A18 JOFOC Call Center Extension Final CA signed.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

CALL CENTER AUGMENTATION SUPPORT FOR THE

COVID-19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY

Identification Number: Contract 73351020P0010

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity (FAR 6.303-2(b)(1)).

Agency: The Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA) Contracting Activity: The Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Acquisitions Directorate.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved (FAR 6.303-2(b)(2)).

This justification and approval (J&A) covers a modification to Contract No. 73351020P0010 to extend the period of performance and increase the scope of work to include presidential declared disasters other than COVID. The authority of this modification is via FAR 52.212-4 (c) Contract Terms and Conditions

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

(FAR 6.303-2(b)(3)).

The SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA) provides low interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters to repair or replace real estate, personal property, machinery & equipment, inventory and business assets that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster. These loans are provided through the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan program. The goal of the program is to allow the borrowers to resume their normal lives and/or operations as soon as possible in the aftermath of the disaster(s).

ODA operates a Customer Service Center (CSC) in support of the EIDL program from two locations, Buffalo, NY and Citrus Heights, CA. The CSC is responsible for providing call center support services. ODA’s call centers have been dealing with the influx of calls due to the Presidential Disaster Declaration for COVID-19, since March 2020 because ODA’s EIDL program was expanded to include COVID EIDL loans through the passage of the CARES Act.

The incoming calls to ODA’s call center were exceeding the number of calls it could handle. As a result, award number 73351020P0010 was awarded competitively on March 24, 2020. The services provided under this contract are call center services, which are required to handle the extreme number of calls related to the COVID EIDL program received by SBA. Due to the inability to accurately estimate the extent or duration of the work or to anticipate the call volume with any degree of confidence, a time-and-materials type contract was awarded. The award included fixed hourly rates for all labor categories and the rates were determined to be fair and reasonable.

The period of performance for this contract expires September 23, 2021; however, continued call center services are required until the COVID EIDL call center support is transferred to a new vendor. Additionally, the number of calls per day is anticipated to increase from 20,000 – 30,000 to over 60,000 due to the recent impact of Hurricane Ida which is beyond the capacity of the CSC. As such, the services provided under this contract will be expanded to include support for other presidential declared disasters in addition to COVID.

With this J&A, a modification will include a new contract line items (CLINs) and the period of performance extension from September 23, 2021 to December 23, 2021. The modification will also add funds and increase the total contract obligation amount from $56,980,000 by $4,671,000 to $61,651,000.

The SBA estimates the cost for this extension is $5M.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is as follows:

41 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 253 (c) (1) as set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority (FAR 6.303-2(b)(5)).

On average 24,291 COVID EIDL related calls were supported per day in August, 31,186 COVID EIDL related calls in July, and 30,111 COVID-EIDL related calls in June. The call volume has been difficult to estimate and depends, in part, on whether additional funding is added to the COVID EIDL program. In this unprecedented emergency and with the passage of the CARES Act, and subsequent legislation, the increased call volumes necessitated modifications to the original award to meet the high COVID EIDL related call volumes and to increase the period of performance so that services could continue as the emergency has continued. The Call Center was also impacted by Hurricane Ida call volume and is handling increased disaster calls and they also received an average of 20,000 emails a day.

LiveOps was contracted to provide call center support during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to assist the CSC with call volume. The CSC has relied on this LiveOps support to various degrees throughout the pandemic.

Currently, LiveOps handles about 80% of all COVID EIDL related calls received by the call center. Continuing the LiveOps support during the transition to a new longer-term contract will allow the CSC to handle the increased disaster loan activity generated by Hurricane Ida or other disasters. The contract is set to expire September 23, 2021, and SBA intends to procure these services through a competitive process to establish a longer-term contract with an award anticipated approximately in mid-December 2021. A contract extension to the current contract with LiveOps is needed for the continuity of operations and LiveOps is uniquely qualified to undertake the added disaster activities, as explained below:

Unique Qualifications:

• With the continuation of the COVID-19 crisis and the newly Presidential Declaration due to Hurricane Ida, there has been an increase in the call volumes received by the call center and LiveOps has the resources and systems, already in place to continue performing without any interruption in service. LiveOps has consistently and successfully handled the fluctuation in calls per day.

• LiveOps has the qualified staff and call-ready representatives that, when needed, will meet the high call volume demand, and similarly, quickly scale back when call volumes slow down.

• LiveOps has familiarity and knowledge of the intricacies of how other systems integrate and has the knowledge of the ODA and its policies and processes.

• LiveOps is able to quickly staff up to meet call capacity, without any lapse of contracted call support.

In the current environment, the CSC is not able to fully meet its call capacity. LiveOps steps in to support that capacity and as a result, there are shorter wait times on responses to the call volumes, which provides benefits to the public and the SBA as a whole.

Systems Transition and Technological Dependencies: From a technological perspective, an extension is necessary because the contractor that directs the calls from the incoming number to either LiveOps or the CSC would need about two months to redirect those calls to a new contractor. That process cannot begin until SBA has awarded a new longer-term contract and can identify the new endpoint for incoming calls. Additionally, the new successor Contractor personnel will need to go through suitability. Once a new successor has been identified and an award has been issued, the technology team can start the process of redirecting the incoming calls. The redirection process is outlined below. The first step is that the SBA Office of the Chief Information Officer would add or replace the Termination numbers, and the following process begins:

1. Review and validation of new Termination Numbers

2. Design review and updating Diagrams (My Design)

3. Adding the new numbers to our new internal systems (RRNS/SDOPs)

4. Submitting new design with diagram and Termination numbers to Order Specialist

5. Creating Order and implementation

6. Testing and validation

7. Transition to Production

8. System, Process and Documentation updates

Transition of Program Knowledge: ODA’s typical disaster busy season is from August through November.

There is a continued urgent need by the SBA for the services that LiveOps performs, which are vital since it would take additional time for the onboarding and technology transfer process associated with a new contractor staff as required for the services. The time that it would take to re-train and bring a new vendor to get up to speed would not be cost effective or efficient, and it also is not possible from a technology perspective to route incoming calls to a new vendor in less than a two months’ timeframe. The vendor would have to go through the on-boarding process for new vendors which would add several weeks before the new vendor to be able to start working independently. Once SBA awards the contract for a new long-term award for these services, the new vendor will begin onboarding and transition, while the contractor that directs calls will begin the system transition process.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies (FAR 6.303-2(b)(6)).

A synopsis was issued on September 10, 2021. The results are listed in section 10 below.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable (FAR 6.303-2(b)(7)).

The pricing is equal to or less than the awarded rates which were already found fair and reasonable. Since inception of the contract, LiveOps has decreased the labor category pricing by working with the Government to provide the best pricing. It has been confirmed that LiveOps is using the same hourly rate pricing for tier 1 and 2 support that it has been utilizing in the past months. Therefore, there pricing remains fair and reasonable. The estimated hours have been verified as reasonable for the required effort. Based on this, the Contracting Officer has determined that the pricing being offered for this extension is fair and reasonable.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted (FAR 6.303-2(b)(8)).

For the purpose of this modification, market research was not performed for the reasons articulated in section 5.

LiveOps is registered under the Disaster Recovery Registry.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition (FAR 6.303-2(b)(9)).

Not extending this contract would jeopardize SBA’s small business disaster assistance mission and in that would result in unacceptable risks to capability and functionality of small businesses across the nation as well as invoke unprecedented damage to the U.S. economy if these businesses cannot rebuild and recover through access to ODA’s loan assistance. Questions and customer service associated with ODA’s loan programs are provided through this contract and can make a direct impact on whether an individual or business is able to apply for funding to rebuild and reestablish their home or business. Without additional staff to help small businesses navigate to and through the ODA loan systems, time and resources will be wasted, and SBA cannot effectively fulfill its disaster assistance mission.

10. A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition (FAR 6.303-2(b)(10)).

Three vendors expressed written interest in the synopsis and action. Sources list: Direct Interactions, GDIT and Navient B.P.O.

11. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition, if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated (FAR 6.303-2(b)(11)).

The SBA is performing market research to assess the market and proceed accordingly with a long-term requirement. A competitive BPA acquisition is anticipated to be issued on an unrestricted basis.

CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

12. CERTIFICATION: The JOFOC has been prepared and certified by:

Technical / Requirements Personnel: I certify the requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the facts, representations, and data included in this justification are complete and accurate.

David Hildebrandt Supervisory IT Specialist

Contracting Officer: I certify that 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.

Roger Henriquez Contracting Officer

13. APPROVAL:

Kip Sheppard Direction, Acquisitions

Sara Soeka Competition Advocate