Research and Advisory Services Agreement

Research and advisory services are now available to the HHS community through an agreement with three providers:

• Burton Group Institute
• Forrester Research, Inc.
• Gartner, Inc.

These providers will offer some or all of the following services:

Class A)	Publication of provider-initiated analyses, such as analysis of industry or manufacturer;
Class B)	Access to customer initiated analyses, such as telephonic response and analysis of research related to a customer query;
Class C)	Information technology (IT) market research services, such as trend analysis and expenditure data; and
Class D)	IT executive program services, such as peer panels.

Procedures

If you have determined that your organization has a valid need for research and advisory services, you can use the following steps to obtain those services:

1. Determine if the three sources can compete with each other to meet your need. These research and advisory services have been made available to HHS in a manner that supports the ongoing competition between these providers. However, a primary reason that an opportunity would not be competed is if the provider is uniquely capable of meeting your need. If the providers cannot compete for your need, then you'll need to write a justification that clearly demonstrates that competition would not be in the government's best interests.

2. Determine how you want the competition to happen. This can be as simple as price, or as complex as a requiring a clear demonstration that the provider understands the problem you want addressed, and a clear demonstration that they have an innovative strategy to resolve that problem.

3. Create the problem statement (a clear statement that describes the problem you are trying to solve), and forward along with any supporting background information or documentation to your procurement office for review. Your purchasing office will also have to determine that you have the funds to pay for these services.

4. Forward this information to your purchasing office, according to your local purchasing policies.