A17_JA_-_JEFO_for_NIAID_CISS_REDACTED_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(b)(2)

Solicitation #140D0424Q0698

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.”

This document is a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity executed by the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division I Branch III, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

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

The purpose of this document is to outline the rationale for issuing a task order on a sole source basis to General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. (GDIT) against its National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessments Center Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 (NITAAC/CIO-SP3) contract without considering other awardees pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B).

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

The contractor will be responsible for providing Cyber Technology Infrastructure Systems Support Services to include evaluating, planning for, and implementing new technologies in the NIAID environment in response to changing business strategies, policy, and regulatory changes. The contractor will be required to provide Information Technology (IT) services that help sustain and expand the use of current hardware and operating systems. Additionally, the support will provide continual process and services delivery improvements, and support the transition from current functional silos to work in cross-functional teams that are focused on integrated technology solutions spanning related lines of business.

The Period of Performance (PoP) will be from August 15, 2024 through February 14, 2025 and will consist of one six-month Base Period. The estimated value is approximately over the six-month duration with the inclusion of FAR 52.217-8).

Solicitation #140D0424Q0698

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b)(2)) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) – The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

AQD is currently in the process of establishing multiple award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) for critical and complex IT services that support NIAID’s scientific, business, and administrative requirements. The current task order (140D0419F0080 which was competitively awarded) providing NIAID with the IT support outlined in Section 3 will ultimately fall under the scope of this BPA. However, the new competitive BPA order that will replace 140D0419F0080 will not be in place before the current task order expires on August 14, 2024.

As a result, AQD intends to issue this follow-on task order to GDIT, the incumbent contractor, in the interim to maintain critical support for NIAID until the new BPA order award is in place which is expected to occur in November 2024. The interim task order is logical in that it will continue services at the same level of effort and scope as the current task order (140D0419F0080). As stated earlier, all NITAAC/CIO-SP3 awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the current task order (three (3) quotes were received)) which was awarded by AQD.

As the incumbent, GDIT is intimately familiar with the support required and is qualified to support NIAID while AQD continues with the competitive BPA process. GDIT’s performance under the current task order has been at least satisfactory. GDIT has the capability and expertise to continue to support this requirement with minimal interruption or schedule impact. Awarding a contract to a different contractor for this bridge support is not in the Government’s best interest as a new contractor would need time to familiarize themselves with the requirement. GDIT can avoid the unacceptable delays that bringing in a new contractor would require and is the only vendor with the capability and experience needed to meet the Government requirements on this tight schedule.

Obtaining competition for this bridge is impracticable under the circumstances described herein as it would require considerable lead time to identify sources, receive quotes, conduct a source selection, and process appropriate award documentation. Selecting any other source would also require a significant transition-in/ramp up period to get a new contractor up to speed on the complex services provided, including transfer of documentation, and obtaining access to controlled Government systems. The award of this task order to GDIT is most advantageous and in the best interest of the Government in meeting critical NIAID mission requirements.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable based on a comparison of the proposed price from GDIT to the historical prices paid for the same services (including current contracting pricing).

Furthermore, as part of the price analysis, the Contracting Officer will include a comparison of the proposed price to market pricing, in accordance with DOI-AAAP- 0024, Enhancing Competition. This requirement is for commercial services and is exempt from cost analysis per FAR 15.403-1(b)(3). Other than certified cost or pricing data may be requested for further analysis if deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Sufficient capacity exists under the CIO-SP3 contract for this interim task order.

NITAAC recently extended the period of performance on all its CIO-SP3 contracts through October 29, 2024 and indicated that any task order issued by this date can include a period of performance of up to five years.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), within 14 days after placing the order with GDIT, a redacted version of this justification will be posted on SAM.gov for a minimum of 30 days.

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.

The need for a subsequent sole source task order will be mitigated in the future through the establishment of the multiple award BPAs discussed in Section 4 which are anticipated to be awarded in Quarter Four of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. All orders under these BPAs will be competed among all BPA holders. A need for this sole source task order was not anticipated as the original estimated award date of the BPAs, as well as first orders under the BPAs, was planned for Quarter Two of FY2024. However, due to the interest received from industry for these BPAs, the evaluation process has taken longer than expected. AQD only anticipates utilizing this interim task order to provide critical support to NIAID until the new BPA order has been awarded and to allow time for a transition period.

While re-competing the current task order as another single task order may be considered a faster acquisition alternative in the near-term, it would not have yielded the longer-term benefits that NIAID was seeking through these planned BPAs. Specifically, competing its requirements among a smaller set of BPA holders will streamline the ordering process even further and minimize the administrative burden for the Government. These benefits will be further amplified because NIAID anticipates issuing several competitive orders soon after the BPAs are awarded with a recurring need for these types of services over the life of the BPAs. In addition, when determining whether to award multiple-award BPAs or single-award BPAs, it was determined multiple-award BPAs will help distribute the required services across several capable awardees and ensure one contractor is not overloaded. Ultimately, the planned multiple award BPAs will allow the Government to leverage established agreements, varied experience, and competitive pricing to quickly award task orders for NIAID’s required services.

8. The contacting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer

9. 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 an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

I certify that the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and meets the Government’s minimum needs.

Program Official

10. A written determination by the approving official that one of the circumstances in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) through (E) applies to the order.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) – The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

11. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Chief, Acquisition Management Branch 3, Division 1

Concur

Chief, Acquisition Management, Division 1

Concur

Bureau Competition Advocate Chief, Acquisition Policy and Oversight Branch 1

Approve

Head of the Contracting Activity