JA_Exception_to_Fair_Opportunity_2019-115.pdf

J&A 2019-115

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Orders under Multiple Award Contracts I Fair Opportunity - FAR 16.505

Requisition Number: 40000-19-0070 and 47000-19- Contract/Order Number: SECHQ114F0200/P00028 Procurement Title: National Examination Program Systems Contracting Office: Office of Acquisitions Estimated Value: $6,373,804.80 Authority: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Number: 2019-115

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Competition Advocate, hereby approve this exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Acquisitions 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549

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

This task order provides SEC Division of Enforcement (ENF), Office of Credit Ratings (OCR), and Center for Risk and Qualitative Analytics (CRQA) with eDiscovery data loading, conversion, and reporting support services, including: (1) Project tracking and control, (2) Database creation, (3) Project requirements analysis and design, (4) Database loading, updating, and maintenance, (5) Documentation, (6) Project coordination, and (7) program improvement and optimization.

This justification is to award a follow-on task order to Amyx, Inc. as an exception to fair opportunity. The task order will be awarded for the period ending September 30, 2020.

This award is required to ensure that ENF, CRQA, and OCR continue to receive the required specialized services in the short-term, while a broader Litigation Support Electronic Discovery (LSED) program that will encompass these services for a greater number of agency offices and divisions is competed in the coming year.

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

The SEC requires continuing services for data and document conversion/migration;

litigation support database loading; Electronic File Processing (EFP) or Electronic Document Discovery (EDD); archiving and deleting cases from Recommind;

analytical support for the Division of Enforcement and its Center for Risk and Quantitative Analytics (CRQA); and analytical support for the Office of Credit Ratings (OCR). These services are central to the SEC’s ability to perform mission-critical activities related to enforcing the securities laws and protecting investors, and the contractor providing the services must be capable of performing under significant time pressure. To effectively and efficiently perform, the contractor must have significant knowledge and understanding of the internal workflows and procedures related to litigation support databases, EFP and/or EDD, use of Recommind, and the associated analytical support within ENF, CRQA, and OCR.

POP: 10/01/2019 – 09/30/2020

Division Resources Estimate

OCR

SME Financial Analyst

$656,563.20 Senior Comp Sys Analyst

ENF

Junior Manager

$4,518,816.00 Junior Auditor Journeyman Comp Sys Analyst

CRQA

Journeyman Comp Sys Analyst

$1,198,425.60 Senior Manager SME Financial Analyst

TOTAL: $6,373,804.80

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):

(a) Exception to Fair Opportunity:

Per FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), this order will be awarded to Amyx on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an existing

Amyx order already issued under the contract. All awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

(b) Supporting Rationale:

It is currently anticipated that a new procurement action for continued support services will be conducted for award by September 2020, which is the end of the new performance period provided for under this justification. The new procurement is expected to encompass the existing requirement, but also consolidate similar requirements for additional SEC offices and divisions. It would be premature to transition to a new, agency-wide consolidated contract for these services at this time, as divisions and offices outside of ENF, CRQA, and OCR currently receive a set of overlapping services under contracts set to expire in the coming year. Additional time is required to develop the agency-wide requirements and to provide an opportunity for internal business processes and workflows from the various offices and divisions to come into alignment.

While the new program requirements are being finalized, ENF, CRQA, and OCR continue to require support until a new contract is put in place. Having a different contractor take over this important work for ENF, CRQA, and OCR for a relatively short period presents undue risks and cost. The new contractor would need significant time to transition and obtain the knowledge the current contractor already has. It is more cost effective, efficient and reduces risk to continue to use the current contractor, Amyx, until the new contract can be put in place. During this time it is imperative that a contractor experienced with the business needs as well as workflows and processes continues to provide the same support currently being provided. It is expected that the subsequent requirement will be awarded with full and open competition under a new contract vehicle. The use of the incumbent vendor for this bridge period is logical because the incumbent vendor will be performing the same scope of work it currently performs and is the only vendor able to continue that work efficiently and without an increase in performance risk.

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

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable, as the anticipated costs of the new contract will be substantially the same as the costs currently being incurred for services which are the same or similar.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

This action is an interim solution until such time when the new, broader contract can be put in place that will consolidate needed services on an agency-wide basis. SEC employees are not equipped to handle the workload, even on a temporary basis. A break in support services would cause significant negative impact on the SEC's mission.

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.

(a) Procurement History:

SECHQ114F0200 was competitively awarded to Amyx on September 23, 2014 for a period of performance of one year with four (4) one-year option periods and one three-month extension period through September 30, 2019. Seven (7) offers were received, and award was made in the lifecycle amount of $57,651,282.83.

(b) Subsequent Acquisitions:

The SEC intends to use competitive procedures for the future support needed at the completion of this task order given that there will be more certainty regarding the new support.