(CUI) JA24-076_Bridge_Event_of_Protest_NDU EITSS Bridge Modification FINAL_Redacted.pdf

JA24-076 MOD 01 NDU EITSS Bridge

CUI

Controlled By: DISA Controlled By: PS64 CUI Category: Procure Distribution/Dissemination Control: FEDCON POC: Jonathan R. Chattler, jonathan.r.chattler.civ@mail.mil

JUSTIFICATION & APPROVAL (J&A) FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Modification (MOD) Justification

Purchase Request Number: HC10902400185024 + HQ0100520976 Contract Number: HC104724C0003 P00002 Task/Delivery Order Number: Not Applicable (N/A) Procurement Title: National Defense University (NDU) Enterprise Information Technology Services Support (EITSS) bridge Estimated Value:

Statutory Authority: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1

Justification for OTFAOC Number: JA24-076 MOD 01

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate, hereby approve the use of OTFAOC of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

Requiring Agency:

NDU

Fort Lesley J. McNair Washington, D.C. 20319

Contracting Activity:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)/Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) PS64 6910 Cooper Avenue Ft. Meade, Maryland 20755-7087

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S):

MOD 01: The nature of this action is to modify the firm-fixed price contract HC104724C0003 to include FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. The period of performance of the contract is June 1, 2024 – November 30, 2024. The additional 6-month extension will provide services from 1 December 2024 – May 31, 2025, using Operations and Maintenance funding. The additional 6-month period will allow for transition-in time and in the event additional protest issues are raised it allows NDU continued services with time for further acquisition planning. The contract HC104724C0003 was awarded to the incumbent contractor as a result of the protest and a J&A for OTFAOC was approved

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(JA24-076) for the new award. The follow-on contract is anticipated to be re-awarded November 15, 2024.

The nature of this action is to procure a six (6) month Firm Fixed Price contract to function as a bridge contract during the post award bid protest to the United States (U.S.) Government Accountability Office (GAO) of contract number HC102818D0035, task order number HC104724F0500, awarded on April 30, 2024. The Period of Performance (PoP) for the current contract, contract number N0018924PZ020, ends May 31, 2024. This bridge will include PoP of six (6) months with no optional periods. The PoP of the extension will be June 1, 2024 – November 30, 2024. This bridge will ensure continued support during the protest period of the follow-on contract. The NDU EITSS effort actively supports NDU’s full range of Information Technology (IT) services requirements. Support will include management of NDU’s enterprise network, including risk management, IT services management, IT infrastructure management, enterprise IT services and support, helpdesk services, asset management, application configuration, SharePoint engineering and administration, Cloud systems administration, cybersecurity support, and educational lab and simulation support. NDU does not have the organic resources to execute the spectrum of IT services requirement to maintain NDU’s day to day operational capability. NDU will use Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense (DoD) Operations and Maintenance funding to support this bridge action.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: Continuity of services is required for support to the NDU. The contract effort provides a scope including the administration of commercial cloud services in accordance with the Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide, services that enable transition to and operation in the commercial cloud environment, engineering support to analyze Cloud requirements and to develop and implement recommended solutions. The NDU stakeholder community comprises all users supported by NDU, whether they are on campus, distance learning, or remote users. This community includes, at a minimum 600 users, but can increase to 2,500 personnel faculty, staff, and students (both onsite and remote).

The types of services and solutions required include the following Task Areas:

Network Normalization, Identity and Access Management, Network Modernization and system upgrades, Enterprise Services, Cloud Computing, Storage Services, Secure File Transfer Services, Virtual Machine Services, Database Hosting Services, Web Hosting Services, Hosting Optimization, Basic How-To Training Services related to new or changed capabilities within the operating environment.

Cloud service delivery may necessitate Contractor provisioning of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software and maintenance thereof, and COTS IT new equipment. These services will

Page 3 of 8 Pages enable the NDU to continue transition from current hosting environments to the Commercial Cloud. The Contractor shall provide for the administration and configuration of new technologies and refresh their offerings under the Agreement in accordance with the Contractor’s commercial business practices, as NDU cloud requirements change, and in accordance with this Agreement, over the full period of performance. Additionally, NDU requires Contractor support for NDU customers in the areas of enterprise-wide IT services that encompass end user devices (mobile, desktop (Windows Operating System (OS) and Macintosh (MAC) iPhone Operating System (iOS), etc.)), student service application support, server and infrastructure operations (Windows and MAC iOS) and service management: e-mail, mobile device, wireless support; storage and backup, networking, cloud based services, Audiovisual (AV) systems, SharePoint, file server, and applications support.

The scope also includes providing industry best practices to securely enhance the NDU IT infrastructure; reduce software and application latency; improve network performance; service availability and reliability, and positively enhance the customer/student experience, and increase efficiency through process improvement via the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Framework. The Contractor shall provide enterprise-wide IT services that meet the functional and technical need of the NDU customer base worldwide to include a Disaster Recovery Plan. NDU recognizes that successful increases to network performance, service availability and reliability is contingent upon the acquisition and implementation of network modernization projects.

The current contract was re-competed as a small business set-aside acquisition under the DISA DITCO ENCORE 3 Small Business contract vehicle. On April 30, 2024, the follow-on contract, contract number HC102818D0035, task order HC104724F0500, was awarded to begin performance on May 1, 2024. The bid protest was submitted in a timely manner to trigger an automatic suspension of performance of the follow-on contract pending resolution of the protest in accordance with FAR 33.103(f)(3). The execution of the bridge contract will allow for continued support of this vital program during the protest period, while retaining the ability to provide a consistent level of effort for the NDU, its customers, student population, and stakeholders without a break in service.

The estimated cost of support for this extension is for labor and travel. The estimated cost for the 6-month FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services is for travel and labor (MOD 01). This estimate is based on the proposed price and basis of the current contract including labor categories and rates established on the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services (STARS) contract vehicle and reflected on current contract, contract number N0018924PZ020. The following labor Categories from GSA 8(a) STARS were used to develop the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE):

Page 6 of 8 Pages less than one week from the date of graduation. The consequences of this cancellation would incur significant costs to NDU and the negative impact to the schedules of significant U.S. and International dignitaries and lost travel costs.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor. Due to the bid protest, Open San Consulting LLC is the only source that can fulfill this requirement without risk of a substantial break in service/support to The National Defense University. Again, due to the bid protest filed by Team CSI Joint Venture LLC, Open San Consulting LLC is the only source that can supply the needed services during this period without a break in service.

(3) A sole-source action is necessary due to a protest filed in response to the award of the follow-on contract, contract number HC102818D0035, task order number HC104724F0500. If a bid protest had not been received, this extension would not be necessary.

6. CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL SOURCES: A synopsis for this addition of FAR 52.217-8 to the current bridge was posted to SAM.gov on October 25, 2024, and closed on November 4, 2024. No responses were received (MOD 01). This will be a new contract award, as a bridge contract effort, until the protest of the follow-on contract can be resolved. Solicitation number 642369727 for the follow-on contract was posted on DISA DITCO ENCORE 3 small business website on January 10, 2024, as a small business set-aside. Five (5) proposals were received. Award was made on April 30, 2024.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST: During source selection of solicitation number 642369727, a price evaluation was conducted in accordance with FAR 15.404. The contract prices were determined to be reasonable. The proposed prices for the extension will be compared to the current contract prices as well as the IGCE and the proposed prices for the follow-on effort in order to determine fair and reasonableness.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: This action will result in a bridge contract, mirroring the existing contract to ensure continued support until the protest and transition period of the follow-on contract, contract number HC102818D0035, task order number HC104724F0500, are complete. Market research was conducted for the follow-on contract which was conducted within the last 12 months. The market research identified potential sources which enabled the follow-on contract to be conducted as an open market small business set-aside. Additional market research conducted reviewing existing contracting vehicles, such as, ENCORE III and SETI, resulted in utilizing the FAR 52.217-8 as the most advantageous method in fulfilling the Government’s needs, considering price and continuity of services (MOD 01).

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS: N/A

10. LISTING OF INTERESTED SOURCES: N/A

11.ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS

THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION.

(c) Current Contract: N0018924PZ020

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(d) Status: Expires May 31, 2024. Competitive Small Business Set-Aside Source Selection under FAR 16.5 against the DISA DITCO ENCORE 3 Small Business contract vehicle was completed for follow-on. Award announced May 1, 2024. Stop-work order was issued on May 29, 2024, due to a bid protest submitted to the GAO on May 24, 2024.

HC104724C0003 was awarded to the incumbent on 31 May 2024 with a period of performance of 1 June 2024 to 30 November 2024 to avoid a gap in service, however, the follow-on effort was competed under ENCORE III Small Business pool and is anticipated to be re-awarded on November 15, 2024.

12.REFERENCE TO THE APPROVED ACQUISITION PLAN (AP): An AP was not required for this effort as it does not meet the dollar threshold.