FY19-0050_JA_CPSTR_approved_Redacted.pdf

J&A No.: FY19-0050

Justification &Approval (J&A) Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

(1) Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Contracting Office, proposes to enter into a contract on a basis of other than full and open competition. The requiring office is the USCIS Office of Intake and Document Production (OIDP), Document Management Division (DMD).

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

(a) Type of action: Firm Fixed Price

(b) Amount: $30,871,052.58

(c) Type of funding: Fee Funded

(d) Year of funding: FY2019

(e) Other brief descriptive words and phrases: USCIS intends to procure, on a sole source basis, ongoing maintenance, equipment consumables, and replacement workstations for the Card Personalization System Technology Refreshment (CPSTR) located at the USCIS Production Facilities in Corbin, Kentucky (CPF), and in Lee’s Summit, MO. (LPF). The proposed contractor is General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), 3060 Williams Drive, Fairfax, VA 22031.

(3) Description of supplies/services.

This requirement is to provide maintenance, equipment consumables, and replacement workstations along with installation and integration support and testing in accordance with USCIS System Engineering Life Cycle (SELC) procedures and policy for the Card Personalization System Technology Refreshments at both the CPF and LPF to ensure the steady production of USCIS Secure Identification Documents.

The total estimated price of the proposed action is $30,871,052.58.

Period Total Base Year 6/18/2019 – 6/17/2020 $5,982,222.83

Option I 6/18/2020 – 6/17/2021 $6,076,467.25 Option II 6/18/2021– 6/17/2022 $6,172,444.16 Option III 6/18/2022– 6/17/2023 $6,270,187.29 Option VI 6/18/2023– 6/17/2024 $6,369,731.05

Total: $30,871,052.58

The requirements for this procurement include:

a. Hardware Maintenance and Repair Service:

This requirement is to provide hardware maintenance, repair service support, and system specific spare parts for all CPSTR workstations and servers, any newly installed CPSTR equipment and components to ensure the system remains fully functional through the system lifecycle, in accordance with the system performance specification. When planning for any equipment changes or upgrades, the Contractor shall ensure form, fit, and function and equipment consumables uniformity between the CPF and LPF workstations involved.

b. Software Maintenance Support:

This requirement is to provide CPSTR software maintenance support which includes any and all repairs and updates to the CPSTR workstations and server software and database, USCIS directed system security patching and hardening and associated testing, documentation (OIT or DMD required documentation) that supports the software release update for all system changes to ensure that the systems can be operated without disruption of all USCIS information systems. When planning for any software maintenance, should the maintenance drive a hardware change the Contractor shall ensure form, fit, and function and equipment consumables uniformity between the CPF and LPF workstations involved.

c. CPSTR Software Release and Upgrade Support:

This requirement is to provide support for any new CPSTR software releases (including upgrades to or new data tables), any associated software security hardening, and Security Authorization testing. This requirement also includes upgrades to system software based on changes to the USCIS information systems. The Contractor shall participate in the SELC process and provide all required documentation to accommodate system changes that impact card production operations. This requirement also includes the conversion of any existing CPSTR documents still in ITLM formats to the most recent SELC and Agile template formats as required. When planning for any software releases or upgrades, should these changes drive a hardware change, the Contractor shall ensure uniformity between the CPF and LPF workstations regarding form, fit, function, and equipment consumables.

d. Technical Support:

This requirement is to provide CPSTR related technical support for continuing USCIS operations to include all Section 508 test requirements and all SELC documentation and testing (Technical support includes consulting for the Program Office and any required collaboration with the CPSTR Contractor).

e. Creation of Reports:

This requirement is to provide for development of Oracle queries or Structured Query Language (SQL) code for the creation of customized reports, ad hoc reports, and reports by specific card type or recipient which would pull the data from the CPSTR database.

f. On-site Support:

This requirement is to provide on-site support to perform hands-on hardware and software maintenance on the CPSTR systems at the CPF and the LPF in direct support of the card operations shift scheduling.

g. Training:

This requirement is to provide system operations training and training documentation packages to the operating staffs of the CPF and the LPF when needed due to software changes, if such changes affect the user interfaces or procedures for any of the CPSTR workstations. The training program and associated material shall be structured such that the trained staff will have the ability to train subsequent hires (“Train the Trainer”). The training shall present material relevant to system operators, inventory controllers, production operators, mailing operations, quality assurance, maintenance, and networking as a minimum.

h. CPSTR Equipment Consumables:

This requirement is to make available with warranty, toner cartridges compatible with the printers currently used in the CPSTR systems, as well as maintenance kits and fusers, card affixing labels or stamps, postal sealing solution, batching labels, and mailer printer maintenance kits.

i. CPSTR System Components:

This requirement is to make available CPSTR workstation components and software, and any available warranties, as required by USCIS. Any replacement workstations shall be compatible with the most recent applications software versions being used system wide.

(4) Identification of 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) pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(5) Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited.

a. The Card Personalization System Technology Refreshment (CPSTR) is a complex card identification system that is integrated with several USCIS information technology legacy systems to receive data, personalize and issue USCIS Secure Identification Documents which include the USCIS’ Permanent Resident Card (PRC) and the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards. The CPSTR system also provides systems feedback regarding completion and mailing of cards, design and is based on an industry unique islands-of-automation architecture that provides a Continuity of Operations (COOP) capability and adds additional production capacity to the overall USCIS production capacity. The CPSTR system is a combination of custom developed hardware, software, and some commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) systems. The CPSTR system uses an Oracle database server to control the data flow in and out of the CPSTR architecture. (This server is Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), but was programmed/configured by General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT)). The CPSTR system includes data processing, laser etching, envelope stuffing/mailing and robotic technologies, all of which must be properly maintained to reliably produce millions of cards per year, which provide proof of immigration status and benefits for millions of people.

b. GDIT designed the underlying CPSTR system in USCIS’ Corbin Production Facility (CPF) to include the application software, encoding, and all drivers within the separate workstations that comprise the complete system, tying all components together. GDIT is the sole manufacture of the CPSTR system and the Government does not possess a detailed Technical Data Package (TDP) for this system. As a result, only GDIT has the technical expertise, inclusive of the software coding knowledge necessary to perform the required maintenance.

c. The CPSTR system cannot be maintained by any other sources because technical data/drawings, test equipment, and training for repair of these Non-Developmental Items were not acquired. While FAR clause 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General was included in the originally competed CPSTR, it did not afford the unlimited right for USCIS to share the detailed software source code/specifications necessary to enable other firms to perform the required services. Thus, GDIT is the only firm with capability to provide software development and equipment maintenance. While USCIS owns the installed system and associated manuals allowing for competition of the operation and day-to-day service maintenance (dusting, lubrication, etc.), the extensive hardware/software maintenance described above requires understanding of the mechanical systems and access to the unique source code developed by GDIT.

Without unlimited access to the underlying drawings and specifications to include the source code, no other firm can perform the required services.

d. The applicable statutory authority that permits other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) pursuant to FAR 6.302-1(b)(2) Limited Rights in Data, patent rights, copyrights, or secret processes; the control of basic raw material; or similar circumstances, make the supplies and services available from only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This authority suits the requirement best because USCIS does not own the unlimited right to share the detailed software source code/specifications necessary to enable other firms to perform the required services.

e. Maintenance must be performed regularly with corrective actions taken immediately, to ensure the CPSTR system is capable, accurate, and available to meet production requirements 20 hours per/day, 6 days/week and 50 weeks/year. The CPSTR system must also produce over 1200 to 1600 cards per hour (depending on card type) per laser marking station and address envelope inserts with the correct card recipient address information at a rate of up to 1,200 cards per hour. Without proper preventive maintenance the system would become unreliable, vulnerable to failure, and eventually incapable of producing cards.

(6) Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

USCIS posted a Sources Sought Notice to FedBizOps (FBO) on November 9, 2018 which remained open until November 20, 2018 as required by FAR Subpart 5.2. No firm other than GDIT responded to the sources sought notice. USCIS intends to make this justification publically available pursuant to FAR 6.305 on FBO within 14 days after contract award.

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

The contracting officer will ensure that the final anticipated price(s) to the Government of actions awarded under this J&A will be fair and reasonable based on analysis performed in accordance with FAR 15.404. The basis for this determination will be derived from historical prices paid by the Government over the past 10 years (4 years will be based on full and open competition), other than certified cost or pricing data, and technical evaluations.

(8) Description of market research.

The original CPSTR systems and maintenance contract was awarded on a competitive basis to GDIT under HSSCCG-08-D-00004 in July 2008 for designing the underlying CPSTR system including the application software. The follow-on CPSTR maintenance contract was awarded to GDIT as a sole-source contract in July 2013, which provides the technical expertise, inclusive of software coding knowledge necessary to perform the required maintenance. Finally, the Government consulted with other card production programs with similar contracts to research any potential comparable practices and in 2014, a sole-source IDIQ was awarded to GDIT (HSSCCG-14-D-00003). The Contracting Officer considered techniques for conducting market research in accordance with FAR 10.002(b)(2). DMD has kept abreast of the card production industry and marketplace, regularly attending industry events such as Connect:ID 2017 and 2018. The Government issued a Request for Information (RFI) on March 16, 2018, which closed on March 30, 2018, determining that other vendors did not have experience in operating and providing maintenance on an already established workstation. Additionally, a FedBizOpps Notice of Intent was posted to determine whether or not there were other potential vendors capable of performing any part of this requirement which returned negative results.

Finally, the incumbent contractor was the only one to respond to a Sources Sought Notice issued on November 9, 2018, which closed on November 20, 2018. To date, other than GDIT, the Government has not been able to identify any additional sources capable of providing the unique equipment/software maintenance services on a specialized system which they have designed/built for USCIS.

(9) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

As addressed in Section 5, the CPSTR system was designed and developed solely by GDIT with their specific data interfaces, capabilities, and physical footprint/infrastructure, there is no other vendor that could possibly provide the full maintenance of the system without access to the detailed drawings, specifications or source code from GDIT. It should be noted that for the initial procurement of CPSTR, the DMD Program and Contracting Officer performed comprehensive market research. The determination at that time and as the response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) proved there were minimal companies in the marketplace with this capability (only two offerors, including GDIT, responded to the initial competition and award in January 2008). DMD remains very active in their engagement with the card production industry and current market research has not yielded other vendors that could possibly step in and provide the maintenance of our existing CPSTR system. Since a smooth transition and continued support to the agency are essential, a sole-sourced award to GDIT is planned.

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

To date, other than the incumbent vendor (GDIT), the Government has not been able to identify any additional sources capable of providing the unique equipment/software maintenance services on a specialized system which they have designed/built for USCIS. GDIT was the only one to respond to a Sources Sought Notice issued on November 9, 2018, which closed on November 20, 2018. To date, no other sources have expressed a written interest in the acquisition of maintenance of the CPSTR (see Section 6 above).

(11) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for required supplies or services.

Competition is limited by the factors and conditions stated in Sections 5 and 6. Barriers to competition will be removed when the program replaces the current card production system at the end of its useful life, which is anticipated around 2024 when the current machines reach their end of life cycle. The program continues to conduct market research and meet with vendors in the industry to stay abreast of the latest technologies and capabilities. The program expects competition in the future for any card personalization systems that would replace the existing environment at the end of its useful life.

(12) Contracting Officer’s Certification. I hereby the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

(13) Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification

I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.