Attachment 4 U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) Exceeding the SAT – RFO 16.507-6

March 2026

Date: September 18, 2026 PR Number: 20153567

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition (OA), Information Technology Contracting Division (ITCD), on behalf of CBP’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Enterprise Cloud Services Directorate (ECSD), prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity.

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

CBP intends to award a firm, fixed-price (FFP) task order (TO) to include a twelve (12) month period of performance without considering other awardees under contract number 70B04C26R00000155 in accordance with RFO 16.507-6 and RFO 19.106-3 under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services Plus Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (OASIS+ SDVOSB), a General Services Administration (GSA) Multi-Agency Contract (MAC) for Enterprise Solutions support services.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need (including the estimated value and the period of performance).

This requirement is to provide all personnel, management, supervision, tools, materials, and other resources necessary to support the build-out, integration, and operation of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Infrastructure and Support Services (ISS) Operational Technology Operations Center (OTOC). This includes network operations, cybersecurity operations, helpdesk/call-center support, and the deployment and sustainment of the Watchtower Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform for operational technology (OT) assets. Sherpa 6, Inc. is able to seamlessly provide these services without a major transition-in period since Sherpa 6, Inc. developed the Watchtower platform, a Government Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) solution needed to enable secure, scalable, and automated management of tactical and OT devices. The estimated procurement value and the period of performance is 12 months from the date of contract award.

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and provide supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

____X____RFO 16.507-6(b)(2). Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

Rationale:

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) Exceeding the SAT – RFO 16.507-6

March 2026

Sherpa 6, Inc. is the only awardee capable of meeting CBP’s OTOC requirement because the requirement is centered on capabilities resulting from the deployment, integration, operation, and sustainment of the proprietary Sherpa 6 Watchtower platform. Watchtower is a Government Off-the-Shelf tactical Mobile Device Management/Unified Endpoint Management solution specifically designed to provision, secure, configure, monitor, and manage operational technology devices in disconnected, intermittently connected, low-bandwidth, and mission-critical environments. The OTOC requirement is not limited to utilization of a software tool; it requires integrated platform operations, network operations, cybersecurity operations, and helpdesk/call-center support necessary to maintain continuous operational capability for Watchtower-managed tactical and operational technology assets.

The required network operations, cybersecurity operations, and helpdesk/call-center support are directly tied to Watchtower platform sustainment and cannot be separated from the proprietary platform without creating unacceptable operational risk. These functions require platform-specific knowledge of Watchtower-managed device enrollment, provisioning, mission-specific configuration profiles, policy enforcement, telemetry, TAK-enabled device support, degraded connectivity impacts, platform integration points, and escalation procedures. The helpdesk/call-center function is not a generic ticket intake service. It must provide 24/7/365 operational support for Watchtower-enabled devices and must be capable of diagnosing, triaging, escalating, and resolving platform-specific issues affecting tactical device management and mission operations. Similarly, the network and cybersecurity operations functions must be able to interpret Watchtower platform telemetry, support operational visibility, coordinate response actions, and sustain secure device management under denied, degraded, intermittent, or limited connectivity conditions.

Because Watchtower is proprietary technology developed, owned, and maintained by Sherpa 6, Sherpa 6 is the only source with the authority, access, and technical capability to provide the Watchtower platform and the associated implementation, integration, operations, cybersecurity, network operations, helpdesk, troubleshooting, and sustainment services required for this effort.

Market research did not identify any authorized resellers, distributors, third-party providers, or alternative OASIS+ contract holders capable of providing Watchtower with these required services. Sherpa 6 is therefore the only provider capable of delivering the proprietary platform and the integrated operational support necessary to meet CBP’s OTOC requirements.

Commercial alternatives can address selected portions of the requirement for Watchtower capabilities, such as enterprise endpoint management, network monitoring, cybersecurity tooling, general helpdesk support, or application deployment. However, they do not provide the required integrated Watchtower capability and cannot serve as direct replacements for this requirement.

Commercial MDM/UEM platforms generally rely on routine connectivity to cloud or enterprise management infrastructure and are not optimized for tactical operational technology environments involving disconnected, intermittently connected, low-bandwidth, or mission-critical field operations. To approximate the required capability, the Government would have to acquire multiple commercial tools, establish new licensing arrangements, design and integrate a replacement architecture, complete cybersecurity authorization, develop custom tactical

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) Exceeding the SAT – RFO 16.507-6

March 2026 workflows, migrate or re-enroll devices, train users and administrators, and create new sustainment processes. These activities would add substantial cost, schedule delay, technical complexity, and operational disruption while still not providing the proprietary Watchtower platform required for the OTOC.

Awarding to another provider for the operational support functions would also require that provider to depend on Sherpa 6 for platform-specific information, troubleshooting, configuration support, escalation, and issue resolution. This would introduce additional handoffs, delay restoration of service during mission-impacting events, increase Government coordination burden, and reduce accountability for 24/7/365 operational performance. A generic network operations, cybersecurity operations, or helpdesk provider could document issues and route tickets, but it could not independently provide the Watchtower-specific support required to maintain continuous OTOC operational capability.

Accordingly, Sherpa 6, Inc. is the only source capable of meeting CBP’s minimum requirement because it is the sole provider of the proprietary Watchtower platform and the only identified source capable of providing the integrated implementation, network operations, cybersecurity operations, helpdesk/call-center support, troubleshooting, and sustainment services required to operate Watchtower in CBP’s tactical operational technology environment. No other source was identified that can provide the required Watchtower capability, the necessary platform-specific operational support, and continuity of 24/7/365 OTOC operations within the required period of performance.

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

The Contracting Officer (CO) will determine the price fair and reasonable using one or all of the price analysis techniques detailed below, in accordance with RFO 15.404-1(b)(2), which include:

(i) comparison of proposed prices to historical prices paid by the Government for the same or similar items; RFO 15.404-1(b)(4) comparison with competitive published price lists; and/or RFO 15.404-1(b)(5) comparison with the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

6. 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.

CBP will conduct market research to the maximum extent practicable in accordance with FAR Part 10. Market research will include the survey of both open-market sources and existing government contract vehicles. CBP will also assess the market and allow the opportunity for capable business concerns to form Contracting Teaming Arrangements (CTA) in the form of a joint venture or prime/subcontractor partnership to increase competition and remove or overcome barriers that lead to the exception to fair opportunity.

7. CBP intends to post this justification on www.sam.gov pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(f).