C55_MISC_-_Redacted_HRD_FedRAMP-authorized_ServiceNow_(SNOW)_DC_Review_-_FINAL_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i)

SOLICITATION #140D0425Q0598

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

This document is a Brand Name Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of the Human Resources Directorate (HRD) for Personnel and Payroll systems Division (PPSD) and the Human Resources Management Systems Division (HRMSD).

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

This is a Brand Name Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity in support of a follow-on requirement for ServiceNow Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) licensing and support services. This requirement will be solicited against the DOI Foundation Cloud Hosting Services 2 (FCHS2) Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. HRD has a continuing need for licensing and support for HRD Service Management Modernization to ensure continuity of services.

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

ServiceNow (SNOW) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform environment is an environment capable of being scalable to host or process current, emerging, and future hosting requirements. Initially hosting a multi-tenant structure for HRD’s HRMSD and PPSD software development life cycle (SDLC) Change Management procedures and records management. Will require ServiceNow (SNOW) subscription licenses and associated implementation services to include data migration, site configuration, and instance workflow creation. This effort includes continuing support to the existing PPSD SNOW instance, through planning and executing its migration into the new environment/instance. Additional future efforts will include planning integration of both instances into one unified instance and disestablishment of PPSD’s prior instance.

The anticipated period of performance is a 12-month base period and a four 12-month option periods covering 8/14/2025 – 8/13/2030. The total estimated value is inclusive of the FAR 52.217- 8 Option to Extend Services. The brand name license component of the estimated price is .

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(a)(4)(i)) 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(a)(4)(i) – The contracting officer must justify restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer).

SOLICITATION #140D0425F0598

ServiceNow is the only enterprise-grade, FedRAMP-authorized Information Technology Service Management (ITMS) which is a unique solution currently deployed within the IBC’s PPSD division and is the established platform direction based on prior implementation, market research, and planning. It aligns with DOI’s broader adoption strategy and supports a scalable, mulita-tenant environment necessary for HRD enterprise moderation. The platform is actively used by PPSD and serves as the agency standard for service delivery modernization. Use of alternate brands would require a complete system redesign, reauthorization under FedRAMP, data migration, extensive testing, and additional training, resulting in significant cost, schedule delays, and risk to continuity of operations. Broader federal Information Technology (IT) transition efforts involving platform replacements, particularly those requiring FedRAMP reauthorization, enterprise workflow redesign, and high user impact have reported estimated costs ranging from to . While our internal estimate is more narrowly scoped, it aligns with this industry pattern and supports the SOW language referencing significant cost and operational risk. Furthermore, the system configuration, metadata, and workflows are built around ServiceNow, and integration has been federally approved and customized to meet HRD’s operational and security requirements. Maintaining system compatibility and FedRAMP Moderate compliance requires continued use of these specific brand name products. The solution must consolidate existing HRD Service Management Systems SMS system’s workflows and migrate associated data.

Migrating PPSD’s legacy ServiceNow instance into a new enterprise multi-tenant environment while simultaneously replacing HRMSD’s unsupported JTRAC platform necessitates continuity in architecture, user interface, workflow logic, and administrative roles. Any alternative solution would result in unacceptable risk, delays, and cost due to re-engineering, retraining, and recertification requirements. The Government estimate the duplicate hosting and licensing costs during system overlap, retraining of site administrators and end users, labor required for system reengineering, market research, configuration, testing, and FedRAMP reauthorization, temporary loss of productivity, downtime, and dual operations during the transition cost to be approximately to . In addition to the cost and time considerations, selecting an alternative platform would disrupt production services significantly, as the systems are already configured to operate optimally with ServiceNow. Moreover, DOI has already invested significantly in ServiceNow infrastructure, integrations, and user training, making it the only viable platform to meet operational and security needs while advancing modernization goals.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The solicitation shall be competed against DOI FCHS2 IDIQ contract holders, which consist of six other than small businesses (Accenture; CGI Federal; IBM; Smartronix; SAIC and Trace3 (formerly Zivaro)). The Government anticipates awarding a single hybrid Time-and-Materials and Firm-Fixed- Price (FFP) Task Order issued against the successful quoter’s FCHS2 IDIQ contract received in response of the solicitation. The government will be seeking discounts. The Contracting Officer determined that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable based comparison of proposed prices with the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) and competitive prices received in response to the solicitation. Based on acquisition history and market research, the solicitation is likely to obtain sufficient pricing competition to establish a fair and reasonable price.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

SOLICITATION #140D0425F0598

No additional supporting facts identified.

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.

There are no further practical considerations that can be taken at this time to eliminate the Brand Name only restriction for these required software products due to the proprietary nature of software subscriptions and the need for compatible components. The Government will continue to conduct market research to identify changes in the marketplace that would allow unrestricted competition.

With regards to this acquisition, the Government anticipates adequate pricing competition among ServiceNow (SNOW) authorized resellers on FCHS2 IDIQ contracts.