47QFPA18F0049 - LSJ_redacted.pdf

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) makes this Exception to Fair Opportunity pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) and in accordance with the prescribed format at 16.505 (b)(2)(ii)(B).

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Assisted Acquisition Service (AAS)

50 United Nations Plaza, 2nd Floor North San Francisco, CA 94102

REQUIRING AGENCY:

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS), Region 9

Acting in support of:

Office of Naval Research (ONR) 875 N. Randolph St., Arlington, VA

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

This Exception to Fair Opportunity is made against task order 47QFPA18F0049 under GSA Alliant contract GS00Q09BGD0019 for the Data and Analytics (D&A), Visualization, Business Intelligence, and Data Science (AVBIDS) program for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). This task order was awarded to Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (BAH) on August 31, 2018 and included a 12 month Base period plus four (4) 12 month Options. The overall period of performance is from September 1, 2018, through August 31, 2023. The task order included FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services; however, neither the pricing for FAR 52.217-8 (nor the calculation instructions) were included in the solicitation proposal instructions to offerors and they were not required as part of the proposal submission. Therefore, the extension price was not included in the offerors submissions nor was it evaluated at the time of award.

The primary purpose of this action is to incorporate the value of the FAR 52.217-8 clause into the task order and evaluate its pricing through this justification. This clause is used when “the Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months.” The Government’s intent is to exercise the option available with FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services for 6 months in accordance with the clause.

The contract type for this task order is Labor Hour (LH), with a Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) structure of Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF); (CLIN X001), Labor; (CLIN X002), Surge Support Not-To-Exceed (NTE) ceiling Labor Hour (LH); (CLIN X003), Other Direct Costs NTE ceiling; (CLIN X004), Travel NTE ceiling and (CLIN X005), Contract Access Fee.

3. Description of the supplies/services required (including the estimated value)

The objective of this requirement is the procurement of IT support services for established data and analytics program efforts that include, but are not limited to, subject matter expertise in the principals, process, methodologies, practical application, and expert working knowledge of complex data provisioning, data analysis, and data science activities. The support includes: data engineering, cloud and distributed computing, data and database management, end user interface and experience, data architecture, data science, data analytics, statistics, bibliometric, econometric, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data visualization, mission-focused analytic products, science & technology (S&T)-focused data science products, and stakeholder and customer user interfaces and experience.

Mission focused products include end-state solution capabilities that are (a) deployed and operational, or

(b) in design, development, and deployment status. Efforts and products include the following:

● Design, development, and deployment of the Data Analytics Portal

● Enhancement and sustainment of Enterprise performance monitoring through the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Dashboard and associated Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

● Design, development, build, enhancement, and operational sustainment of foundational data processing and provisioning capabilities

● Design, development, deployment, enhancement, and operational sustainment, of S&T Portfolio decision support capabilities (United States Marine Corps or USMC Valuation Model, Future Naval Capability (FNC) Value Model, (INP) Innovative Naval Prototype Value Model, Tech Maturation and Risk Readiness / Technical Readiness Level (TMRR / TRL), and new complex decision modeling

● Design, development, deployment, and adoption of a data and analytics cloud solution

● Transition from Navy Data Platform (PaaS capability supporting data processes and capabilities) (NDP) to Advana Jupiter capabilities as part of data and analytics solution

● Design, development, deployment, and operational sustainment of data and analytic User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX)

● Design, development, deployment, and operational sustainment of advanced data analytic and science products supporting S&T portfolio stakeholders

● Management of all efforts falling under the data and analytics purview.

The extension of this task order will ensure ONR’s continued support for the operations of Navy

AVBIDS.

The total period of performance of the task order extension is six (6) months, from September 1, 2023, through March 1, 2024. The total estimated value of the 6-month extension is $2,503,166.70. This amount is based on one half of the option term four of price for CLIN 4001 - CLIN 4005. A breakdown of the estimate is provided below:

CLIN DESCRIPTION Price (12 months)

4001 Labor $2,874,270.21

4002 Surge Support $574,795.20

4003 NTE ODC $1,500,000.00

4004 NTE Travel $20,000.00

4005 Contract Access Fee (CAF) $37,267.99

Total Option Year Four $5,006,333.40

CLIN DESCRIPTION Price (Extension Period)

5001 Labor $1,437,135.11

5002 Surge Support $287,397.60

5003 NTE ODC $750,000.00

5003 NTE Travel $10,000.00

5004 Contract Access Fee (CAF) $18,634.00

Total Extension of Services (½ of OY4)

$2,503,166.70

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A)) 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.

Statutory Authority The action is to be conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.5—Indefinite-Delivery Contracts, in accordance with the Exceptions to the fair opportunity procedure 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) – The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

Supporting Rationale

GSA AAS R9 facilitated the transition of the follow-on requirement to GSA AAS Region 11 (R11), due to a change in prioritization of resources and the fact the requirement does not fall within the R9’s area of responsibility. R11 agreed they could support the follow-on requirement. On April 5, 2023 , R11 confirmed the need for R9 to exercise the -8 six month extension to ensure there is no break in service of this critical requirement during the follow-on acquisition conducted by R11.

The Region 11 AAS contracting team is currently drafting the Market Research Report. The anticipated award date of the recompete is projected for February 23, 2024. This extension will help facilitate ample acquisition lead-time to recompete the requirement. The D&A program provides critical mission, business, research, monitoring, and decision information function support, across Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) budget activities. A lapse in coverage would be detrimental, as it would create exceptional vulnerabilities to both operational and under development analytics, dashboards, business intelligence, and data science products supporting senior leadership to operational function end users. Both daily mission operations and strategic decision making associated with S&T management of the Future Naval Capability (FNC), Innovative Naval Prototype (INP), Technical Candidate (TC), Manufacturing Technology (ManTech), and Basic and Applied Research (BAR) portfolios will be impacted. The failure to ensure uninterrupted operations of the Data and Analytics program could jeopardize the critical decision information and efficient operational activities that support the United States Navy research and development industrial base, with negative impact on realization of future naval capabilities.

Contractor Qualifications

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (BAH) is the incumbent contractor performing all services in accordance with the requirements of the Performance Work Statement (PWS). BAH has demonstrated their understanding of Navy ABVIDS support over the last five years of supporting the ONR Chief Information Officer (CIO). In addition, BAH’s collective Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) performance ratings have been above “Satisfactory”, with the most recent 31 August 2021 to 31 August 2022 CPAR having all either “Very Good” or “Exceptional” ratings , which leaves no doubt that they are qualified and will continue to perform the requirements at an above satisfactory level with significant benefits to the Government. The next CPAR report will cover from 01 September 2022 to 31 August 2023 and is currently being processed, with ratings expected to be above “Satisfactory” once more.

Consequently, BAH is the only source that can provide this short-term procurement solution to eliminate a break in service and provide continuity of service through the transition to another contract.

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

In accordance with the requirements for FAR clause 52.217-8, the price for any extensions will be at half of the current term’s price. GSA has already determined BAH’s current rates to be fair and reasonable at the time of order placement off the GSA Alliant contract # GS00Q09BGD0019 and the time of exercising Option Term 4, which represented the best price available. Consequently, one half of the Option Term 4 price is also considered fair and reasonable and is determined to be in the Government’s best interest.

There have been no changes in requirement since the exercise of this Option Term 4..

6. Description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted

Due to this justification supporting an extension under FAR clause 52.217-8, no additional market research was conducted for this action, as a modification for the extension will be issued to the incumbent contractor for this task order based on the rationale described herein.

For the long-term solution, a competitive follow-on acquisition is in process with GSA Region 11.

Market research for the follow-on requirement is being conducted to identify suitable sources and determine the level of competition expected.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification

None

8. Statement of action to remove barriers to competition that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

This exception to fair opportunity action serves only as an interim solution to provide the continuity of mission critical services until the new procurement can be awarded. The performance period is limited to a six-month period of performance and will ensure continued support with no break in service while the competitive, long-term contract for continued support is awarded.

9. Client Agency Representation and Technical Certification

I hereby certify that the technical facts and representation under my cognizance which are in this justification document, and which form a basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Mark Meier Procurement Analyst US Navy Office of Naval Research

10. GSA Project Manager’s Certification I hereby certify that the facts and representation under my cognizance which are included in this justification document, and which form a basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Patrick Galamay GSA Program Manager Assisted Acquisition Services - Region 9 U.S. General Services Administration

11. Contracting Officer's Certification I hereby certify that the facts and representation under my cognizance which are included in this justification document, and which form a basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Rebecca Longo Senior Contracting Officer/Team Lead Assisted Acquisition Services – Region 9 U.S. General Services Administration

12. Reviews and Approvals

REVIEWED BY:

Kelly M. Griego Lead Program Manager Assisted Acquisition Services – Region 9 U.S. General Services Administration

REVIEWED BY:

Nathan Dolezal Group Manager (9FAC) Assisted Acquisition Services – Region 9 U.S. General Services Administration

APPROVED BY:

I have reviewed this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this justification does not exceed $13.5M, this review serves as approval.

Jacqueline Sullo Competition Advocate Acquisition Oversight Division U.S. General Services Administration