21F0122 JEFO_Redacted.pdf

www.uscis.gov

Rev: 10/13/2023

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity, Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, SPEED Extension/Customer Value Partners

REFERENCE: Justification Log Number: FY25-0010 and PR Number: OIT256005, OIT256007, OIT256010

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Office of Contracting, proposes to modify an existing task order on behalf of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) / Systems Delivery Division (SDD) pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2), Exceptions to the fair opportunity process.

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

This action seeks approval for a sole source extension to Customer Value Partners, Inc (CVP) via modification to Task Order No. 70SBUR21F00000122 to continue the system maintenance and security work currently within the technical scope being performed. The current task order was competitively awarded in June 2021 through a small business set aside solicitation under the CIO- SP3 Small Business Government-Wide Acquisition Contract.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The SPEED Performance Work Statement (PWS) details DevSecOps services to operate and maintain major USCIS systems. The Government requires these services for 6 months, with one three-month base and three one-month options, and a total performance period from 1/1/2025 through 6/30/2025. The total estimated price for this performance period is

This justification seeks approval to continue the following work unique to 70SBUR21F00000122 on Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS):

1. Continue investigation for Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) on an internal tool which was mandated for modernization within the Information Security Division (ISD).

Work is required to be completed by May 2025.

2. Continue the shift for the connection between AT&T ECX system and CSOL API IVR, estimated to be completed in Q2 of FY25.

3. Continue to implement Director priority for processing time page updates based on public feedback, completed ongoingly through Q3 of FY25.

4. Continue to patch high security vulnerabilities for SRMT, COA, CSOL, and eRequest in accordance with the Security Assessment Report findings, slated to be completed in Q3 of

FY25.

5. Finish deployment for individual application zero downtime initiative, slated to be completed in Q2 of FY25.

JEFO, Exceeding the SAT, SPEED - CVP Justification Log Number: FY25-0010

6. Finish eRequest Accommodation’s modernization, slated to be completed in February 2025.

4. Statutory exception and supporting rationale.

The applicable statutory FAR citation and basis for using an exception to fair opportunity process is:

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.

Rationale:

As outlined in the PWS, the work currently being performed is agile development on various public facing and internal systems, not limited to myUSCIS, Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS), BenefitsHub Production Support, and various networks connecting immigration systems for different directorates.

The scope of the current order extends the entire agile process, starting with partnering with the program office to establish user stories and acceptance criteria from communicated priorities. The work extends through development and testing, presentation to product owners, code release, and follow up documentation. It also includes service desk support to process service tickets and system administrators to monitor the health of the CRIS and BenefitsHub systems and the network which connects them. CVP is continuing to prioritize security patches on in progress system migrations and implementations and support production within multi-vendor environments. In sum, the work on SPEED – CVP is all encompassing of the entire process for the priorities listed in section 3 of this justification and provides ongoing support to priorities that have been established in the last 3 years to promote smooth transition and maintenance.

While the work is iterative in nature, as outlined in the PWS and in the agile development process, with emphasis on trial and constant improvement, the full benefit of a single initiative is not realized in the forms and priorities listed in section 3 of this justification until over the course of several deployments. As an example, the process for integrating the new AT&T ECX system on backend code is done via several iterations and deployments. Without complete code coverage, by ending the process preemptively, the Government will not only not receive full benefit of the change but will face difficulty implementing patches with different code assemblies. The PWS for this extension will remain identical to what is currently established under the order to promote efficiency in acquisition and to eliminate complication of contractor performance. The work to be completed under this extension, then, is within the technical scope. Priorities, user story plans, and release schedules are already established and preparing to be implemented in Q2 and Q3 of FY25 for the next iteration of select SPEED work. The work will continue to improve upon current priorities, constantly reinforcing and improving the current capabilities of the systems outlined to service the immigrant and push necessary information to the stakeholder. The work will ensure that security vulnerabilities which arise are patched as is the current nature of iterative releases. It will also ensure that enhancements made to the systems outlined and the connective network are maintained and improved such that they function efficiently and effectively to support the digital immigration process. While CVP has proved capable in providing stable services, the work to be completed under this extension will not include discovery work to implement new initiatives. Rather, this work will remain focused on the migration and security vulnerabilities within several systems, as well as improving electronic features of current forms in accordance with current FY25 agency goals.

Second, this order is in the interest of economy and efficiency. In summary of the established Acceptable Quality Levels and PWS, the contractor is required to release code on a weekly basis, release code without error, collaborate and cooperate with other SPEED contractors, and understand the work well enough to being innovative in problem solving and efficient in resource use. The Government does not anticipate recovery of competition costs for this short extension as the best value remains most achievable under the CVP order. The contractor remains capable of maintaining staffing and providing satisfactory services specified in the PWS without having to compromise performance standards that may otherwise be anticipated with a change in contractors to complete initiatives already in progress. Another major risk associated with staffing is the Agency’s Entrance On Duty timeline for new contractors is roughly 90 days. This, coupled with the requirement for transition to a new contractor at the end of the proposed performance period, would render the next 6-months as valueless in terms of development, testing and deployment progress.

The Government performed market research through November 2024 using techniques including surveying industry and Government experts and surveying similar requirements. The conclusions pertaining to economy and efficiency described above are supported by that market research.

Should this task order not be extended, the following initiatives would not be supported:

The Processing Times page available to immigrants who file electronically would not remain operational. Automation of processing time information has been a major initiative and benefit to the Government and has allowed officers to focus more on tasks that require critical thinking and given the immigrant better access to case information.

The migration to the AT&T ECX system would not be completed as security vulnerabilities would not be patched. This system is mid migration and without completion could cause widespread internal inoperability.

The eRequest accommodation, which is near completion and allows virtual and non-manual administrative changes to electronic files, would not be functional. The agency would have to continue dedicated thousands of man power hours to manually performing administrative changes, eliminating any benefit from the work and require officers spending hours working managing administrative updates.

The Security Vulnerabilities Report, which identified vulnerabilities in several major internal systems, would not receive action

5. 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 cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) for this work was based on two factors. One, three years of acquisition history for the SPEED procurement which shows that the vendor did not require additional funding to complete the requirement as outlined in the PWS. Two, that the original award was made on a competitive basis and determined to be a best value to the Government. The pricing for labor to complete this requirement is competitive such that it is readily available within the marketplace. The labor rates awarded on the IDIQ contract was determined fair and reasonable by the awarding Contracting Officer. Further, the discounted labor rates resulting from the SPEED competition were determined fair by the ordering Contracting Officer. The Government will use any price analysis technique(s) found within FAR 15.404-1(b) to evaluate the extension proposal and may conduct negotiations as necessary to ensure that the pricing provided is fair and reasonable..

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The recompete for this work has been competitively solicited and is scheduled to be awarded in February 2025 under the nomenclature Resources for InnoVation and Enterprise Readiness (RIVER). There is also a new requirement for myUSCIS which is scheduled to be awarded in March 2025 that has been competitively solicited as Rapid Application & Product Integration Delivery (RAPID). The Government has faced numerous delays in awarding the new contracts that further necessitates this sole-source extension. In the interest of economy and efficiency, the Government will continue to prioritize the competitive recompete award. The Government has determined that a non-competitive extension to the current award is the most efficient method to continue system maintenance and the current iteration of SPEED requirements under the CVP task order.

The Government initiated the integrated product team (IPT) meeting for the RAPID requirement in FY23 Q1. Following extensive market research and internal discussions, the first RAPID briefing was held in June of FY23. A closer look at competition requirements, the acquisition history of the requirements housed under SPEED, particularly myUSCIS, necessitated that the RAPID requirement be split into RAPID and RIVER, whereby only RIVER would be set aside for small business. The Government faced many iterations of the acquisition strategy, size and scope of the requirement, and ensuing estimate to complete due to a large number of stakeholders. The customer realized organizational benefit from code challenges for DevSecOps acquisitions and worked with OCON to revisit acquisitions strategy and the RAPID and RIVER, finalizing the acquisition plan in August 2024. The RIVER requirement services two customers and as such, there were several delays in building out a coding challenge. The above listed delays, combined with system delays outside of OCON and OIT, contributed to the current need for an exception to fair opportunity.

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 Government will continue to work expeditiously towards the competitive award of the SPEED recompete, solicited as RIVER under Request for Quotations (RFQ) Number

70SBUR24Q00000106, and new requirement for myUSCIS work, solicited as RAPID under RFQ Number 70SBUR24Q00000105.

8. USCIS intends to post this requirement on Sam.gov pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

9. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(9), I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Chris Wallace Date Chief, OIT/SDD

10. Contracting Officer Certification

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(8), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Monty Kurtz Date Contracting Officer

APPROVAL: Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(10), I hereby determine the circumstance identified in Section 4 applies to the order.

Alternate Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition