Attachment4FAR8.4overSAT_Criterion_Final.pdf

AOP No. 5, J&A-Other Than Full & Open Competition- Attachment 4 (Feb. 26, 2020)

Limited Sources Justification United States Department of Agriculture

FAR 8.405 Federal Supply Schedules Multiple Award Schedule Program

Fire Application Support

February 11, 2021

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

United States Department of Agriculture, National Interagency Fire Center, 3833 S Development St MS 200 Rm B20, Boise ID 83705

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The USDA Forest Service, Washington Office, Fire & Aviation Management (FAM), Information Management Support Branch (FAM-IM) proposes to issue a sole source, firm fixed price contract with Criterion Systems, Inc. for Fire Application Support utilizing the authority under GSA Schedule 70 USDA Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) AG-024B-B-16-0002 competitively awarded under Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) GS-35F-0032V size standard for Criterion NAICS 541513 which is a large business.

The sole source, firm fixed price contract will be for a seventy-six (76) day period of performance with a value of $817,505. The contract will be used solely to bridge the gap between the expiration of the current Criterion contract and a newly awarded future contract under the Department of Agriculture IT Support Services (DAITSS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The requirements for the future contract will change considerably and will be competed in accordance with an approved acquisition strategy.

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

FAM-IM Fire Application’s data strategically supports and informs mission-critical and life-saving activities. FAM-IM Fire Applications are required to be operational 24x7x365, and require O&M support and O&M-related fixes of tools, decision support systems, and applications that collect, maintain, and disseminate current and historical incident data to the interagency wildland fire and weather communities, including:

• Interagency priorities and standards;

• Fire planning and firefighter safety;

• Fire modeling, content management, and spatial data analysis for decision support;

• Budgetary and resource allocation and investments;

• Integration of data and services across data system boundaries to include possible merger of those systems;

• Incident business management;

• Public affairs information formulation and dissemination;

• Integration of data and services across departmental boundaries to include possible merger of those systems, and;

• Public and private research and development efforts.

The estimated value of this bridge is $817,505 and has a period of performance of May 1, 2021 to July 15, 2021. The purpose of this bridge is to ensure the services listed above are smoothly transitioned to a new vendor selected under the DAITSS.

4. The authority and supporting rationale.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) - In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is follow-on to a GSA order that was originally competed.

Criterion, by virtue of being the incumbent contractor, is the most economic and efficient source for the Fire Application Support Bridge, firm fixed price contract to extend services while a competitively awarded contract through DAITSS can be negotiated.

Criterion GSA MAS Schedule GS-35F-0032V AG-024B-B-16-0002 was used to competitively award solicitation AG-024B-S-15-0015.

FAM-IM Fire Applications are a highly critical, complex, interconnected, and interdependent suite of applications. The bridge contract is a logical follow on to the existing contract. It is in the best economic interest of the government and the most efficient use of time and resources in the interim to award the short-term contract to Criterion.

Justification:

Changing vendors and resources for a short-term, seventy-six (76) day contract would have the following negative impacts on FAM-IM's ability to provide a stable support to interagency fire applications:

l . The ramp up time for a new vendor to understand the Fire Applications is significant. A short-term contractor's ability to address reported problems would be severely limited due to their lack of knowledge specific to the Fire Applications suite.

2. A short-term contractor would also be less able to proactively monitor and address potential issues before they become a reality and bring down critical fire applications.

3. A new contractor would be less able to proficiently provide needed integration with the interagency fire applications that reside on the NESS environment.

4. A new contractor would not be up to speed when the seventy-six (76) day period of performance ends.

5. The government would pay a premium in labor and startup costs with a short period of performance.

6. Historically it has taken the government approximately 90 days to credential and onboard new contractors. A contractor cannot access the Fire Application suite infrastructure they obtain a government issued token. The gap between when a contract is awarded and obtaining resource credentials would leave the government without contractor support for the Fire Application suite during critical fire season time period. The government currently does not have the skillset in house to manage the Fire Application suite during the projected gap.

The execution of the short-term, firm fixed price bridge contract to Criterion will prevent any potential adverse impacts to mission critical applications until such time as the new contract is awarded. An interruption or disruption of the Fire Applications suite has the potential to cause devastating harm to life and property

Other important factors:

The Performance Work Statement for the bridge contract is the same as the currently active BPA calls; and Criterion's performance on the current contract overall has been satisfactory.

5. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer (CO) that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

A cost analysis will be performed using published MAS rates and requesting any applicable discounts. It is understood that the DAITSS BPA has the potential for lower rates than the current Criterion BPA and will be used for the developing longer-term Fire Application O&M contract solution. The CALC rates were used to develop the Independent Government Cost Estimate. The IGCE and vendor's price proposal will be compared to determine price reasonableness and to ensure the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

It is not the intent of FAM-IM to solicit from multiple sources for the short-term contract; however, a survey of the market will continue to be analyzed for the future requirement.

FAM-IM is in the process of developing requirements and an extensive acquisition strategy to solicit for one or more contracts to meet the needs of an evolving FAM-IM organization.

FAM-IM has contracted with ZenTech to develop a Strategic Blueprint designed to meet the evolving application support requirements. In addition, ZenTech will be providing acquisition support in the development of the solicitation. This will include the performance of extensive market research that will ensure offers are solicited from as many sources as possible.

FAM-IM will work with the assigned contracting officer to ensure the appropriate notifications are made to industry (e.g. FedBiz Ops).

7. Any facts supporting the justification.

The focus for FAMIM is changing and the Criterion short-term contract is necessary to support that glide path to a long-term solution aligning FAM-IM and user requirements with the government and commercial marketplace. FAM-IM will be focused more on the management of information and less on physical hardware in the future. Contracts supporting the interagency fire community require significant analysis before changing the sources and scope of those platforms and services.

For example, new technology such as cloud hosting is being implemented which offers significant opportunities to reduce operational cost, enhance security, and afford more rapid changes in technological decisions.

8. A statement of actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

FAM-IM is in the process of developing a Strategic Blueprint designed to guide FAMIM in their future contract requirements. FAM-IM will continue to develop and finalize the strategic blueprint, acquisition strategy and solicitation package(s) for the long-term follow on contract(s).

Certifications & Approval

Supporting data which form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and complete.

James Baldwin FAM-IM Project Manager Supervisor

The information contained in this Limited Sources Justification is certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Michael Ku Contracting Officer

Additional Reviews & Approvals

Signatures are required at each threshold up to the total estimated dollar value of the acquisition

Information Technology Contracting Branch (ITCB) Branch Chief (if not the Contracting Officer) (if over $700,000). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

James Bailey Branch Chief, Information Technology Contracting Branch

ITCB Competition Advocate (if over $700,000). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Chantel A. Smith Assistant Director - Procurement Management, Mission Area Competition Advocate