NON-COMMERCIAL V. COMMERCIAL?

So have you considered FAR Part 12.102(g)?

Why do you think the work is not commercial?

For a couple of reasons-

This is a custom-built software system only used by the government. It will never be used commercially, nor will any modifications to it, make it available for commercial use. Even though there is a listing of labor cats for the positions, there is no "commercial" knowledge of the systems... For example, if the government needs a bathroom built in a faciltiy, that knowledge is commercially known and can be done (one would hope quickly), versus the government asking a vendor to develop, modernize and enhance a system they have never seen, touched or ever worked on... industry wouldn't be clamoring for technical information... plus with software development the requirement is very fluid in terms of week to week needs and changes... hope this further clarifies my position...

"...plus with software development the requirement is very fluid in terms of week to week needs and changes"

Scope creep on a software development project? I am shocked! I think you might want to do some more in depth market research on software development. Also, why do you not want the project to be procured as a commercial item?

You emphasize the software function. So, are you buying software, or are you buying software development, maintenance, and operations services? If you are buying services, how does the software function alter the nature of the processes of software development, maintenance, and operations? How does it differ from commercial development, maintzenance and operations services? Companies develop, maintain, and operate new sotware systems for complex commercial funtions all the time. Familiarity with the history of sotware development would make that abundantly clear. What makes your project different? Programming language? Number of lines of code? Something else? If you want to make your case, make your case.