1.5.1_LSJ FAR Part 8_Executed.pdf

Template - Limited-Sources Justification (LSJ) For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

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LSJ No.:

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of Chief Procurement Operations (OCPO), Acquisition Operations Division, proposes to award an order pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a) Limiting Sources to General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc (GDIT) (GS-35F-393CA) under the GSA Automated Contact Center Solutions ( ACCS) Category 561422.

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

DHS/FEMA intends to limit the number of sources solicited pursuant to FAR Part 8.405-6(a) for the procurement of services to upgrade, monitor, and maintain the proprietary Interactive

Voice Response (IVA) solution designed and developed by GDIT located at 3150 Fairview

Park Drive STE 100 Falls Church, Va 22042-4504.

a) Type of Action: New delivery order under the GSA ACCS schedule Category 561422. Contract type is Firm Fixed Price.

b) Amount: Base Period: $952,901.20 Option Period 1: $981,488.23 52.217-8 Option: $490,744.12 Total Value: $2,425,133.55

c) Type of Funding: Operational Funds

d) Year of Funding: FY2023

e) Other Information: The proposed task order limits competition to one (1) GSA ACCS schedule vendor who has developed and maintains a remote Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) platform supporting both the inbound and outbound call center environment. The government has invested substantial time and money in working with GDIT to customize, standup and optimize this stand-alone infrastructure. The IVA solution was designed and developed by GDIT customizing its Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) IVA solution to support the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program. The customized IVA solution is not available from any other contractor, nor are any associated maintenance or monitoring of the applications.

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3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement is to provide up to 24 months of maintenance, upgrades, fixes and support services for IVA services as a logical follow-on contract at a total estimated cost of $952,901.20. The government has invested substantial time and money in working with GDIT to standup and optimize this stand-alone infrastructure. From 2021 through current date the GDIT has worked extensively with the FEMA teams to first build a multi-lingual IVA capable of artificial-intelligence-based natural language processing and dynamic call routing and then refining the learning of the automation across 57 agile sprints by a team of engineers and data scientists.

The current IVA solution requires migrating to the FEMA C3MP Cloud platform. GDIT will assist FEMA with actions necessary to rebuild the IVA in the Cloud. FEMA has already built a foundation hosted in GDIT’s cloud based call center environment and have completed years of sprint cycles of updates to the existing IVA system. This migration will allow FEMA to modernize the telephony platform for disaster and COVID funeral assistance calls.

This solution is proprietary to the manufacturer. GDIT is the only source that provides maintenance and upgrade services required to support the customized IVA.

Period PoP Estimated Price Base 8/15/2023-8/14/2024 $952,901.20

OP1 8/15/2024-8/14/2025 $981,488.23

52.217-8 8/15/2025-2/14/2026 $490,744.12

Total Value

4. Authority and supporting rationale.

8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) — In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures.

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies, in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a), Limiting Sources. An award will be made in the interest of economy and efficiency as a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order # GS-35F-393CA 70FB8021F00000016 pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C).

The original award addressing Contact Center Support for COVID-19 Funeral Benefits was competitively solicited and awarded on February 15th, 2021 using the ordering procedures at FAR 8.405. This labor contract included the requirement to develop an IVA assist in handling the extremely high call volume from applicants. It is necessary to limit competition for new work described herein as a logical follow-on because GDIT built an efficient program to serve the American public in a unique mission. GDIT worked extensively with the FEMA teams to first build a multi-lingual IVA capable of artificial-intelligence-based natural language processing and dynamic call routing and then refining the learning of the

LSJ Template > SAT 2- 3 - LSJ No: XX-XXX automation across 57 agile sprints by a team of engineers and data scientists. The nearly 100-page requirements document that accompanied the modification formed the basis for the IVA requirements but continued to evolve with the needs of the program. The platform of the system would have to be rebuilt by any other vendor and would likely take several months to implement.

A new competitive acquisition process creates significant risk (schedule, cost, efficiency, applicant experience, and mission) to the Government. The Government proposes issuing a sole-source award to GDIT as a logical follow-on contract to serve as a bridge until FEMA’s transition to a cloud environment is complete.

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the anticipated order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

GDIT’s proposed task order has been deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-up contract for the further development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof. The award would entail substantial duplication of cost to the government that is not expected to be recovered if it were to be awarded to another source. GDIT is the current service provider and the only responsible source that can adequately respond to the need. The IVA solution currently in place has been highly developed and an award to any other contractor would produce the aforementioned unacceptable cost duplication.

Additionally, to attempt to award a new contract for maintenance and monitoring through full and open competition would create unacceptable risk and schedule delays. The IVA solution provided by GDIT could not be adequately monitored or maintained by a contractor who is unfamiliar with the existing software modules. To attempt to do so would result in unacceptable performance that would compromise the integrity of the systems used by FEMA to allow technology to handle call volume as a long-term return on investment vs the volatility of staffing requirements.

The upgrade and maintenance of software represents the best value and will result in the lowest overall cost, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. This order will be placed in accordance with FAR 8.404, “Use of Federal Supply Schedules.” The General Services Administration (GSA) has already negotiated fair and reasonable pricing rates. Discounts to these GSA schedule rates will be requested.

Additionally, prior to issuance of the task order, the ordering activity will consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the specific task being ordered in order to determine that the total price is reasonable. The contractor’s labor mix and level of effort will also be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

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No alternative sources were sought for this procurement action. The existing software has been modified and developed over a period in excess of two years to meet the unique parameters of the Covid-19 Funeral Assistance Program. If award were to be made to a different contractor, all these modifications and developments would have to be done again.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited-sources justification.

The GDIT IVA solution is currently able to assist ~ 30% of the current call volume without the need for agent interaction. This creates better customer experience and frees up agents to work on a significant backlog of Document Validation needed for Case Work to take place without the need to pay for more staff to cover that task.

The current IVA system has been in use for over two years and in continual refinement to the current level of high performance.

8. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

The government intends to procure new software, technical data packages, data rights, and source codes in fiscal year 2024. This will allow the Government to seek competition in future acquisitions for the same type of support, thus eliminating the barriers to competition.

No further action is necessary to overcome the barriers of competition. The original solicitation for the IVA solution was competed openly and fairly. The maintenance and monitoring necessary to maintain this software cannot be obtained through any other source than the current vendor.

9. DHS intends to post this requirement on SAM.gov pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)(i).

The RFQ will be sent directly to the incument, GDIT.

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10. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(x), I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the Limited-Sources Justification, are accurate and complete.

Technical Representative/COR Date

11. Contracting Officer Certification and/or Approval *

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(ix), I certify that the Limited-Sources Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Contracting Officer Date

*Note: In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(d)(1) for BPAs with an estimated value exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, but not exceeding $750,000, the ordering activity contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the ordering activity contracting officer’s knowledge and belief will serve as approval.

12. Approval.

Over $750,000 but not exceeding $15 million Date Component Competition Advocate