FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B)_Hitachi Limited Sources J&A Redacted_Redacted.pdf

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS PROCUREMENT SENSITIVE INFORMATION INTENDED FOR NARA INTERNAL USE

ONLY. DO NOT MAKE ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION OR EXTERNAL DISCLOSURES WITHOUT PROPER

WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION TO AND WRITTEN APPROVAL FROM THE CONTRACTING OFFICER

I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY,

AND SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENT AS A "LIMITED

SOURCES JUSTIFICATION."

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II. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED.

The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Special Item Number (SIN) 54151S, Information Technology Professional Services for Hitachi support services. The National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) intends to restrict competition to Hitachi Vantara Federal (HVF).

III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET

THE AGENCY’S NEEDS (INCLUDING THE ESTIMATED VALUE).

The National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) requires technical services to operate and maintain the Hitachi components of the cloud-based Object Based Storage (OBS) solution for the electronic records of the EOP 46 administration, which will include services and deliverables, including but not limited to, the following functional areas:

● Operational support and maintenance for Hitachi platform and applications

● Program support

● Quality control

● Risk Management

● Security

The period of performance will be 12 months, with option periods to extend to up to 36 months.

IV. THE AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONAL (SEE 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)), AND, IF APPLICABLE, A DEMONSTRATION OF THE PROPOSED

CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED

SUPPLY OR SERVICE.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(d)(2), the following requirement is being justified and approved to restrict consideration under the statutory authority of 41 U.S.C. 4104 as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), “Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.”

Under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, at the change of every Presidential administration the legal custody of the outgoing administration’s records transfers from the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to NARA, and NARA is required to respond to time-sensitive special access requests for those records soon thereafter. The White House Office of Administration (WH OA) has developed a storage and access system called the Object Based Storage (OBS) system into which they are ingesting the high-priority Tier 1 datasets from the various White House systems. The OBS system is implemented using the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP0) and is hosted in Azure cloud.

On or around January 6, 2025, WH OA is planning to transfer ownership of the OBS system to NARA and NARA will be responsible to operate and maintain the Azure cloud tenant and OBS system, including the Hitachi components of the OBS solution.

HVF has served as the prime WH OA contractor for the design, development, and implementation of EOP’s OBS system, including the impending transfer of OBS to NARA, and is the only authorized service provider for the Hitachi technologies deployed in EOP’s OBS solution. The products and software licenses integral to the EOP OBS system are HCP - Hitachi Content Platform and HCI – Hitachi Content Intelligence.

These technologies are HVF products and are highly proprietary in nature, requiring specialized knowledge and skills to operate and maintain. HVF does not authorize partners to provide support on these products. Because these are Hitachi proprietary products, HVF maintains exclusive expertise around their implementation, configuration, and interoperability. Specifically, HVF does not provide authorizations to partners for Hitachi Content Intelligence (HCI), which is the core software for the proposed solution for the search and index functionality. Only HVF employees, with experience and learning provided internally by Hitachi, have the technical background and experience to understand the technical architecture of this product and best understand the underlying complexities, integration points, best practices and optimal configuration based on a specific agency's workload characteristics and varying data sources. HVF is also the only provider with direct access to the Hitachi product development teams for each of these products, allowing HVF to tailor the product roadmap and offer specific future changes that NARA may require. System maintenance, configuration engineering, and product development are performed by HVF’s US-employee only, Federal Engagement Support Center (FESC), the unit dedicated solely to supporting these products for federal government customers.

For the reasons outlined above, Hitachi is the only vendor that can support NARA when NARA takes ownership of the OBS system. Given the critical importance of the records of the 46th Presidential Administration and the special access requests to which NARA will need to respond in a timely manner, NARA requires a vendor with specialized knowledge and skills to maintain the Hitachi-based OBS system until such time as the records are ingested into NARA’s ERA EOP system.

V. A DETERMINATION BY THE ORDERING ACTIVITY CONTRACTING

OFFICER THAT THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE

CONSISTENT WITH FAR 8.404(d).

The professional services are available through Hitachi Vantara’s GSA multiple award schedule (MAS) contract. Hourly rates are listed at fixed unit prices. In accordance with

FAR 8.405(d), the hourly rates pricing has already been determined fair and reasonable by GSA. The contractor has been providing similar services for another agency;

therefore, NARA expects that it will receive the appropriate labor categories, mix, and level of effort to receive the best value under these circumstances. The solicitation will require the Vendor to propose only GSA Schedule priced items and NARA will seek further discounts.

VI. A DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG

SCHEDULE HOLDERS AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE

REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED.

Direct market research was not conducted, as NARA had multiple conversations with WH OA personnel. As the current owner and developer of the OBS system, WH OA specifically advised NARA to get direct support from this vendor. They confirmed the complexities of the Hitachi system, and risk associated with not having the proper support. To maintain continuity of services and avoid unacceptable delays to mission critical operations, only the use of the incumbent contractor supporting the existing OBS system, HVF, can meet NARA’s requirements.

VII. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION.

Not Applicable

VIII. 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 Government will continue to conduct market research to learn if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

IX. THE ORDERING ACTIVITY’S CONTRACTING OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION

THAT THE JUSTIFICATION IS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF

THE CONTRACTING OFFICER'S KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.

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X. EVIDENCE THAT ANY SUPPORTING DATA THAT IS THE

RESPONSIBILITY OF TECHNICAL OR REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL (E.G.,

VERIFYING THE GOVERNMENT'S MINIMUM NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR

OTHER RATIONALE FOR LIMITED SOURCES) AND WHICH FORM A BASIS FOR

THE JUSTIFICATION HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED AS COMPLETE AND ACCURATE

BY THE TECHNICAL OR REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL.

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