J & A 6302-1(c) The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to award a Sole Source order using simplified acquisitions procedures for commercial items (FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13.5) to procure Forum SentrySOA XML Gateways Model #3564 or later, from Forum Systems, Inc. 233 Needham St Ste 520, Newton, MA 02464. The Period of Performance will be one year, with two one year options. Forum Systems Inc. is the exclusive owner and holds distribution rights to this product. The Security Risk Assessment for MeF R3.2 stressed the need for strong authentication and XML Threat Mitigation due to the introduction of Web services to the IRS infrastructure. In 2005, the MeF PMO tasked CSC PRIME to conduct a Product Evaluation and Selection (PES) to mitigate the new XML Threat introduced by Web services and the tool selected was the Forum Sentry XML Gateway appliance. This item was subsequently added to the Enterprise Architecture (EA) Enterprise Standards Profile (ESP) as a requirement for any external Web services implementation within the enterprise. The ESP lists Standards and Products applicable to the IRS Target Architecture and all projects are required to adhere to these standards, using only those products listed in the ESP. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is Section 303(c) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended by the Competition in Contracting Act [41 U.S.C. 253(c) (1)], implemented under FAR 6.302-1(a), which authorizes other than full and open competition when there is only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This is not a solicitation for proposals or an invitation for bids. The Government does not anticipate receiving responses to this notice of a non-competitive action. If parties choose to respond, responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency however, any cost associated with the preparation and submission of data or any other costs incurred in response to this announcement are the sole responsibility of the respondent and will not be reimbursed by the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. For specific questions, please contact Patricia Session, (202)-283-1191 or e-mail [email protected], before 10:00 am, January, 29, 2010.

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