Brand Name Justification Combined Pluralsight - Approved.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI)

18 Jun 2019 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI) Page 1 of 5

NOTE: If a Justification was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved Justification for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant Justification. This applies to Justification staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor Justification will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: >SAT and < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M

Contracting Activity: AFLCMC/HIK

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: TBD

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): BESPIN/Digital University

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): PEO

Authority: AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2304a, Special Emergency Procurement Authority (41 U.S.C. 1903)

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): $1,063,773 Justification Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a)) Sign and Save Procedure

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Date

17 Jun 2021

Service Manager, Digital University Brian J. Mahar, Lt Col, USAF

AFLCMC/HIO BESPIN / (978) 727-7657

Signature

X

Date

17 Jun 2021

Contracting Officer Adam Golden, GS-12

AFLCMC/HIK (334) 416-4506

Signature

X

Date

17 Jun 2021

Local Legal Reviewer Jonathan Carroll, NH-04

AFLCMC/HJA (334) 416-6930

Signature

X

Date

22 Jun 2021

Chief of the Contracting Office (COCO) David Goetz

AFLCMC/HIK (312) 787-5988

Signature

X

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

23 Jun 2021

Competition Advocate Christopher J. Kirbabas

AFLCMC/PK (312) 785-3741

Signature

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI) Page 2 of 5

I. Contracting Activity.

AFLCMC/HIK

490 East Moore Drive, Bldg 892 MAFB-Gunter Annex, AL 36114-3000

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

This requirement is for 1863 Pluralsight licenses in support of Air Combat Command (ACC) and Air Force Lifecycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Digital University training requirements.

Digital University (Digital U) is a digital transformation effort intent on redesigning the way the Department of the Air Force trains, assesses, and certifies digital skills. It was born out of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF) Standard System Group (CSAF SSG), Air Education and Training Command (AETC) via AFWERX and early BESPIN Upskilling with Silicon Valley initiatives and championed by the Secretary of the Air Force Deputy Chief Information Office (SAF-CIO). Additionally, Digital U was a byproduct of cultural shifts in training initiatives resulting from the 2018 Computer Language Initiative (CLI), where computer skills competencies were formally ID'd as critical to national security and incentivized similarly to proficiency in certain foreign spoken languages.

Digital U uses online educational platforms (generally referred to as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)) to deliver world-class training content to Airmen. Pluralsight provides intermediate to advanced courseware in support of cyber skills training & education to include, but not be limited to, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), advanced web & mobile development, and Cloud Computing.

The requirement will be a brand name definitive firm fixed price commercial contract.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

Item: Pluralsight user licenses, in support of ACC and AFLCMC users of Digital University Quantity: 1863 Total Estimated Value: $1,063,773.00 Period of Performance: 21 Jun 2021 - 31 May 2022 Funding Type: 3400 Allows ACC and AFLCMC users of Digital University taking intermediate to advanced career and skill pathways to access required course content in support of CompTIA and otherwise certifications, and VCSAF-directed senior leader training.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

This acquisition is completed IAW FAR 13 simplified acquisition procedures, AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C.

2302(b) Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901).

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

Digital University (DU) was launched in the summer of 2020 with the intent to revitalize the way that the Air and Space Forces recruit, train and retain cyber talent. The DU team performed significant market research and collaboration with career field functional managers, training managers, educational platforms, and industry experts from companies such as Google and Lyft to identify the ways that our Airmen and Guardians were deficient when compared to industry or our peer-adversaries. From this research, the BESPIN software factory built a prototype of an online learning platform that would provide access to world-class online cyber training from companies such as Udemy, Udacity, and Pluralsight. The DU prototype was launched, and the 338th SCONS (AFWERX 'RapidX') was appointed to rapidly award 8 separate contracts to the above vendors, three of which constituted the DU/Pluralsight requirement.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI) Page 3 of 5

Pluralsight offers industry-leading courses in intermediate to advanced cyber skills required by Digital University, and possesses capabilities such as student assessment that are not available from other vendors. While not fully integrated into Digital U, assessments are a capability that, when funded, are presently on the Digital U roadmap. Once developed, this unique capability will allow students to be quantitatively assessed in various skill areas, the results of which can feed into Digital U's skills and learning pathways, automatically adding or removing courseware based on the level of user competency. (Presently, assessments can be used within Pluralsight, but not through DU) This represents a giant step forward in the antiquated schedule-based, completion based education model which has been shown to allow sub-standard employees to progress when they should not have, and prevented talented employees from progressing more rapidly.

Additionally, Pluralsight courseware is unique and has driven the layout & composition of the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (VCSAF) directed senior leader training modules recently deployed in Digital University. Not awarding to Pluralsight would require this module be completely re-designed, creating an inconsistency in cyber-literacy training provided to all General Officer and Senior Executive Service (SES) employees. Further, the redesign would take a minimum of 1-3 sprints to complete (2-6 weeks) taxing an already minimal development team and potentially delaying other capabilities in development such as migration of the system into CloudOne, or the ability to use a Common Access Card (CAC) for system/account access.

Finally, Pluralsight's intermediate to advanced offerings are the linchpin in ACC's and AFLCMC's training plans for several industry-standard cyber certifications to include Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2). These certifications are significant in terms of the DoD's ability to close the IT skills gap with industry (and our peer adversaries) as they indicate proficiency in areas such as DevSecOps and Agile methodologies. ACC and AFLCMC leveraging Pluralsight courseware through Digital U is the perfect marriage of baseline knowledge (from Digital U/Udemy) and advanced topics (Pluralsight) towards successful certification for an employee.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

Since the inception of the DU program, the government has had continuing conversation with a plethora of "massive open online courses" (MOOC) and training platforms to evaluate which might best serve the needs of the Air Force via Digital University. In the summer of 2020 the Air Force made 3 contract awards to satisfy the Digital University needs for Pluralsight licenses for various customers. These three separate contracts expired on 31 May 2021. The proposed action combines the three requirements into one follow-on order. Pluralsight was contracted to provide intermediate to advanced courseware supporting advanced skill and career paths, and heavily leveraged by ACC in support of MAJCOM wide cyber skills certification needs. AFLCMC utilized the licenses in a similar fashion.

The government has and will continually evaluate its needs and perform continuous market research with as many training platforms as practical to ensure DU always provides world-class, industry-leading training curricula at the best possible value to the government.

During the course of Market Research, the government searched for the Pluralsight licenses on various mandatory sources (DoD ESI, 2GIT, and NASA SEWP) In accordance with Air Force Manual 17-1203. The only government source for these licenses was GSA. Additionally, Pluralsight does not permit their licenses to be resold, and as such is the only vendor for the required licenses to support DU.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable as the estimated cost is largely identical to previous pricing granted to the government for the same capabilities. The price of this contract will be determined to be fair and reasonable based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii).

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI) Page 4 of 5

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

Market research has demonstrated that there are many MOOC-style online training platforms that provide courseware consistent with the training pathways offered by Digital University. However, Pluralsight provides intermediate to advanced courseware topics that are required by ACC's and AFLCMC's MAJCOM-wide cyber skills & certification requirements (CompTIA and ISC2).

Additionally, incorporating other software to satisfy the requirements currently met by Pluralsight - assuming an acceptable replacement could be found - does not represent the best value to the government, as 2-4 months (depending on prioritization) would likely be required to redesign ACC's and AFLCMC's DU curriculum (towards CompTIA and ISC2 certifications) and update the DU codebase to incorporate the replacement software.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Digital U and specifically its Pluralsight courseware is heavily leveraged in support of ACC and AFLCMC cyber skills training and certification requirements and specifically required in DU's senior leader cyber skills training modules.

Replacing these courses would require significant re-work of existing curricula, which requires non-trivial effort to find suitable replacements, and changes to the DU codebase (to integrate the changes) all of which would result in an unacceptable delays to ongoing DU efforts and places the integration of important DU capabilities such as CAC-enabled sign-on at risk.

Additionally, it could cause second or third order effects in that developers who took the same learning path, but the courses to complete that path differed, would cause a disconnect in the consistency of training and learned skills.

Additionally, Digital U would lose the opportunity to continue consideration for integration of Pluralsight's assessment engine, as there would no longer be a contractual vehicle with Pluralsight .

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

N/A

XI. 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.

The Digital University team is continually evaluating other offerings similar to Pluralsight and continually making determinations as to whether the capabilities provided by these offerings will further expand the capabilities of DU, or provide value over existing licenses. Additionally, as DU has expanded, additional career fields (i.e. HAF/A9, Data Scientists/Analysts) have approached the DU team about building in new pathways which would open up opportunities to onboard other MOOC-style content providers that had capabilities in these new subject areas. At present, there are no other licenses that could take the place of the Pluralsight licenses without significant schedule delays, increased implementation costs, and potential lapses in performance.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

18 Jun 2019 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFOMATION (CUI) Page 5 of 5

Remove the Guidance pages below.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items 18 Jun 2019 Page of International Agreement Competitive Restrictions (IACR) March 2018 Page of NOTE: If a Justification was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved Justification for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant Justification. This applies to Justification staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor Justification will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document?

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan?

Funding level for this acquisition:

Authority:

Justification Type:

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a)) ** The text in the signature blocks below is editable, including the title.

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APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a)) NOTE: A signature block will appear here based on the funding level selected above.

(See "Specific Guidance for Completing this Template" below.)

I. Contracting Activity.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

XI. 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.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

Specific Guidance for Completing this Template

I. Contracting Activity. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(1))

Fully identify the contracting agency and organizational activity responsible for the proposed contracting action.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(2))

State whether the action will be awarded as a new contract or by modification to an existing contract (identify contract number) and identify the type contract planned (FAR 12.207 and DFARS 212.207).

An individual Justification cannot be used to support more than one contract irrespective of the quantities or the dollar value stated therein. If a proposed contract will contain unpriced options (including NTE prices), those options must be supported by a separate Justification prior to option exercise or the Justification supporting the basic contract must be a Class Justification. For Class Justification situations (covers more than one contract) where the number of contracts in the class can be identified: (1) Provide a brief general description of actions; (2) identify the supplies and services that are being acquired; and (3) for each contract in the class identify the contractor, estimated value, type of contract and rationale for contract length, and estimated award date. Where the same information applies to more than one contract within the class, it need only be stated one time.

III. Description of the supplies/services required to meet agency needs. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(3))

Specifically describe the supplies and/or services to be acquired, the total estimated value of the acquisition - including options (provide cost estimate by year and, for class Justifications, by contract action), and the estimated delivery dates/periods of performance If commodities are being procured, provide quantities. All contract line items (CLIN) -- e.g., technical data, support equipment, support services, etc. -- should be listed. If all of the ancillary requirements associated with a particular item are not specifically described in the Justifications, those ancillary requirements cannot be included in the resulting contract and would require a second Justification. Also, state the type of appropriation (e.g., 3010, 3400) that will be used to fund each requirement listed.

If approval for more than one fiscal year requirement is needed, give the rationale for this request. Generally, the scope of these actions is limited to current requirements only, so that actions may be taken to facilitate competition for out-year requirements.

In some cases, there are no feasible actions that could develop future competition, and it is reasonable to seek approval for more than one fiscal year's requirements.

For ID/IQ or requirements contracts, use the maximum dollar value of the total estimated orders as the estimated Justification dollar value.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(4)) V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority). (FAR 6.303-2(b)(5))

Provide, in narrative form, a detailed explanation supporting and clearly relating to the conditions described by the FAR for using the particular authority cited. This section is normally the most detailed part of the justification as the essence of the justification is presented here. For acquisitions that include both supplies and services, separately justify the use of the authority for the services and supplies.

Contracting without providing for full and open competition shall not be justified on the basis of lack of advance planning by the requiring activity or concerns related to the amount of funds available (e.g., funds will expire) (10 U.S.C. 2304(f)(4)).

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

(FAR 6.303-2(b)(6))

Describe all efforts taken (or to be to be taken) to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable under the circumstances. Although Market Research is covered in Section VIII, the information in Section VI should correlate with the Market Research described in Section VI. The following issues should be addressed in this paragraph:

Sources Sought Synopsis (used as part of market research). If a sources sought synopsis was issued, state the date the synopsis was issued and a brief description of its content. If any responses were received, describe in detail the results of the screening process and the rationale for determining the unacceptability of any synopsis respondents. Reference FAR 13.105, Synopsis and Posting Requirements.

Other Actions. In this paragraph, discuss any other actions taken or planned to facilitate competition for this acquisition. The discussion should include actions tried or considered even if the actions were unsuccessful. If the efforts were unsuccessful, so state and describe why.

Qualifying Country Sources. If qualifying country sources have expressed interest, but are to be excluded, provide supporting rationale.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(7))

Include a statement by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost will be considered fair and reasonable and provide the basis for this determination. The steps that will be taken to ensure the final contract price will be fair and reasonable are also described here. Describe the extent of cost or price analysis anticipated including the requirements for certified cost or pricing data, technical evaluations, and audits.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or explain why market research was not conducted. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(8))

Generally, some form of market research should be conducted. Discuss any market research conducted pursuant to FAR Part 10 and describe results of that research. Market research is any effort undertaken to determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist and to determine if commercial items or non-developmental items are either available or can be modified so that they will satisfy the agency's needs. Market research should be focused not only on identifying alternate sources, but also on alternate equipment or substitutes that might fulfill the Government needs with only minor modification. Regardless of the approach used, the results should provide a high level of confidence that no other qualified sources exist.

When other exceptions from the requirement to obtain full and open competition are relied upon, the market research might be limited to an examination of the acquisition history and experience with the marketplace under previous acquisitions for the same or similar items.

If no market research was conducted, so state and provide the rationale.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(9)(i))

Provide any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, including an explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, statements of objectives, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed, are not being developed, are not being used, or are not available.

X. List of sources, if any, that expressed interest in the acquisition. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(10))

If a sources sought synopsis was done and all interested sources are included in Section VI, it is acceptable to state, “See Section VI above.”

XI. 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. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(11))

Describe any actions taken or to be taken to foster competition for future acquisitions of the supplies or services being acquired. Describe potential actions that could be taken to remove the barriers to competition that have been identified in the justification and include a milestone schedule, where available, for accomplishing these actions. For example, if a follow-on competitive acquisition is planned, so state and provide the planned award date, or state that the Government will attempt to acquire rights in technical data and computer software sufficient to compete follow-on acquisitions as a priced option in the contract action that is the subject of this Justification, or (if applicable) state how the Government intends to challenge nonconforming markings on technical data and computer software delivered to it under previous contracts so those markings can be removed in order that the technical data and computer software may be used in support of a follow-on competitive acquisition, or describe plans to qualify additional sources.

Address efforts to ensure competition for future spare parts and maintenance in support of systems or equipment covered by the justification, even when these acquisitions will be accomplished by other organizations. Include a discussion on available breakout data.

If no actions are planned, so state and provide reasons. If approval is sought for more than one year, explain why a sole source effort is required for the planned time duration.

For a non-competitive follow-on acquisition to a previous award for the same supply or service supported by a Justification citing the same authority, include a discussion of the actions planned to overcome barriers to competition established in the previous justification, the status of those actions, and the results of those actions. The approval authority shall determine whether the planned actions were completed. If the planned actions were not completed, the justification for the follow-on acquisition shall be approved by the approval authority one-level above the approval authority for the previous justification (see FAR 13.501(a)(2)). If the previous justification was approved by the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), the approval remains at the SPE level.

[DFARS 213.501(a) and DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(ii)] XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer. (FAR 6.303-2(b)(12))

As evidenced by his/her signature, the contracting officer has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel. (FAR 6.303-2(c))

As evidenced by their signatures, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein, which is their responsibility, is both accurate and complete.

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