CCSS JA Ceiling increase - final_Redacted.pdf

Consolidated Corporate Support Services - New Work, Level of Effort Increase

CONTROL NUMBER VA-25-00010608

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a modification to the hybrid Firm- Fixed-Price (FFP) and Cost Reimbursement (CR) Task Order (TO) 36C10B21N10110004 issued under Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract Number VA118-16-D-1011, on a competitive Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set aside basis for Consolidated Corporate Support Services (CCSS) with CivitasDX LLC (Civitas), 9920 Pacific Heights Boulevard, Suite 150, San Diego, California, 92121-4361. The purpose of this modification is to increase the Not To Exceed (NTE) ceiling price of Optional Task Seven, Legacy Product Defect Remediation and Enhancements, Contract Line-Item Number (CLIN) 10001; and Optional Task Nine, DevSecOps Systems Teams, CLIN 12001.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Consolidated Corporate Support Services TO supports Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate (CORP) Portfolio by providing services to support Information Technology Legacy Sustainment Applications and Development, Security and Operations (DevSecOps) for CORP Portfolio Product Lines and Products. There is a need to increase the ceiling of the aforementioned Optional Tasks Seven and Nine to provide technical support services for system monitoring, incident analysis and resolution, system administration, application updates, database updates, business report generation, help desk/end user support, Section 508 accessibility remediation, Authority to Operate (ATO) maintenance/renewal, and security vulnerability remediation and resolution for which Civitas updates security plans and standard operating procedures (SOP). Civitas maintains the Authority to Operate (ATO) on the VA network, ensures software updates in order to comply with VA’s Technology Reference Model (TRM) and addresses Section 508 accessibility requirements. Furthermore, Civitas evaluates and remediates any defects that are identified in the Legacy product and DevSecOps Systems as well as, analyzes and implements any approved enhancement requirement. Civitas triages issues to determine if the problem is traceable to requirements, design, configuration, testing, code defect, documentation deficiency, or knowledge gap, and determines whether further analysis is required. At the beginning of Option Period Three, on March 29, 2024, Veteran Canteen Services (VCS) Point of Sale (POS) and Automated Information System (AIS) and Corporate and Regional Matrixed Budget System (CRMBS) required execution plans for services until end of the current task order on March 28, 2025. Throughout the Period of Performance (PoP), remaining ceiling that theoretically could have been used to support the last 3 months was instead used to accommodate additional scrum teams needed under the umbrella of this TO. The additional scrum teams that were exercised left the TO ceiling approximately 1% short

Consolidated Corporate Support Services of being able to accommodate the additional 3 months. As such, a ceiling increase for Optional Tasks Seven and Nine, specifically CLINs 10001 and 12001, is required for continued service during the final Option Period Three PoP, specifically from December 31, 2024 to March 28, 2025, at which time the follow-on task order, CCSS 2.0, is anticipated to be awarded and performance ready to commence. As described above, the additional scrum teams are needed to mitigate security vulnerabilities, sustain the Authority to Operate (ATO) on the VA network, ensure compliance with VA’s Technology Reference Model (TRM) and address Section 508 accessibility requirements. This proposed action would increase the FFP NTE ceiling price of Optional Task Seven, Legacy Product Defect Remediation and Enhancements, CLIN 10001 from by to and the NTE ceiling price of Optional Task Nine, DevSecOps Systems Teams, CLIN 12001 from by to . The proposed action would increase the TO total value from by to .

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source of this action is Civitas, 9920 Pacific Heights Boulevard, Suite 150, San Diego, California, 92121-4361. On September 28, 2021, the TO was competitively awarded with a 6-month base period; three 12-month option periods and eleven optional tasks. Civitas is currently performing all the technical support services, as described in Section 3 above, for CORP under this effort and is currently meeting the requirements of the TO. Without this continuation of services, VA faces a gap in service for the critical support provided under the current TO, 36C10B21N10110004, for VCS POS & AIS and CRMBS applications, which would negatively impact VA’s Corporate Portfolio services while the new TO is solicited. This increase in ceiling for Optional Task Seven and Nine will ensure continuity of VA’s CORP portfolio, programs and sustainment activities.

If another vendor is selected, additional risk would be incurred as the new contractor’s staff may not fully understand the intent and context of the complex requirements included in this application. Furthermore, another source would require a steep learning curve while gaining familiarity with the VA systems. This is an addition to basic onboarding requirements for vendor staff such as background checks, security clearances, systems access, mandatory training, establishing communications plans, readiness reviews, etc. Overall, if another vendor is selected, completion of onboarding requirements is anticipated to take at least 30 days. If the services required by the extension are not provided, VA Legacy and DevSecOps systems will not be secure and compliant with VA IT policies and procedures. These applications will then become vulnerable to threats, fall out of compliance and cease to function as expected. VA seeks to ensure that the VCS POS & AIS and CRMBS applications remains available, accessible, and compliant with VA and Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) standards, ultimately allowing CFM’s delivery of critical facilities such as medical centers, community-based clinics, regional offices, and national cemeteries that in combination serve our Nation’s veterans.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements in a short time period and perform at the level of Civitas without causing severe negative impacts to VA. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities Page and the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed. The recompete of the TO is planned to be awarded on a competitive basis.

8. Market Research: The Government technical experts continuously perform market research by conducting internet searches and staying abreast of the current technologies and market outlook. Most recently on November 5, 2024, the government issued an Request for Information to gather information from potential vendors about their service and capabilities, research industry trends and market condition in order to collect information to develop a plan to meet business changes and or objectives. The RFI resulted in 23 responses received from the industry of which nine were Service- Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). All 23 responses were reviewed by the CORP Portfolio technical representatives. As a result of the analysis, which was based on the capability statements provided by the vendors, the Government determined that eight vendors, six of which are SDVOSBs, are capable of successfully performing the requirements of the Performance Work Statement. While it is clear these aforementioned vendors are capable of providing technical support services that meet VA’s needs, none of them would be capable of providing staffing for VCS POS & AIS and CRMBS for the required services by the current need date of December 31, 2024.

Only Civitas can immediately provide already familiar and properly badged and equipped personnel to meet OIT, CORP Portfolio critical operational and mission needs without adversely affecting services to our Programs and Projects that support Veterans.

9. Other Facts: None.