JA_-_Exception_to_Fair_Opportunity_FA1-2_FINAL_FBO.pdf

J&A Under FAR 16.505(b)(2) - Exception to Fair Opportunity

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

a. Federal agency and contracting activity. HHS. Department of Health and Human Services/Program Support Center/Acquisition Management Services

b. Requiring Activity. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the Office of Information Technology and Infrastructure Operations (ITIO)

c. Requiring Activity Point of Contact (POC) information.

[Redacted]

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

Acquisition purpose and objectives. The nature of this action is to award a 6 month bridge contract. The additional period of performance will be Time and Material & Firm Fixed Price. Contract HHSP23320095401JI/HHSP2337001T was awarded to Lockheed Martin on October 01, 2009 with base period of 3 years and four, one year option periods. The POP for the current contract/task order extension ends March 31, 2017. The proposed period of performance for this bridge extension is from 4/01/2017-09/30/2017. This extension will ensure continued support while the follow on contracts are in the process of being competed and awarded and allow for an orderly task order transition.

The bridge contract extension will require an increase to the contract ceiling of [Redacted].

a. Specify any project background that is important to understanding the acquisition and the need it will satisfy. ITIO is responsible for providing a reliable, cost effective, scalable and flexible enterprise computing platform that supports and enhances customer IT needs and capabilities from requirements gathering through design, development, testing, and implementation. ITIO currently manages multiple IT support services contracts for HHS Staff Division (StaffDiv) and small Operating Division (OpDiv) customers. Many of these contracts, which were initially awarded by PSC in 2009 under an Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle, are nearing the end of their periods of performance (PoP).

Due to the language contained in the original IDIQ, the vehicle expires on September 30, 2017, and cannot be extended beyond that date.

To ensure the continuity and availability of the critical IT services that ITIO currently provides to HHS customers, the NGITS Acquisition Project was authorized by the HHS OCIO under the direction of ITIO to develop and execute a full life-cycle acquisition strategy (with associated acquisition plans and solicitation packages) to enable HHS to award performance-based follow-on contracts no later than September 30, 2017, to replace the expiring IDIQ vehicle.

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

a. Project title. Function Area 1 (FA 1) Seat Management and Function Area 2 (FA 2) Infrastructure & E-Mail Management Support Extension

b. Project description. Continuity of services is required to support the ITIO and its Mission Partners for critical IT services. In performance of this effort, the contractor will improve organizational performance through enhanced end-user service and satisfaction, response time, and overall technical service delivery. Provide a high-quality computing platform that is reliable, competitively priced, and responsive to customer and departmental needs. Acquire centralized IT services and products that will support HHS customers’ business requirements and provide transparency to customer costs. Provide high customer satisfaction of the End User community and its management based on the quality of services and products provided, and on responsiveness of its contractor (ITO and its Contractor support) to incidents and problems as well as to emerging needs. Provide a secure, reliable, available network infrastructure providing high-throughput, “dial- tone” like service. Provide a stable, reliable, and secure Email platform able to meet dynamic End User performance and availability requirements. Provide responsive End User desktop support providing choice of desktop and productivity assets and easy-to-use tools for their provision and management. Provide timely and informative data and communications regarding the operational state of the environment and critical systems, systems outages, and other incidents and problems affecting customer satisfaction Provide a timely and accurate invoicing and financial status information providing the Government needed visibility into its financial position and accurate data for chargeback; and Provide consistent, cost-effective performance meeting or exceeding SLAs, translating outcomes into customer benefits and increased satisfaction. Detailed descriptions of services are outlined in the applicable Statement of Objectives (SOO) per requirement.

Specifically, the contract/task order provides the following services:

• Engineering and operational activities in support of HHS ITIO’s information technology seat, infrastructure and email environment.

The Contractor shall perform all activities, as listed and required, in the contract per the Seat Management (SOO C-2), Infrastructure Management (SOO C-3), Email Management (SOO C-4), Cross-Functional Delivery Management (SOO C-7) and the contract PWS.

• The Contractor shall provide all human resources, processes, tools and procedures and ultimately, all technical resources (hardware and network/server management software) to establish an integrated IT infrastructure support capability.

Updated December 2015

• Except where specifically noted, the Contractor should assume “full scope of support” as related to the End User desktop environment, networking and connectivity and enterprise server’s environments. The Government does not intend to supplement the Contractor’s technical performance associated with the services under this Task Order.

• Program Management and Oversight, Performance Management, and Security Management

• Requirement type.

Research & development (R&D) R & D support services Support services (non-R&D) Supplies/equipment X Information technology (IT) Construction Architect-engineer (A & E) services Design-build Other (specify): ____________________

• Proposed contract/order type.

Firm-fixed-price X Other fixed-price (specify, e.g., fixed-price award-fee, fixed-price incentive-fee): Fixed-price incentive fee Cost-plus-fixed-fee Other cost reimbursement (specify, e.g., cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee): ___________ X Time and materials Other (specify): ___________

• Acquisition identification number. OS195464

c. Total estimated dollar value and performance/delivery period.

The proposed period of performance for this bridge task is from 4/01/2017-09/30/2017. The bridge contract will require an increase to the contract ceiling of [Redacted]. The total estimated dollar value of the acquisition, inclusive of options, and the total performance/delivery period.

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b) (2)) and the supporting rationale explaining that the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

a. Exception to Fair Opportunity.

The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays [see FAR 16.505(b) (2) (i) (A)].

Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized [see FAR 16.505(b) (2) (i) (B)].

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 [see FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)].

It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee [see FAR 16.505(b) (2) (i) (D)].

For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source [see FAR 16.505(b) (2) (i) (E)].

Order includes items peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer).

A brand-name item, even if available on more than one contract, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer [see 16.505(a) (4) (i)].

b. Supporting rationale of the nature of the acquisition that necessitates the exception to fair opportunity.

Name and address of the proposed contractor(s).

LOCKHEED MARTIN SERVICES INC 114783

700 N FREDERICK AVE

GAITHERSBURG MD 20879-3328

The current ITIO contract HHSP23320095401JI/HHSP2337001T was competed under full and open competition and awarded October 01, 2009. The final optional extension of this contract will expire March 31, 2017. Due to the language contained in the original IDIQ, the vehicle expires on September 30, 2017, and cannot be extended beyond that date.

The overarching mission of the ITIO is to provide internal HHS customers https://www.acquisition.gov/far/current/html/Subpart%2016_5.html%23wp1095799 with the IT infrastructure, equipment, and services needed to support their missions. The recompeted NGITS Acquisition will ensure the availability and continuity of the current IT support services beyond September 30, 2017, thereby preventing unnecessary interruption to ITIO customers.

The intended outcomes of the NGITS Acquisition Project and the subsequent NGITS contract awards include:

1) A comprehensive acquisition package leading to future contract awards that empower OCIO managers to have greater flexibility and agility to address new policies and emerging technologies to support their customers;

2) Enhanced and cost-effective IT service offerings to OCIO’s customers;

3) Improved IT service delivery to OCIO’s customers; and

4) Improved management and oversight of contract performance.

The beneficiaries of the services provided under the NGITS Acquisition Project include the Office of the Secretary, OpDiv, and StaffDiv customers who rely on ITIO for IT services and support for their missions, as well as ITIO senior managers, who will oversee the technical delivery of the future NGITS contracts.

The contract’s services which provide mission support to the ITIO and its Mission Partners must be continued and are being recompeted. ongoing but will not be completed by the March 31, 2017. The Function Area 1 (FA 1) Seat Management and Function Area 2 (FA 2) Infrastructure & E- Mail Management Support Extension will provide as-is continuation of mission-critical services until such time as the new vehicles are awarded and transition services are completed.

The IT services being provided under the existing task order are highly complex. These services are comprised of help desk, desk side, infrastructure, E-Mail As A Service (EAAS), My Workplace, network printer and security support such as Computer Network Defense (CND) service, which includes protection, monitoring, analysis, detection, and response to unauthorized activity within HHS Office of the Secretary (OS) information systems and computer networks.

While these services can be provided by other sources, there are no sources that can quickly provide the services required during the short-term bridge period since the IT services to be provided are highly complex in manner in terms of integration and associated activities.

All of these service and CND support are provided in coordination with the HHS Computer Security Incident Response Center (CSIRC) and OPDIV Information System Security Officers (ISSOs).

Another contractor to quickly provide this same level of service and quality will result in an interruption of services while the competitive acquisition is being conducted. The current contractor is the only source that can provide the level of quality required during the short term of the bridge contract.

HHS requires that a contractor provide a level of quality that will result in no interruption of services while the competitive acquisition is being conducted. The current contractor is the only source that can provide the level of quality required during the short term of the bridge contract.

Additionally, the current FA 1 and FA 2 incumbent, is currently providing the services and given the short timeframe, the incumbent can provide these services without the duplication of costs and undue risk to the Government while awaiting transition to the follow-on contracts. ITIO provides services to all STAFFDIVs and several of the OPDIVs, including the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). ITIO serves approximately 11,000 end user customers. The incumbent an continue to perform the continuity of IT mission-critical support services until the ongoing task order source selections can be completed and task orders awarded. Although other commercial entities can provide comparable capabilities but none of them can reasonably replace/continue the required services on March 31, 2017 without risk of a substantial break in service/support to the ITIO and its Mission Partners. No other contractor would be able to transition the existing network and operations by April 01, 2017 due to network management systems and its integration into the existing network.

The minimum Government requirement is to operate and maintain the current FA 1 and FA 2 contract/task order in its as-is state to provide all services currently being provided by until the follow-on acquisitions have been awarded and transitioned.

5. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable. We will evaluate in accordance with FAR 15.404-1 by performing a price analysis, which will include comparing the proposed rates to the current rates of HHSP23320095401JI/HHSP2337001T. It is anticipated that the contractor will provide prices consistent with those stated in the IDIQ contract.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification. This is a bridge task order to ensure continued support until the follow-on vehicles are awarded and services transitioned.

7. 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. For the new requirements, an effort was made to ensure competition- the NGITS Team researched and reviewed numerous current Government contract vehicles to determine the best vehicle.

8. Program office certification.

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.

[Redacted]

9. Contracting Officer Certification.

This is to certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

10. Competition Advocate and Head of the Procuring Activity approval. .