P00026_47QMCB22F0003_LSJ_Redacted_2024-11-26.pdf

Federal Acquisition Service

Limited Sources Justification

FAR 8.405-6

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity

This requirement is administered by the General Services Administration (GSA) for procurement of travel consulting services.

Contracting Activity:

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Travel Acquisition Support Branch (QMACB) 1800 F Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Hub 3400 Washington, D.C. 20405

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

The purpose of this limited sources justification is to support the award of additional work of the same nature to Travel Tech Consulting, Inc. (Travel Tech) for continued support in providing expert travel consulting services. The GSA originally awarded task order 47QMCB22F0003 on December 13, 2021, to Travel Tech with a period of performance from December 13, 2021, to September 30, 2026, to provide expert travel consulting services to the GSA.

The work added through this bilateral modification is for an additional 1,648 hours. There are no changes to the period of performance and all other terms and conditions of the current task order will remain the same. An increase to the number of hours and additional effort is to support the pre-deployment planning and early deployment phase of the ETSNext acquisition.

The ETSNext acquisition has an anticipated award date of November 25, 2024, and the GSA has an immediate need for consulting support in the early stages of implementation. This early stage includes kick-off and early transition planning meetings with IOC agencies where corporate travel experts provide critical knowledge for TMC and OBT integration, profile management, and TMC transition risk mitigation. There are several planning deliverables owed by the ETSNext vendor that will need expert reviews, or in the event of a protest provide supporting research.

3. A complete description of the supplies and/or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including an estimated value).

The required expertise for the consulting services provided under this task order are highly specialized. To support the ETSNext award over the next few months, the contractor must continue providing Subject Matter Expert (SME) support activities including:

● Review ETSNext pre-deployment releases and related service offerings. Document findings and recommendations for configuration standards.

● Work with ETSNext PMO and ETSNext vendor(s) to ensure successful implementation of automated quality control services, and other TMC integration concerns.

● Provide advisory support to the Center for Travel team members on TMC, GDS, and related technology Federal market impacts and optimizing distribution capabilities for early phase configuration planning

● Provide SME ETSNext transition support to address TMC acquisition and transition activities and performance issues.

● Support the U.S. Department of State review of current TMC support (current contracts, scope, specifications) and analyze potential requirements for support in preparation for ETSNext transition planning

It is imperative that these services continue with the incumbent contractor. Awarding to any source other than the incumbent contractor will jeopardize the continued performance and support of the ETSNext award and implementation. At this time, acquiring these services through award to any other contractor would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements for support in the ETSNext implementation. The incumbent has successfully provided these services to date and any lapse of service will cause serious disruption to GSA’s ability to support this critical requirement. The incumbent contractor has successfully provided these services to date and is the only contractor that can meet the requirement without significant disruption and delays. The estimated value for this action is

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies and services required at the level of quantity required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

Due to the circumstances noted above, it is imperative that SME Support for pre-deployment planning and early deployment phase for ETSNext are continued with the incumbent contractor.

It is not feasible to complete a transition of services from the incumbent contractor to a successor contractor prior to the need for this support with the anticipated award date of ETSNext currently November 25, 2024. The current contractor has performed the required services since 2021 and has obtained skilled staff with detailed knowledge of the ETSNext acquisition that cannot be replaced without a substantial delay. The current contractor has also been privy to source selection sensitive information through a Non-Disclosure Agreement and selecting a new contractor at this time would result in critical delays in obtaining additional non-disclosure agreements and providing the level of sensitive information possessed by the current contractor.

Therefore, in accordance with FAR 8.405.6 (a)(1)(i)(B), Only one source is capable of providing the supplies and services required at the level of quantity required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

5. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The CO has determined that the expected outcome of this acquisition, in the Government’s estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the requirement and therefore the best value to the Government consistent with FAR 8.404(d), based on all factors considered above.

IAW FAR 8.404(d), GSA has already determined that prices are fair and reasonable. Pricing is in accordance with the base contract award and awarded task order. The previous awarding CO has already determined the pricing to be fair and reasonable. This action does not change the currently awarded pricing but adds additional hours for support of the ETSNext effort.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders, and the results of the research, or a statement why market research was not conducted.

Additional market research was not conducted for this action. Due to the highly specialized service that the incumbent contractor has, the CO has determined the current contractor is the only contractor capable of performing this expert work in the time frame (December 2024 - January 2025) that is required per the existing task order.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited source justification

The work added to this task order is of the exact nature to the work that was originally awarded.

The current contractor is the only source capable of completing the additional hours required for this work due to their experience currently performing the required services supporting the ETSNext program. The current contractor has a team of highly qualified subject matter experts that are privy to contract information for the ETSNext source selection process.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

The original task order award was a competitively awarded task order off the Multiple Award Schedule. GSA does not intend to continue awarding limited sources actions and this will be done on a case-by-case basis where the contracting officer closely considers the options. The

GSA is currently in the acquisition planning process for a new requirement that will provide ETSNext corporate travel and expense consulting support. The Government anticipates soliciting for this new requirement in early December.

9. Certifications and Approvals

Requisitioner: (Federal Employee)

I hereby certify and accept the responsibility that any and all supporting data provided above or used to justify the above requested limited source procurement (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs, schedule requirements, and/or other rationale for other than full and open competition) is accurate and complete to the best of my personal knowledge and belief.

Signature Date

Contracting Officer:

I certify and approve that the information contained in this Limited Source Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature Date