A02 - Groundswell Services LSJ_Final_RedactedSAM.pdf

Control Number:

JA-26-Rock Island/EIS-0576

Contractor: Groundswell Supply/Service: AIRS

Est. Dollar Value:

FAR Part 8 Limited Sources Justification

1. Requiring Activity: Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA) Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, IL 61299.

2. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Contracting Command – Rock Island (ACC-RI) Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, IL 61299-8000, Strategic Information Technology (IT) Division operation under Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Senior Contracting Official’s authority.

3. Description of Action: The Civilian Human Resource Agency (CHRA) requests a

, McLean VA 22102-51407. This action will be executed against the Department of War (DoW) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) N66001-12-A-0061. ACC-APG projects award for

Operations and Maintenance Army (OMA) funding will be used. An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement

Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

4. Description of Supplies/Services: The Appian AIRS support is necessary in providing development, configuration, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support for CHRA’s Army Financial Statement Audit Tool.

The requirement includes software subscription, sprint team development, and operations and maintenance (O&M). The Period of Performance will be

Contractor: Groundswell Supply/Service: AIRS

Est. Dollar Value:

headquarters and select garrison-level finance offices conducting the initial deployment and testing of AIRS to support General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) and EBS-C integration for civilian payroll and accounts payable.

The Army Financial Statement Audit Tool is a critical application designed to support CHRA's financial audit operations, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and efficient

The development, enhancement, and sustainment of this tool leverage Groundswell's

DoD-approved cloud environments.

Although there are other audit software products that may provide similar functionality, AIRS is the only one that will

Replicating this solution with another product would require substantial re-development, significantly delay implementation and potentially hinder EBS-C integration.

Failure to approve this justification would

b. Alternatives:

The Government considered several alternatives to restrict competition, which were determined to be non-viable:

1. Suspension of contract action support: This option is unacceptable because it would halt CHRA's critical audit modernization efforts, leave the agency out of compliance with AAA mandates, and disrupt critical financial validation processes.

2. Use of in-house resources: This is not viable because

3. Conducting a competitive acquisition: This alternative is not acceptable because replacing AIRS with a different GRC or audit management product would require completely

Contractor: Groundswell re-engineering the integration interfaces with EBS-C. This would cause an estimated direct duplication of cost and a schedule delay during which the agency would fail to meet mandatory federal audit readiness timelines.

c. Impact if not approved: If this justification is disapproved, This delay would directly conflict with the statutory timelines established under AAA Policy Memorandum 2025-007.

7. Efforts to Obtain Competition: CHRA will continue to monitor the commercial marketplace for potential alternatives and remain aware of any future authorized distributors or commercial solution providers. However, the primary intent of this follow-on action is to preserve the Army’s current capability by maintaining the Appain AIRS Licenses. Any future decisions regarding competition will be based on Army capability requirements, DoW approval, and a careful assessment of operational risks and costs.

This follow-on does not substitute for competition for future programs and is not intended to unduly restrict the Government’s ability to pursue competitive acquisitions.

The Contracting Officer will publish the required notice on the SAM.gov portal within 14 days of award (or 30 days if under urgent circumstances) in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(3). Any bids, proposals, or capability statements received as a result of the posting will be fully considered by the Government.

Prior to public posting, the Contracting Officer and requiring activity will carefully review and screen the document to redact any contractor proprietary data, trade secrets, confidential commercial information, and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI / FEDCON), ensuring full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552) and FAR 8.405-6(a)(3)(iii).

a. Effective competition: Because the AIRS software effective competition is not anticipated for this specific transition task order.

b. Subcontracting competition: Groundswell Corporation is the sole owner and developer of the proprietary

Groundswell does not authorize third-party vendors or

Contractor: Groundswell subcontractors to modify its proprietary codebase, precluding the possibility of competitive subcontracting for core software and engineering deliverables.

The scope of work consists exclusively of commercial COTS licensing, Appian Defense Cloud subscriptions, and specialized, integrated technical engineering directly executed on the AIRS application. There are no separate, severable work packages (such as third-party hardware maintenance, logistics, or general administrative support) that could be carved out for subcontracting opportunities.

8. Actions to Increase Competition: Since AIRS is proprietary to Groundswell, it is unlikely to increase competition for future requirements of this specific platform.

However, recognizing there could be potential delays, CHRA will actively monitor the market for emerging technologies and competitive offerings. This ongoing market research will inform future acquisition strategies and enable potential competitive actions, ensuring continued access to robust audit functionality while maximizing competition.

This action is a follow-on to contract action W519TC25FA238. Under the previous Limited Sources Justification (Control No. 25-044), the paragraph, “Actions to Increase Competition” stated that CHRA would monitor market maturation and explore long-term enterprise licensing vehicles. Those actions were accomplished, resulting in the determination to structure this action order while HQDA consolidates and competitive enterprise options are established.

9. Market Research:

It confirmed that no alternative audit software products currently exist in the commercial market that can meet CHRA's technical integration requirements. Similar products reviewed included:

Contractor: Groundswell

Additionally, a Request for Information (RFI) was published on the ITES-SW2 platform on Responses from indicated the ability to provide Appian platform subscription licenses and maintenance support but confirmed the specialized AIRS software sought by CHRA was exclusively offered by Groundswell.

A. Groundswell Software as a Service (SaaS) Architecture & Capabilities Market research evaluated the technical requirements outlined in the Market Research Checklist and PWS to determine the commercial availability of SaaS solutions capable of supporting CHRA’s Hire-to-Retire Civilian Human Resource Management lifecycle within the Enterprise Business System - Convergence (EBS-C).

Groundswell’s Audit, Inspection, and Review Solution (AIRS) is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software product delivered via a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model built natively on top of the Appian Low-Code Platform:

B. Market Comparison of Alternative Commercial Software Products Market research evaluated competing Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) and audit management software products available on GSA Schedules, CHESS, and