to establish a bona fide capability to fulfill this requirement. Responses shall be submitted by 9:00AM EST on Wednesday June 27, 2019 and the use of reference no. 4015-19-1005. If SSA does not receive an acceptable response to this announcement by June 27, 2019 renegotiations will be conducted with Pluralsight, LLC as the only source and a purchase order will be issues without any additional notices being posted.

All responses shall be submitted via e-mail to Stephanie Puryear at [email protected].

Bid Protests Not Available