A6_JOFOC_1605DC-19-Q-00162.pdf

Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Identification of the Agency and Contracting Activity

Contracting Activity Customer Agency Department of Labor Department of Labor Office of the Assistant Secretary for Admin. & Mgmt. Employee Benefits Security Administration Office of Procurement Services Office of Technology and Information Services

200 Constitution Ave. NW 200 Constitution Ave. NW Washington, DC 20210 Washington, DC 20210

2. Nature and Description of the action being approved:

This procurement action is for the renewal of 750 Accellion Enterprise Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant secure file transfer (SFT) users with FIPS support per user, Enterprise FIPS VM appliance install and Enterprise one year anti-virus support.

3. A Description of the Supplies or Services required to meet the Agency's Needs (Including the Estimated

Value)

A. Hardware required features. NA

B. Hardware optional features. NA

C. Cost of Hardware: NA

D. Accellion Enterprise SFT with FIPS software and support service required features –

EBSA/OTIS has determined that the service offered by the supplier must meet the following minimum requirements:

Manufacturer: Accellion Major Component Part Number/Model Numbers:

MEUAUFS Secure Mobile File Sharing - Enterprise Package – Licensed Users with

FIPS Support MEAV Enterprise Mobile Anti-Virus

MEMC-AV Existing MS Hyper-V Virtual Controller

The required solution MUST be 100% FIPS compliant and cannot meet the requirements by using a third party encryption certification to meet the FIPS standards.

E. Optional features. NA

F. Estimated Cost of Software and Support Service: $141.09 per unit (750 units), $500.00 Enterprise

1 Year Antivirus Support, No cost for Existing MS Hyper-V Virtual Controller

G. Estimated Total Cost of Accellion SFT 507 licenses and one year support service:

$106,317.50

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

FAR 6.302-1(c) authorizes limiting full and open competition to a specific brand name: An acquisition or portion of an acquisition that uses a brand-name description or other purchase description to specify a particular brand-name, product, or feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer. The Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Office of Technology and Information Services (EBSA/OTIS) routinely collaborates with outside Government agencies, and is the executive agent for the EFAST system which is a multi-agency consortium with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL/EBSA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

EBSA routinely transfers case data between these agencies. As such, EBSA’s required solution MUST be 100% FIPS compliant and cannot meet the requirements by using a third party encryption certification to meet the FIPS standards. Furthermore, the IRS, PBGC and the SEC currently use Accellion secure file transfer to meet this requirement. Accellion secure file transfer solution (SFT) is the only solution on the market that is 100% FIPS 140-2 compliant without the use of third party encryption and is the only solution that meets IRS standards. The material must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems presently installed. Since EBSA must transfer tax sensitive information in the form of case files between the above referenced agencies it must use a compatible SFT solution that meets their rigorous standards. The IRS has insisted EBSA must use Accellion to meet their requirements. Without Accellion EBSA will not be able to perform its core function as it relates to investigating pension and benefit plan fraud.

The services are comparably priced within the specialized services industry. If the agency were to bring in a competing product, this could not be competed without significant time and costs to correct possible errors or incompatibilities. Further, the partner agencies would also have to convert to this secure file transfer solution. Converting the current secure transfer solution to a competitor’s proprietary secure transfer solution, will incur a greater cost to the EBSA than the entire cost of this Accellion Enterprise purchase.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Accellion has several distributors and DOL expects to receive competitive offers from this solicitation. The solicitation will be published via FBO via combined synopsis/solicitation in accordance with FAR 12.603.

7. A description of the market research conducted (see part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted by submitting a request for information through GSA eBuy but no quotes were received specific to this acquisition. As such, the .

7. Any Other Facts supporting the Justification.

None

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

EBSA will re-evaluate the requirement as it approaches the end of life for the existing software. EBSA will work with OCIO to conduct a technical assessment of the IT technology and assess current needs at the time and document the best solution that will be suitable for the agency’s Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant secure file transfer (SFT) needs.

9. Technical Requirements Certifications:

I certify that the support data under my cognizance which are included in this documentation is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Maria Robles Contractor Officer Representative Employee Benefits Security Administration

Contracting Officer's Certification:

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

Kim L. Carr Contracting Officer Office of Procurement Services