A27 Consolidation Memo Redacted.pdf

National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) Requirements: Oracle products are required to support the NBIS suite of applications, which makes up the collection of all the Information Technology (IT) systems that support the end-to-end (E2E) process for personnel vetting. NBIS is a discrete set of IT resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or disposition of personal vetting (PV) information, including the full lifecycle of processes and procedures that inform and enable the PV process: Initial Vetting, Continuous Vetting (CV), Upgrades, Transfer of Trust, and Re-establishment of Trust. The current NBIS system comprises of a portfolio of twenty-one (21) PV IT systems and applications with multiple sub-systems. Defense Information System for Security (DISS), Mirador and Defense Central Index for Investigations (DCII) are three (3) of those 21 systems.

DISS serves as an enterprise-wide solution for PV, suitability, and credential management for DoD Military, civilian, and contractors. DISS replaced the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) as the system of record in 2021. DISS facilitates secure communications between adjudicators, security officers and components. Users can request, record and review security actions for people who already have favorable determination.

Mirador is the IT system that supports the CV mission thread. Mirador maintains real-time and regular periodic connections to designated data sources that align with the adjudicative guidelines to receive pertinent security event information on persons that have an active affiliation and favorable determination with the Federal government.

DCII is an automated central index that identifies investigations conducted by DoD investigative agencies, and personnel security determinations made by DoD adjudicative authorities. DCII access is limited to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies that have adjudicative, investigative and/or counterintelligence missions.

The use of the Oracle suite of DBMS software is essential to the continuity of DCSA’s mission requirements for the foreseeable future, based upon the following information:

Oracle DBMS (commonly referred to as Oracle DBMS, Oracle Autonomous Database, or simply as Oracle) is a proprietary multi-model DBMS produced and marketed by Oracle. It is a commercial off the shelf database used worldwide, most commonly for running online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed database workloads.

Transitioning away from the Oracle DBMS is difficult primarily due to the significant re-development efforts needed to migrate applications built specifically for Oracle's proprietary features onto another software construct. This resource constraint makes switching to a competing DBMS a significantly major undertaking for users. DCSA enterprise systems and applications must continue to leverage the Oracle software because no other database software could support the current configuration of these applications without extensive re-configuration and re-development, which would take an immeasurable amount of effort, time and money. Due to the complexity of the applications, the specificity of the current operational environment, and the expenditures to date for the design, engineering, configuration, authorization, and deployment of the

Alternative Contracting Approaches - FAR 7.107-2(a)(2)

Alternate contracting approaches include the following:

1. Maintain separate contracts for PEO and OCIO for the same requirement

2. Exercise Option Year 4 under Army Contract #W904TE-21-P-2733 to split the requirement and make multiple awards

As stated above, the previous contracts were awarded separately due to emerging program needs. After careful analysis, the scope of both contracts aligns, and at this time, it is more efficient and cost effective to consolidate under a single contract. Without the consolidation, the Government will encounter additional risk as it relates to duplication of effort to include schedule risks, procurement lead times, and overarching scope creep between both contracts. The need to separate the actions is no longer necessary and is not advantageous to the Government. More specifically, to split the requirement and make multiple awards has high schedule risks as this would at least double acquisition documentation and reviews and require duplicate pre- and post-award administration for all stakeholders.

There are no known benefits to splitting the requirement as it currently is set up. There would be two awards, one currently being performed by an other than small business, the other by a small business, and the inefficiencies and duplicative efforts make this option less desirable than consolidation.

D. Negative Impact on Small Business - FAR 7.107-2(a)(4)

There are no anticipated negative impacts on small businesses as a result of this effort. The previous DCSA-internal procurement, HS0021-22-F-0037, was solicited as a 100% SB set-aside on NASA SEWP. The proposed procurement would be set-aside for small businesses who are authorized resellers of Oracle branded products on NASA SEWP.

E. Small Business Inclusion in Procurement - FAR 7.107-2(a)(5)

During market research, the Agency's priority has been to seek out capable small businesses who may be able to provide the required products. Both available small business resellers have expressed interest in competing for this requirement should a solicitation be provided. Currently, 78% of the total requirement is being provided by small business reseller, Affigent. This consolidation effort aims to award 100% of the requirement to a capable small business. NASA SEWP was found to be the most viable option for fulfilling the Agency's needs in terms of small business reseller availability, product availability and ease of use/reduced administrative burden (FAR Part 16 procedures).

F. Benefits of Consolidation - FAR 7.107-2(b) and (c)

The below information has been provided in support of consolidation. More specifically, the information supports that consolidation is necessary and justified and demonstrates that the benefits of the acquisition would substantially exceed the benefits that would be derived from the alternative contracting approaches as identified in Section C above.

Quality improvements that will save time or improve or enhance performance or efficiency - FAR 7.107- 2(c)(1)

Consolidation saves time and improves Agency efficiency by limiting duplication of efforts by including similar requirements under the same programmatic umbrella where possible. By consolidating the DCSA Oracle requirement, the Agency will ensure standardized terms and conditions, improve operational efficiency through cost and risk management, and standardize continuous performance. A single contract will align quality expectations and compliance, reduce administrative overhead, streamline reporting and workflows, improve utilization through better allocation and tracking, and establish a centralized Agency level review process for quality assurance. A single contracting vehicle, managed at the Agency level, will create a more agile response to the rapidly changing Information Technology environment. This will ensure a central point for organizational learning, information sharing and the development of Agency wide standards that may be replicated at an unmatched pace when compared to maintaining silos of disparate systems and points of contact within the organization. These quality improvements are largely unquantifiable, beyond the logical determination that the benefit of consolidation in this regard is greater than zero dollars, and so this benefit is provided only to improve the comprehensiveness of the determination rationale.

Reduction in acquisition cycle times - FAR 7.107-2(c)(2)

The acquisition cycle time is significantly reduced through consolidation. The proposed consolidated requirement is the same or very similar to the existing technical requirements under the predecessor actions. Procuring licenses and support to cover this requirement using an unconsolidated approach would require duplicative procurement activities, resulting in twice the administrative effort; the effects of which could not be sufficiently mitigated through the additional competition of procuring separate contracts. The resultant reduction in acquisition cycle times is also difficult to accurately quantify without a significant assessment of Government personnel and average time requirements for drafting, reviewing, and securing approval for all documents and system entries required for a successful acquisition. The Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT) for the consolidation effort is 120 days. If we were to exercise the remaining option period for the OCIO IAA contract, the PALT is 75 days, while the PALT to execute a new separate contract just to renew the PEO ULA would be 120 days, resulting in a total PALT of 195 days. Furthermore, the OCIO licenses would require a renewal contract next year, which would carry a PALT of 120 days. In summary, the consolidation is estimated to reduce the total PALT by roughly 38%. Procuring the current requirements under two separate contracts would be a significant administrative burden, conflict with the Clinger Cohen Act's directive to streamline the IT procurement process, and is a gross misuse of Agency resources and taxpayer funds, the effects of which could not be recovered through additional competition. This information is provided only to improve the comprehensiveness of the determination rationale.

Better terms and conditions - FAR 7.107-2(c)(3)

A single new award eliminates the potential for inconsistencies or conflicts in the terms, conditions, and requirements descriptions, which may occur across multiple efforts. In addition, a combined management approach will ensure consistency in the support required to meet the defined requirements. A single contract will assist the Government in ensuring compliance with a single set of terms and conditions rather than with two separate contract awards. Additional realized benefits of consolidation and execution of an enterprise ULA include:

1. No cap on deploying licenses in 3rd party cloud environment and the enterprise ULA includes 0% annual support cap vs. standard 8% support cap.

2. Allows DCSA unlimited deployment of the 14 identified products enterprise-wide for the duration of the ULA term, allowing for agility and unrestricted future growth over the next 3 years by eliminating the need to purchase additional software as Agency mission needs evolve. The existing PEO ULA specifically restricts deployment of licenses to only PEO and select NBIS systems.

3. Establishes a Technology Product Discount Hold for all non-ULA technology products.

Other benefit(s) - FAR 7.107-2(c)(4):

In addition to the benefits listed above, a single award solution will provide for a single team including the Contracting Officer (KO), Contract Specialist (CS), Contracting Officer’s Representative, and Technical Point of Contact (TPOC). The Government expects this will significantly lessen any required learning curve associated with new or different persons issuing individual contracts. With a single KO, CS and TPOC, the Government expects streamlined and consistent contract administration as well as a single contract file to review during the performance of the contract.

These requirements were never intended to be awarded separately, but only as a temporary solution due to the emerging Agency requirements. Soliciting and awarding separate contracts creates inefficiencies for both the Government and the contractor. Beyond the reduction in time saved for appointing two COR’s and TPOC’s and managing two separate contracts for similar work, not bringing this work in-house for the DCSA Contracting and Procurement Office (CPO) to procure and administer continues to cost the Agency in fees paid for assisted acquisitions. The Army Technology Applications Office charged a fee of 2% of the contract value in July 2021 when the OCIO Oracle contract was issued.

The benefits of consolidating these contracts substantially exceeds the benefits from keeping them as separate contracts.

G. Basis for Consolidation Determination:

This determination that consolidation is necessary and justified is based on:

Financial benefits of consolidation – FAR 7.107-2(d) Mission criticality – FAR 7.107-2(e)

Benefits of this consolidation are not quantifiable in dollar amounts (FAR 7.107- 2(d)(2)).

Consolidation of the Oracle license products and support into one contract will allow for central management of all Oracle licenses, enabling cost, risk and technical surveillance management and standardization. Specifically, a single contract will align quality expectations and compliance, and establish enterprise-level oversight of existing license utilization and support.

Furthermore, a single contracting vehicle, managed at the enterprise level, will create a more agile response to the rapidly changing Information Technology environment and will ensure a central point for organizational monitoring and awareness, information sharing, and the development of Agency-wide standards that may be replicated at an unmatched pace when compared to maintaining silos of disparate systems and points of contact within the organization.

While the financial benefits to the Government are not quantifiable due to program growth, emerging requirements for the Oracle licenses, and complexities of the ULA, this consolidation effort and enterprise level contract is designed to save the Agency an estimated $60M over the life of the contract when compared to a la carte license purchases at current market prices. In market research discussions with Oracle and through careful analysis of pricing for both the ULA and a la carte licensing, the most cost effective means of procuring the licenses and support required is via the enterprise ULA approach. Specifically, market research findings resulted in a 66% savings, with a la carte licenses and maintenance pricing estimated at roughly $101M, compared to the ULA II estimated price of . Furthermore, given that the PEO ULA is set to expire this year and requires renewal and expansion anyway, it’s likely the renewal would cost roughly the same as the ULA II enterprise estimate of even without enterprise requirements included, given that PEO and NBIS systems make up the bulk of the Agency Oracle license requirements and the licenses and support align across the enterprise. With this in mind, if DCSA were to renew the PEO ULA while maintaining the status quo and exercising the OCIO IAA option, DCSA would likely pay duplicate costs for the Oracle support. The OCIO IAA total contract value is with last option period priced at . If DCSA were to exercise the last option and then execute a new separate contract, DCSA would pay roughly M (option exercise plus a new Oracle contract for OCIO) in duplicative costs.

H. Financial Benefits of Consolidation - FAR 7.107-2(d)

FAR 7.107-2(d)(2) states the following:

(2) Benefits that are not quantifiable in dollar amounts shall be specifically identified and otherwise quantified to the extent feasible.

The specific benefits for this consolidation have been fully outlined in the above sections.

I. Mission criticality - FAR 7.107-2(e)

The proposed consolidation for a new Oracle enterprise ULA takes into consideration DCSA’s mission and strategic goals, as well as the 258% increase in license deployment over the last three years under the existing PEO ULA. ULA II is intended to create a new agreement that focuses on efficiency, modernization and predictability of utilization moving forward. Critical features of the enterprise ULA consolidation contributing to overall mission success include:

ULA II will cover existing and forecasted license requirements and deployment to build in agility for enterprise license needs; ULA II removes PEO/NBIS limitations and exclusion while opening deployment and expansion of license products to the DCSA Enterprise; eliminates cap on deploying licenses in 3rd Party Cloud environments; grants DCSA the ability to deploy Oracle technology in a more efficient manner through the granting of Soft Partitioning; and, establishes a 0% annual support cap versus standard 8% annual compounding support increase.

DCSA must continue to sustain the operations of its enterprise systems and applications, as they are critical components in supporting the Agency mission of providing the processes and IT