Approved J_A.pdf

VHAPG Part 806.3 OFOC Page 1 of 4 Revision: 01 Effective Date: 04/01/23

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification and Approval (J&A) For

Other Than Full and Open Competition (>SAT)

Acquisition Plan Action ID: 36C250-23-AP-2617

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN10, LTC Charles S. Kettles

VA Medical Center, 2215 Fuller RD, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, The 2237 number is 506-23-4- 1383-0063.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed: This is a request for a sole source for a new firm-fixed price contract with TECH4RESEARCH LLC,1784 Carrera Circle, OR 97504, 503-443-8340. FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items: In accordance with FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and specifically FAR 13.501 Special Documentation Requirements, where acquisitions conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6, but still require a justification using the format of FAR 6.303-2.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency’s Needs: This contract request is an ongoing requirement as part of a national initiative to establish a resource center to assist HSR&D Investigators with Interactive Voice Response (IVR)/Short Message Service (SMS) data collection in support of the Patient Engagement Tracking and Longterm Support (PETALS) program. This component of the contract is for as a hosting platform within Microsoft Dynamics 365. The contractor must provide services and resources in support of the setup, hosting, and maintenance of the PETALS hosting environment. This contract estimates a additional licenses and service support, along with product development each year to support the growing expansion of the PETALS program. This is a base plus four (4) year contract is being requested and the anticipated cost to the Government for the base and four-year option period contract is $726,310.00.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition:

( X ) (1) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements per 41 USC §3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1;

( ) (2) Unusual and Compelling Urgency per 41 USC §3304(a)(2) as implemented by FAR 6.302-2;

( ) (3) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert Services per 41 USC §3304(a)(3) as implemented by FAR 6.302-3;

( ) (4) International Agreement per 41 USC §3304(a)(4) as implemented by FAR 6.302-4

( ) (5) Authorized or Required by Statute per 41 USC §3304(a)(5) as implemented by FAR 6.302-5;

( ) (6) National Security per 41 USC §3304(a)(6) as implemented by FAR 6.302-6;

( ) (7) Public Interest per 41 USC §3304(a)(7) as implemented by FAR 6.302-7;

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5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority):

TECH4REASEARCH LLC is a contractor who has setup previous and current hosting and telephony resources for similar projects in VA FedRAMP-compliant evironments.

TECH4RESEARCH LLC has experience working and establishing the specific hosting requirements needed for the PETALS patform, which also includes the unique capability for the VA HSR&D staff to engage in direct program tailoring and support of the IVR/SMS (Telephony Service) data collection. No other contractor has provided capabilities at this level. This is a follow-on contract to 36C25019C0262 (Telephony Service) and 36C25021C0112 (SaaS). The new contract will include the Telephony Service but will move away from hosting environment that is no longer VA compliant and will be set up in Microsoft Dynamics 365. This contract will include the necessary licenses for Microsoft Dynamics 365. TECH4RESEARCH LLC developed and configured the environment and infrastructure for the PETALS program and has been continuously working closely with the PETALS team to provide setup and hosting resources that are compliant, resulting in the need to moving solely to a Platform as a Service (PaaS). Further, the vendor will obtain and configure the telephony resources (SIP trunk and telephone numbers) to use the system as intended for telephone and SMS communications. This vendor is uniquely qualified to setup these services as they have operated in this capacity in the past and have extensive experience in this capacity. The current system uniquely allows for VA staff to edit the Telephony Service to their needs rather than rely on the contractor to make the changes. HSR&D interviewed contractors back in 2019 to review their capabilities and found only TECH4RESEARCH LLC to have the capability to meet the requirements requested by the VA. TECH4RESEARCH, over the past five years has developed the hosting environment and is now approved for Authority to Operate (ATO), #1341, which is a process of accreditation and was approved in August 2023. This ATO is specifically for the Telephony service along with the hosting environment and infrastructure provided. This is a specialized requirement and will avoid a substantial duplication of cost and effort for a contractor to establish a new hosting environment to support the PETALS program, which took the past five years to develop and get approved. Further, TECH4RESEARCH developed the research projects that are being launched later this year, which would be impossible for a new vendor to recreate given the highly complex features that have already been developed and supported by TECH4RESEARCH in the past.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable: A Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted on SAM.gov March 23, 2023 with a response date due April 3, 2023 to any objection to the sole source.

One response was received from Interactive Performance Technologies LLC, which included their capability statement. The capability was reviewed by the PETALS program project manager but did provide evidence that the VA would have the unique ability to edit within the system. To change contractors would be to duplicate effort and cost committed to developing the current telephony service and hosting environment for the PETALS program be lost and furthermore, compromise the progress that has brought this work to production level, with programs slated to launch with Veterans in fiscal year 2024.

7. Determination by the CO that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The anticipated cost to the Government will be determined to be fair and reasonable through pricing comparison with the current contracts (36C25019C0262 and 36C25021C0112) with TECH4RESEARCH LLC. The Contracting Officer will compare the

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Effective Date: 04/01/23 response in the RFQ with the contract costs in the previous contracts to ensure that the pricing is fair and reasonable, and will also compare the RFQ to the IGCE.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted: As described in Section 6 above, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted on SAM.gov. A response was received from a small business. The documents were reviewed but a determination was made that awarding to another contractor would result in duplication of effort and cost by developing new software for the PETALS program. VETCERT was also searched using NAICS 513210, although 39 SDVOSB/VOSB businesses were found; none are known to be capable to providing the specific requirement and would result in a duplication of effort.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition: N/A

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition:

TECH4RESEARCH LLC

Interactive Performance Technologies LLC

11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required: No actions are planned for reasons stated in paragraph 6. Extensive interviews were conducted by the PETALS team in 2018-2019 that found only one capable contractor, TECH4RESEARCH LLC, that was able to provide the required platform needed and was awarded contracts 36C25019C0262 and 36C25021C0112. Continuous configuration in development of the hosting platform has taken place as the PETALS team worked closely with the contractor to improve the platform.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

John Wall Date Contracting Officer Representative

HSR&D/Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR) VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

13. Approvals in accordance with the VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP:

a. Contracting Officer or Designee’s Certification (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/VHAProcurement/VHAPM/VHAPM_Part_806.3.aspx

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Christopher D. Gundy Date Contracting Officer Acting Branch Chief, Services Team #4 Network Contracting Office 10

b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over SAT but not exceeding $750K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition.

Jason E. Lawson Date

Division Chief, Healthcare and General Services Branches Facility