JEFO_-_ADSS_Bridge_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(b)(2)

Solicitation #140D0424Q0699

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.”

This document is a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity executed by the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division I Branch III, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

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

The purpose of this document is to outline the rationale for issuing a task order on a sole source basis to NTT DATA FedHealth, Inc. (NTT DATA) against its National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessments Center Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3, Small Business (NITAAC/CIO-SP3 SB) contract without considering other awardees pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B).

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

The contractor will be responsible for providing prompt response to support requests, troubleshooting system problems, investigating software requests, interviewing, and gathering requirements, analyzing requirements, modeling, designing solutions, data architecture, data analysis, developing and coding software, configuration/ implementation and documenting system change, application deployment, information management, and disposition of system as appropriate.

The Period of Performance (PoP) will be from August 15, 2024 through February 14, 2025 and will consist of one six-month Base Period. The estimated value is approximately over the six-month duration with the inclusion of FAR 52.217-8).

Solicitation #140D0424Q0699

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b)(2)) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) – The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

AQD is currently in the process of establishing multiple award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) through competition for critical and complex Information Technology (IT) services that support NIAID’s scientific, business, and administrative requirements. The current task order (140D0419F0075) was awarded on a competitive basis and provides NIAID with the IT support outlined in Section 3 will ultimately fall under the scope of this BPA. However, the new competitive BPA order that will replace 140D0419F0075 will not be in place before the current task order expires on August 14, 2024.

As a result, AQD intends to issue this follow-on task order to NTT DATA, the incumbent contractor, in the interim to maintain critical support for NIAID until the new BPA order award is in place which is expected to occur in November 2024. The interim task order is logical in that it will continue services at the same level of effort and scope as the current task order (140D0419F0075). All NITAAC/CIO-SP3 SB awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the current task order (six quotes were received) which was awarded by AQD.

As the incumbent, NTT DATA is intimately familiar with the support required and is qualified to support NIAID while AQD continues with the competitive BPA process. NTT DATA’s performance under the current task order has been at least satisfactory. NTT DATA has the capability and expertise to continue to support this requirement with minimal interruption or schedule impact. Awarding a contract to a different contractor for this bridge support is not in the Government’s best interest as a new contractor would need time to familiarize themselves with the requirement. NTT DATA can avoid the unacceptable delays that bringing in a new contractor would require and is the only vendor with the capability and experience needed to meet the Government requirements on this tight schedule.

Obtaining competition for this bridge is impracticable under the circumstances described herein as it would require considerable lead time to identify sources, receive quotes, conduct a source selection, and process appropriate award documentation. Selecting any other source would also require a significant transition-in/ramp up period to get a new contractor up to speed on the complex services provided, including transfer of documentation, and obtaining access to controlled Government systems.

The award of this task order to NTT DATA is most advantageous and in the best interest of the Government in meeting critical NIAID mission requirements.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable based on a comparison of the proposed price from NTT DATA to the historical prices paid for the same services (including current contracting pricing).

Furthermore, as part of the price analysis, the Contracting Officer will include a comparison of the proposed price to market pricing, in accordance with DOI-AAAP- 0024, Enhancing Competition. This requirement is for commercial services and is exempt from cost analysis per FAR 15.403-1(b)(3). Other than certified cost or pricing data may be requested for further analysis if deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Sufficient capacity exists under the CIO-SP3 contract for this interim task order.

NITAAC recently extended the period of performance on all its CIO-SP3 SB contracts through October 29, 2024 and indicated that any task order issued by this date can include a period of performance of up to five years.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), within 14 days after placing the order with NTT DATA, a redacted version of this justification will be posted on SAM.gov for a minimum of 30 days.

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.

The need for a subsequent sole source task order will be mitigated in the future through the establishment of the multiple award BPAs discussed in Section 4 which are anticipated to be awarded in Quarter Four of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. All orders under these BPAs will be competed among all BPA holders. A need for this sole source task order was not anticipated as the original estimated award date of the BPAs, as well as first orders under the BPAs, was planned for Quarter Two of FY2024. However, due to the interest received from industry for these BPAs, the evaluation process has taken longer than expected. AQD only anticipates utilizing this interim task order to provide critical support to NIAID until the new BPA order has been awarded and to allow time for a transition period.

While re-competing the current task order as another single task order may be considered a faster acquisition alternative in the near-term, it would not have yielded the longer-term benefits that NIAID was seeking through these planned BPAs. Specifically, competing its requirements among a smaller set of BPA holders will streamline the ordering process even further and minimize the administrative burden for the Government. These benefits will be further amplified because NIAID anticipates issuing several competitive orders soon after the BPAs are awarded with a recurring needed for these types of services over the life of the BPAs. In addition, when determining whether to award multiple-award BPAs or single-award BPAs, it was determined multiple-award BPAs will help distribute the required services across several capable awardees and ensure one contractor is not overloaded. Ultimately, the planned multiple award BPAs will allow the Government to leverage established agreements, varied experience, and competitive pricing to quickly award task orders for NIAID’s required services.

8. The contacting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer

9. Evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

I certify that the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and meets the Government’s minimum needs.

Program Official

10. A written determination by the approving official that one of the circumstances in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) through (E) applies to the order.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) – The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

11. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Chief, Acquisition Management Branch 3, Division 1

Chief, Acquisition Management, Division 1

Bureau Competition Advocate Chief, Acquisition Policy and Oversight Branch 1

Approve

Head of the Contracting Activity