U.S. Customs and Border Protection Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO)

Exceeding the SAT – RFO 16.507-6

Date: September 08, 2026 PR Number: 20153594

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition (OA), Information Technology Contracting Division (ITCD), on behalf of CBP’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Enterprise Cloud Services Directorate (ECSD), prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity1.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

CBP intends to issue a modification to the firm fixed-price (FFP) Task Order (TO) 70B04C24F00000605 for Salesforce Center of Innovation (CoI) Professional Services in accordance with Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) 52.212-4 (d), Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Services – Changes, appearing at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-4(c), and RFO 16.507-6(b)(1). This modification action will bilaterally incorporate (RFO) 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, extending the TO’s period of performance (PoP).

This requirement was a single-award issued as a TO against the NITAAC CIO-SP3 Small Business (SB) government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC), Task Area A. A best value, trade-off analysis was performed in selecting the awardee.

This modification to extend services under TO# 70B04C24F00000605 effectively increases the potential TO value and extends the PoP, inclusive of all options, from a six (6) month base period and three (3), six (6) month option periods to a six (6) month base period, three (3), six (6) month option periods, and two (2) , three (3) month optional extensions to provide for the continuity of Salesforce CoI Professional Services and time to adequately recompete the new requirement.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value and the period of performance).

The has a requirement to continue Saleforce CoI Professional Services through Steampunk Inc. Salesforce has been an instrumental platform for OIT to rapidly deploy applications to support CBP’s mission objectives.

Currently, OIT has built Salesforce applications within Salesforce “orgs” for CBP and has an increasing backlog of mission requests that require technical solutions. The contractor shall provide comprehensive support to maintain and enhance the Salesforce ecosystem. This includes ongoing platform support and maintenance to ensure the stability, security, and performance of the environment, as well as the establishment and enforcement of governance frameworks to ensure consistent, compliant, and efficient application development across the enterprise. Furthermore, the scope encompasses solution architecture design aligning with CBP’s mission objectives, the rapid development and deployment of Salesforce applications—including support for integrators building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)—and the management of application lifecycles through release and enterprise management. Training services will also be provided to ensure CBP personnel can effectively utilize and manage the Salesforce environment.

1 In this document, citations to RFO Part 16 are citations specifically to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Class Deviation 26-04 R1 for FAR Part 16, which was issued as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), which was implemented in response to Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, signed April 15, 2025.

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The total estimated value of the six (6) month extension is $1,262,776.66, as detailed below:

Period Performance Dates Labor Cost OES Option 1 09/30/2026 – 12/29/2026 $631,388.33 OES Option 2 12/30/2026 – 03/29/2027 $631,388.33 Totals $1,262,776.66

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and provide supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

X RFO 16.507-6(b)(1). The agency’s need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

Rationale:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is implemented by RFO 16.507-6(b)(2) entitled, “The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.”

The Contractor support for this requirement must begin September 30, 2026 without a break in service. CBP has an urgent need for uninterrupted Salesforce CoI Services with minimum duplicative costs to the Government. Failure to award this modification extension and transitioning these complex services to any other provider at this critical juncture, while a longer-term TO is being competed, would introduce unacceptable delays, significant operational risks, such as outages of mission-critical applications affecting travel and trade, and a high probability of service interruptions to CBP's existing Salesforce platform and mission-critical systems.

CBP is in the process of re-soliciting the new requirement for a more cohesive and efficient procurement process resulting in the greatest discounts

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer (CO) determined the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable based on the price reasonableness determination completed at the initial award, and through use of one or all of the price analysis techniques detailed below, in accordance with RFO 15.404-1(b)(2), which include: (i) comparison of proposed prices to historical prices paid, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for the same or similar items; (ii) RFO 15.404-1(b)(4) comparison with competitive published price lists; and/or (iii) RFO 15.404-1(b)(5) comparison with the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

Furthermore, incorporating RFO 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, into this TO prior to its expiration will permit the extension of services within limits and at the rates specified at the TO, which was competed and resulted in adequate price competition. Therefore, the CO can mitigate escalation costs by using previously negotiated rates deemed fair and reasonable at the time of the initial award.

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6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Funding variances, including lapses in annual appropriations, have affected the ability to re-compete the new requirement for adequate competition. CBP must maintain the incumbent contractor in the interim to leverage the Government’s right to exercise competitively priced option period, minimize administrative burden, and to maximize available resources during the re-competition of this requirement.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

As noted above, the tumultuous procurement environment of the last year resulted in many organizational restructurings, including changes to the funding and procurement processes from top agency leadership down to the program directorate levels. As a result, many actions, approvals, and processes were delayed.

The rapid expansion of the Salesforce platform within CBP has necessitated a strategic shift in procurement to better align with the platform's unique operational requirements. As the Salesforce footprint has grown, aligning procurement planning and documentation with the platform’s specific service needs has become essential for CBP to maximize the value of its investment.

While CBP maintains a robust multi-cloud infrastructure, the Salesforce environment requires specialized support that integrates seamlessly with this broader strategy. By aligning Salesforce professional services with agency requirements, CBP ensures that its implementation remains competitive, interoperable, and fully supported within the agency’s diverse cloud ecosystem.

Moving forward, CBP OIT and ITCD will prioritize continuous market engagement focused on Salesforce professional services. This includes evaluating providers based on their ability to deliver specialized expertise and innovative management approaches while ensuring operational sustainability. This proactive approach is designed to prevent reliance on exceptions to fair opportunity and ensure that the Salesforce platform remains a secure, scalable, and high-performing foundation for CBP’s mission objectives.

8. CBP intends to post this justification on www.sam.gov pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(f).

Pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(f), CBP intends to post this justification within 14 days after executing modification to exercise the option SAM.gov.

9. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(d)(2)(ix), I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Christian Painter Contracting Officer’s Representative http://www.sam.gov/

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10. Contracting Officer Certification and Approval.

Pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(e)(1), I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and hereby determine the circumstances for an exception to fair opportunity exist and legal review was obtained when required based on dollar value.

Jaime Reed Contracting Officer

JEFO Approvals:

11. COMPETITION ADVOCATE (Per RFO 16.507-6(e)(2) – Exceeding $900,000 to $20M)

Approved Disapproved

Name (Print): Earl J. Lewis, III Competition Advocate

Signature:

EARL LEWIS

Accepted