Opportunity: BLACKBOARD RENEWAL

The Bureau of Indian Education intends to award sole source firm fixed price purchase order to Blackboard Inc., under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. It has been determined that Blackboard proprietary software Renewal provides: Blackboard is currently operational of Haskell Indian Nations University(HINU) they are the only vendor that is a hosted proprietary course delivery platform that is used to enhance and offer class instruction via internet and virtual classrooms. This has become necessary and essential to course deliver, completing accreditation commitments, and fulfilling the core mission of the university. Hosting SSL, Hosting Additional Storage 30GB, Learning Core Package Gold Host. Hosted services provide higher rates of connectivity, completes the maintenance on servers, and maintains cyber-security that the University cannot provide. HINU has invested a significant amount of money, time and resources to using the Blackboard system. This type of system is a long term investment and trying to change systems mid-stream would sink this ship which would be inadvisable and irresponsible. The financial impact would sky rocket, the learning environment would be decimated and this would be considered a ¿Retention-Negative¿ decision. The purpose of this procurement is to award based on a sole source requirement, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b). This notice is not a request for competitive quotations. A solicitation will not be available for this requirement. The intent of this notice is for informational purposes only. However, any information received on or before the posting date of this notice will be considered by the Government. Information may be sent to Janice Begay, Purchasing Agent at janice.begay@bie.edu. A determination by the Government not to compete this action is solely within the discretion of the Government. Inquiries will only be accepted via the above email.