Decision Lens Limited_Sources_Redacted.pdf

Limited Sources Justification and Approval (J&A)

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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V. Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with

FAR 8.404(d).

The BPA holder's proposed price will be evaluated to ensure it represents the best value to the Government. By placing an order against a schedule contract using the procedures in 8.405, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

Determination of price fair and reasonable will be made through comparison of BPA price with prices available on GSA and the open market as well as historical prices paid for the same/similar product by other federal agencies. In addition, the ordering activity will seek a price reduction for this requirement from the current price list in the BPA.

The quote received during market research from the BPA holder Carahsoft already appeared to have provided pricing per item lower than the prices established in the BPA price list.

VI. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or explain why market research was not conducted.

Market research found that because DFARS 208.7402(a) and AFMAN 17-1203 both require COTS software items this type to be acquired through approved DOW/DAF Enterprise Licenses Agreements (ELAs), DOW ESI or approved DOW/ DAF contract vehicles.

The Department of War (previously DOD) Enterprise Software Initiative (DOW ESI) has an established BPA (#N66001-21-A-0031) with Carahsoft Technology, Corp. for the acquisition of the Decision Lens software. As a software that fits the Government's needs was found to be available through the mandatory use vehicles (in this case an ESI BPA), no other sources could be considered.

Additionally, analysis was conducted against other similar solutions such as Generic Business Tools (e.g., Excel, BI Dashboards) and soliciting for the creation of a new custom solution. Use of generic business tools was found to be unacceptable due to the tools currently on the market not being optimized for the work required and use of them would need human labor hours to consolidate the information between all the tools that Decision Lens is able to do more efficiently within its one system. The use of labor would also entail a higher risk for incorrect outputs due to human error.

The creation of a custom solution is also high-risk as well as time consuming, costly, non-standardized or as easily scalable as a COTS solution and not guaranteed to be approved to the necessary security levels even after an extended amount of time being dedicated to achieve security clearance. In short, Decision Lens was the only software found to meet the need due to capability, security clearance, time (both in efficiency of use and time to implement) to reach a deployable end-product.

VII. Other facts supporting the justification.

FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is a U.S. government-wide program standardizing security assessments for cloud products and services (CSPs). FedRAMP compliance means a cloud service meets the U.S.

government's strict security standards for protecting federal data. Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Levels (IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6), which define security requirements for cloud environments based on the sensitivity of information (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) and the potential impact if compromised. Higher levels (like IL6 for classified data) require stricter controls than lower levels (like IL2 for public information.)

Due to the nature of data that will be processed any software is required to be FedRAMP compliant and certified to IL Levels 4/5/6. Decision Lens already has the certification. For another software to be considered they would have to undergo the lengthy review and security certification process and would delay work by the AFIMSC/A2/5/8. Decision Lens also has an existing Authorization to Operate (ATO) from AF IC CIO/AO that any other software would have to start the process of obtaining.

Limited Sources Justification and Approval (J&A)

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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VIII. Actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services.

Additional software companies would have to be found with similar capabilities and vetted through the FedRAMP Process as well as certified to be Impact Level 4/5/6 compliant to allow for CUI and classified data to go through their Cloud Services. The contracting agency will continue to conduct market research for any future requirements to verify if any additional vendors with the capabilities required have entered the market.

IX. 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.

X. 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.