Sole Source Notification Smartsheet Licenses

It is the intent of Washington State to promote open competition and transparency for all contracts

for goods and services. In accordance with Department of Enterprise Service (DES) policy #DES-

140-00, all intended sole source contracts must be made available for public inspection for a period

of not less than ten (10) working days before the start date of the contract. This Sole Source

Notification satisfies the requirement.

This Sole Source Notification is available at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

(OSPI) website and at the Department of Enterprise Services, Washington Electronic Business

Solution (WEBS) Procurement website under the following commodity codes: 208-51-Human

Resources Software; 208-54: Internet and Web Site Software for Microcomputers; 208-84: Spread

Sheet Software; 209-54: Internet and Web Site Software for Main Frame Computers; 209-56:

Inventory Management; 209-64: Personnel Software; 209-69: Project Management; 209-85:

Spread Sheet Software

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) intends to complete a sole source

purchase of licenses from Smartsheet for the period of September 2022, through September

2023. The amount of the proposed purchase is $68,149.88. The purchase includes 83 Licensed

Users, Dynamic View up to 500 configurations, and the DataMesh App.

OSPI began using Smartsheet in 2018 and was it adopted more broadly in 2020 to help us

navigate the shift from archaic and outdated paper processes, to streamlined electronic business

processes. The agency adoption and consistent use has saved the agency money and time so

that staff and leaders can execute mission related work efficiently, effecitively, and remotely, as

needed. SmartSheet is also the preferred software for project management within OSPI.

Consultants contemplating the above requirements shall submit capability statements detailing

their ability to meet the state’s requirements no later than 3:00 pm on September 26, 2022.

Capability statements must address the following state requirements:

• Ability to sell Smartsheet licenses

In the absence of other qualified sources, and pending approval by the Department of Enterprise

Services, it is OSPI’s intent to make a sole source award of the contract mentioned above to

Smartsheet.

Although this Sole Source Notification is not an invitation to bid, if you feel your firm is able to

provide the goods or services listed above, you may submit a capability statement to:

Sole Source Notification

Smartsheet Licenses

OSPI Sole Source Notification LU1681 Page 2 of 4

Kyla Moore

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Email: contracts@k12.wa.us

In accordance with DES Sole Source policy process #PRO-DES-140-00A, the following documents

are attached:

• Attachment 1 – A copy of the Sole Source Contract Filing Justification

• Attachment 2 – A copy of the proposed draft sole source contract* in significantly final

form

Attachment 1 – Sole Source Contract Filing Justification

Specific Problem or Need

• What is the business need or problem that requires this contract?

OSPI needs to renew existing licenses, and purchase additional licenses, from Smartsheet

so we can continue to implement our streamlined electronic business processes that

have been in place for the past four years.

Sole Source Criteria

• Describe the unique features, qualifications, abilities or expertise of the contractor proposed

for this sole source contract.

Smartsheet has been operationalized and adopted within OSPI as our business workflow

and Project Management soliton for the past four years.

• What kind of market research did the agency conduct to conclude that alternative sources

were inappropriate or unavailable? Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due

diligence in determining the basis for the sole source contract, including methods used by

the agency to conduct a review of available sources such as researching trade publications,

industry newsletters and the internet; contacting similar service providers; and reviewing

statewide pricing trends and/or agreements. Include a list of businesses contacted (if you

state that no other businesses were contacted, explain why not), date of contact, method

of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an

explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances,

perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no

businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

Smartsheet has been the agency’s preferred software for project management,

approvals, information/data collection, etc. for the past four years. Human Resources,

Payroll, Procurement, Training, and countless other processes, both internal and external,

rely on Smartsheet to perform critical agency functions. Since Smartsheet has been our

enterprise solution for the past several years, and has been well received and successfully

implemented by internal an external users, the agency determined additional research

OSPI Sole Source Notification LU1681 Page 3 of 4

on other business workflow and project management solutions would not been

necessary.

Through market research, we identified three Smartsheet resellers. Only one returned a

quote in response to our inquiry request, with a cost that was approximately $10,000

higher than purchasing directly from Smartsheet.

• What considerations were given to providing opportunities in this contract for small

business, including but not limited to unbundling the goods and/or services acquired.

None.

• Provide a detailed and compelling description that includes quantification of the costs and

risks mitigated by contracting with this contractor (i.e. learning curve, follow-up nature).

As mentioned, Smartsheet has been adopted and operationalized for several years

within the agency, and many of our existing processes have been altered to function

solely on its platform. As our agency's business workflow and Enterprise Project

Management tool, a competitive replacement would not be as a received as popular

endeavor as the majority of the agency would highly resist such an organizational

change internally and with our external partners that continue to leverage the

intuitiveness and functionality within our business. This includes the several years of not

only operationalized processes, notifications, and collaboration but templates and

organizational structure created through years of lessons learned and best practices

across all programs, divisions and project teams. The impacts of of suggesting a change

after four years of adoption would greatly add risk to our internal users, partners, and

customers across the State of Washington K-12.

• Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of special circumstances such as

confidential investigations, copyright restrictions, etc.? If so, please describe.

No.

• Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of unavoidable, critical time

delays or issues that prevented the agency from completing this acquisition using a

competitive process? If so, please describe. For example, if time constraints are applicable,

identify when the agency was on notice of the need for the goods and/or service, the entity

that imposed the constraints, explain the authority of that entity to impose them, and

provide the timelines within which work must be accomplished.

No.

• Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of a geographic limitation? If the

proposed contractor is the only source available in the geographical area, state the basis

for this conclusion and the rationale for limiting the size of the geographical area selected.

No.

OSPI Sole Source Notification LU1681 Page 4 of 4

• What are the consequences of not having this sole source filing approved? Describe in

detail the impact to the agency and to services it provides if this sole source filing is not

approved.

With 85 internal users, many of whom are “super users” who have created stand-alone

business workflows that rely solely on Smartsheet’s platform to complete critical agency

functions, if this purchase is not approved, the consequences to the agency will be

severe. The result would require reverting many critical agency functions, processes, and

approval structures to outdated, inefficient, archaic methods, which we have worked

hard to streamline over the past several years. It would also create substantial barriers

for employees who are teleworking and unable to be in the office to route paper

documents for approvals.

Reasonableness of Cost

• Since competition was not used as the means for procurement, how did the agency

conclude that the costs, fees, or rates negotiated are fair and reasonable? Please make a

comparison with comparable contracts, use the results of a market survey, or employ some

other appropriate means calculated to make such a determination.

We conducted an analysis of two other similar project and process management

platforms: Asana and Monday.com. Market research shows that compared to

Smartsheet, Asana would be around $200 less per seat, but that does not include the

premium apps from Smartsheet that we use. Monday.com is around $576 per seat which

is comparable to Smartsheet.

Of the three Smartsheet resellers that we identified, only one returned a quote in

response to our market research request, with a cost that was approximately $10,000

higher than Smartsheet.

Attachment 2 – Proposed Draft Sole Source Contract*

See next page.

*OSPI is using a Purchase Order to secure this purchase rather than a standard contract for

services

1681

REQUEST NO.: PR

August 18, 2022

DATE:

PURCHASE REQUEST

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Stock, Model, or

Catalog No.

Quote # Q-1629004

Description and Specifications

Quan.

Estimated Unit

Cost

Estimated

Total Cost

68,150.00

Total Amount

Enterprise Plan Plus Pro Support Licensed Users

Dynamic View- up to 500 Configurations

DataMesh App

550.00

14,000.00

8,500.00

45,650.00

14,000.00

8,500.00

FORM SPI 405FLMKR (Rev. 1/20)

AMOUNT INVOICE NUMBER% APPN

INDEX

TRANS

CODE

FUND PROJ SUB

PROJ

PHASE

SUB OBJECT

SUB-SUB

OBJECT

DATE WARRANT TOTAL

WARRANT NUMBERACCOUNTING APPROVAL

001 012

SmartSheet

SUGGESTED VENDOR(S)

VENDOR EMAIL ADDRESS

Shaylah Seymour

PREPARED BY:

TELEPHONE NUMBER

BUDGET ANALYST (PRINT OR TYPE NAME)

Taylor Kesler, Account Executive

DATE

TELEPHONE NUMBER

USE TAXSWV NODOC DATE CURRENT DOC NO REF DOC NO

ORG

INDEX

PROG

INDEX

1232 11056

360-725-4995

Joe Gonzalez

SIGNATURE

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT (PRINT OR TYPE NAME)

DATE

SIGNATURE

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT (PRINT OR TYPE NAME)

SIGNATURE

DATE

Ted Loran

DATEPURCHASING ADMINISTRATOR

taylor.kesler@smartsheet.com

CHIEF OF STAFF/SUPERINTENDENT (PRINT OR TYPE NAME)

SIGNATURE

DATE

Tennille Jeffries-Simmons

EXECUTIVE/SECTION DIRECTOR (PRINT OR TYPE NAME)

Jami Marcott

SIGNATURE

s/Jami.Marcott

8/19/22

OSPI Technology Support

Supported: Yes No

Quote Expires:

Initials: Date:

8/19/22

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