Sole Source Award: Agilent 1290 UHPLC Service Contract

***NOAA'S ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, EASTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-NORFOLK, ON BEHALF OF NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS) HOLLINGA MARINE LABORATORY, NEGOTIATED, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF RFO FAR 12.102(A), WITH AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC OUT OF WILMINGTON, DE TO PROVIDE AGILENT REPAIR AND PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE OF THREE AGILENT 1290 INFINITY II UHPLC SYSTEMS. ***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) REQUIREMENT FOR UNLIMITED REPAIR SERVICES AND ONE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE (PM) ON EACH OF THE THREE AGILENT INFINITY II 1290 ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (UHPLC) SYSTEMS. THESE THREE INSTRUMENTS ARE VITAL TO THE ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES FOR A VARIETY OF HARMFUL ALGAL TOXINS. HAVING THESE INSTRUMENTS OPERATIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF ANALYSES SUPPORTING THE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM MONITORING AND REFERENCE BRANCH. A SERVICE AGREEMENT IS NEEDED TO MAINTAIN THE OPERATION AND INTEGRITY OF THE EQUIPMENT. THE SERVICE AGREEMENT ASSURES THAT THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE REGULARLY SERVICED (E.G., REPLACEMENT OF CONSUMABLES DURING PM) BY TRAINED AND CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS REPRESENTING THE ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER. CURRENTLY, SCIEX MASS SPECTROMETERS (MS) ARE CONNECTED TO THE AGILENT 1290 LCS AS THE LC DETECTOR. THEREFORE; SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY IS IMPERATIVE FOR THE OPERATION OF THE 1290 LC AND THE MS. AGILENT IS THE SOLE SOURCE PROVIDER OF AGILENT’S PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE UPDATES AND NO OTHER SOURCES HAVE ACCESS OR THE CAPABILITY TO SUPPORT THE AGILENT SOFTWARE. AGILENT INFINITY II 1290 UHPLC SYSTEMS ARE THE MOST ADVANCED LC SYSTEMS AGILENT PROVIDES; THE 1290 UHPLC SYSTEMS ARE HIGHLY TECHNICAL AND VERY SENSITIVE AND HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED ALONG WITH TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS. ONLY AGILENT IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE SERVICES REQUIRED AT THE LEVEL OF QUALITY REQUIRED BECAUSE THE SERVICES ARE UNIQUE AND HIGHLY SPECIALIZED. AGILENT IS THE OEM OF THE 1290 LC SYSTEMS, ALSO THE SOLE SOURCE PROVIDER OF AGILENT FACTORY AUTHORIZED TRAINING FOR AGILENT FACTORY AUTHORIZED SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES AND OEM REPLACEMENT PARTS. ALLOWING ANY CONTRACTOR OTHER THAN AGILENT AUTHORIZED SUPPORT PROVIDERS TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON THESE SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS COULD INVALIDATE AGILENT WARRANTIES AND THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT PROPOSAL. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES ARE THE SOLE PROVIDER OF THE SERVICES BEING REQUIRED.