Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration IT Acquisition Center of Excellence

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Veritium Ingenuity LLC Contract #693JK420D500001

The Department of Transportation (DOT) makes this Justification pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.103 and in the format of FAR 6.104-1.

(1) Identification of the agency and the contracting activity:

Program Office:

DOT, Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) Office of the Chief Digital and Information Officer (OCDIO) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590

Contracting Activity:

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) IT Acquisition Center of Excellence (ACE) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

The OCDIO has a need to modify the ceiling for Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract Number 693JK420D500001 awarded to Veritium Ingenuity LLC, which was awarded as a small business set-aside. This requirement assists DOT with its strategic goal of organizational excellence by providing support to the OCDIO in several cross-functional business areas such as identifying savings and cost avoidance while optimizing IT administration and supporting efficient IT applications that support the DOT Common Operating Environment (COE) at all DOT locations. It also includes leading all efforts for program/business process and integration support of all changes to the DOT infrastructure, end user support, asset management, and telecommunications.

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

The work is performed at the DOT Headquarters supporting all DOT locations to provide organizational support to the OCDIO in several cross-functional business areas that support the Common Operating Environment (COE). It also includes leading all efforts for process and integration support of all changes to the DOT infrastructure. The Contractor relies on the Service Management System (i.e., Remedy/ServiceNow and/or other products), to support all task areas, as well as established work processes and workflows which will require consistent and strict adherence to OCDIO established work processes and collaboration with OCDIO vendor partners responsible for the DOT infrastructure, end user support, asset management, and telecommunications support.

The purpose of this modification to Contract Number 693JK420D500001 is to increase the ceiling by $7,000,000. Contributing factors to the ceiling increase request include:

• Projected increases in Headquarters staff from return-to-office (RTO) and new hires;

• The 1DOT consolidation, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) transition to DOT Headquarters;

• Increased use of Program and Business Integration support services, Converting Labor Hour (LH) order into Firm Fixed Price (FFP) orders to comply with the Executive order, Working Capital Fund (WCF) services and infrastructure support costing more than initially estimated in 2020 before the contract was awarded;

• An unforeseen increase in the number of projects, software, and assets that entered the COE; and

• An increase with the number of WCF order requests that were not anticipated before the contract was in place

The proposed modification will increase the contract ceiling from $50,000,000.00 to $57,000,000.00. No funding will be obligated directly on this Contract; all funding will be obligated at the task order level.

(4) An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.103-1:

Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(5) A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires using the authority cited:

IDIQ Contract 693JK420D500001 was awarded as a competitive small business set-aside.

Issuing a new follow-on task order directly under this existing single-award IDIQ contract structure ensures seamless operational continuity and execution without interruption instead of issuance of a new contract. The DOT, through OCDIO, is currently executing a rapid, strategic transition toward a fully consolidated and centralized enterprise digital destination.

To safeguard critical operations during this ongoing transition and time constraint, it is essential to extend the IDIQ ceiling to allow continued services from this contractor to sustain momentum, preserve deep legacy knowledge, ensure strict adherence to service timelines, and avoid any costly disruption to ongoing departmental initiatives.

Furthermore, the DOT has already established a significant operational investment in the Business and Integrated Support Services (BIS) framework. The BIS framework delivers essential program and project management support across the entire DOT enterprise, including OCDIO leadership, Operating Administrations (OAs), and administrative offices through this IDIQ. These activities directly advance compliance with the statutory mandates of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and uphold Federal policies governing the strategic management, governance, and executive oversight of IT, Internet of Things (IoT) technology, Operational Technology (OT), and hybrid technology environments on behalf of the Secretary, as mandated by OMB Circulars A-123 and A-130.

Specifically, these comprehensive requirements encompass crucial support and service transfer functions across multiple enterprise domains, including: customer and strategic business relationship management; internal and external communications support; hardware and software IT asset management; configuration management (CM); test lab management;

release management; enterprise data management; and process quality assurance which are all designed to guarantee the consistent quality delivery of contract support services across the Department.

Veritium is the only responsible source that can continue to provide services, including those described above and others within the scope of the original IDIQ because they have the requisite background knowledge and access to provide uninterrupted service in the time frame required.

(6) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by part 5 and, if not, which exception under part 5 applies:

A notice was not issued as this modification is for the existing requirement support, increasing the total value of the IDIQ in compliance with FAR 5.101(b)(2) by using other than full and open competition.

(7) A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

All labor rates under the IDIQ are unchanged from the rates determined to be fair and reasonable at contract award. Moreover, a price analysis will be conducted by the Contracting Officer at the order level to confirm fair and reasonable pricing prior to the placement of the order.

(8) Market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was not conducted for this increase that will provide continuity of operations while the contract is recompeted. Acquisition planning and market research are in process to recompete this contract.

(9) Any Other Facts Supporting Using Other Than Full and Open Competition:

Not applicable.

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

The following contractors sent email requests expressing their interest in the recompete for