FY19-0333_-_JEFO_PCS_OASIS.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

JEFO No.: FY19 - 0333

Date: August 12, 2019 PR Number: RSPC-19-00181

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Science and Technology Acquisition Division (STAD), on behalf of the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Office of Mission and Capability Support (MCS), Physical & Cyber Security Division (PCS) prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity.

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

DHS OPO intends to award a task order with a six month base period and one three month option period to Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) under GS00Q14OADU108 without considering the other awardees of the OASIS Pool 1 IDIQ contracts pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B).

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need.

The S&T PCS division requires systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) support for PCS’s project areas. PCS Program Managers conduct research development test and evaluation in support of the division’s priority mission areas. The technical and programmatic support will include the following activities: technical project management, project planning and oversight, technical evaluation, project analysis, risk mitigation, technical writing, preparation of briefings, test and evaluation support, data management, financial and other technical support for current, potential, and proposed PCS Research & Development projects. PCS requires this support in order to conduct its research projects more effectively and efficiently, and to facilitate the delivery of new capabilities and successful technology transfer to customers.

Currently BAH provides on-site SETA support to S&T PCS across the broad scope of PCS activities under task order HSHQDC-17-J-00265. This task order was awarded under HSHQDC-13-D-00036 (BAH’s SETA II IDIQ contract).

This requirement consists of a six month base period with one three month option period.

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

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), Only one awardee is capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

Rationale:

In order to maintain the current level and quality of SETA services, the Government must award a short term task order to BAH to provide for continued services while DHS recompetes these services on a competitive basis under the newly awarded SETA III IDIQ. Once a SETA III award is made, DHS will also need BAH to provide continued services to allow for a very complicated transition of all support under the current task order to a new contractor under a task order. Allowing this time for transition will ensure uninterrupted service to PCS and the transfer of information necessary to ensure the continuation of the required level of support.

The SETA services in support of PCS are critical to PCS’s ability to perform its mission and therefore the level and quality of services must be maintained until a new task order can be awarded and transition can be completed. Only the incumbent, BAH, is capable of maintaining the necessary support services for PCS because only BAH has the institutional knowledge, subject matter expertise, specialized skill and ability, and required security clearances and DHS suitability to continue to provide the level of quality needed right now without a break in critical services and a loss of historical information. BAH currently provides program management, engineering and technical assistance support services for PCS.

If this requirement were to be competitively awarded at the end of the current support period, transition would still be required to bring on personnel that would not only have to be cleared by security but also brought up to speed on nearly 10 years of historical contract support information. Based on historical information, security clearance would take at least two months to complete before this knowledge transfer could occur. Some of these positions are cybersecurity related, which requires specialized experience which contractors may not be able to find quickly in order to support PCS on day one. Knowledge transitions on other SETA task orders took at least two months to complete. When combined, the security and knowledge transition periods equate to approximately the length of the six month base period. As the intention of the PCS division is to align all of its SETA support under a coherent overall strategy, this transition period and expense would be immediately duplicated transitioning to the fully competed SETA III strategy. This would result in an unnecessary duplication of time, expense, and security processing that could be accomplished only once. In addition, if this short term order is not awarded, PCS will see its mission critical staffing level drastically reduced which will result in crippling irrecoverable deficiencies in programmatic, management, and technical effectiveness.

The PCS Division was recently revitalized to include work from the former Explosives Division and the former Cyber Security Division as well as a variety of new work supporting the R&D needs of TSA, Secret Service, CISA, and OBIM. The SETA needs of this division are currently being met under a number of SETA and non-SETA contracts performed by different contractors and there are currently areas of the division without adequate SETA support. This six month base period with one three month option period follow on task order will allow for PCS to align all of its SETA support under a coherent overall strategy. S&T has been revitalized into a matrixed organization, the operating details of which are still being worked out. As a result, the PCS strategy for their SETA support requires coordination with other offices in S&T, which are also working out their overall strategies. This short term task order will also allow for full competition of the required support under the new SETA III IDIQ as well as allow for full and proper transition of all support to a new contractor to include transfer of knowledge and responsibilities as well as provide onboarding and security review time for the new support contractors. The period of performance will be structured as a six month base period with one three month option to allow for maximum flexibility to the program office for transition while minimizing the length of the sole source task order. The option period may be required in order to complete transition of PCS’s overall SETA support strategy. Any delay in determining the alignment of PCS’s SETA support and awarding of the resulting task order will push the transition of that support and the support under this requirement from the base period into the option period. Transition cannot be shortened to fit the base period due to the nature of the requirement, the amount of information that needs to be transferred, and the number of personnel who will need to go through suitability clearance by security.

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 price will be fair and reasonable.

This order will be placed in accordance with FAR 16.505, Ordering Procedures and discounts to BAH’s OASIS rates will be requested. In addition, as part of the evaluation of the contractor’s proposal, the technical and price evaluators will consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the specific task being ordered in order to determine that the total price is reasonable. The contractor’s labor mix and level of effort will be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) as well as the rates in the competitively awarded existing task order HSHQDC-17-J-00265 to determine reasonableness. Certified Cost or Pricing Data is not required in accordance with the exception at FAR 15.403-1(b)(3), as the services are commercially available and Cost or Pricing Data is not required when acquiring a commercial item.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

None.

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.

While the SETA III IDIQ, a subsequent strategic sourcing vehicle to S&T SETA II, has been awarded as of June 3, 2019, there is not enough time to solicit, evaluate, award, and fully transition all of the support under this task order to a new task order by the end of the current task order with BAH. This is an interim task order that will continue support only as long as it is needed and the recompetition of these services will be competed amongst the contractors on the

SETA III IDIQ.

8. DHS intends to post this requirement on FedBizOpps pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).