JOTFOC_V-TRIPS_Task_Order_DTRTV-T05006_Redacted.pdf

US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

VOLPE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS CENTER

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

PART I - TECHNICAL SUPPORTING DATA

Recommend that negotiations be conducted with Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT) on a non-competitive basis for a directed task order award under the multiple award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite

Quantity (IDIQ) Volpe Transportation Information Project Support (V-TRIPS) that will provide on-site information technologies (IT) capabilities and expertise for the Volpe National Transportation Systems

Center’s (Volpe Center) technical projects in an amount estimated to be from date of award through November 30, 2015 (approximately 7 months). The purpose of this directed task order award to

SGT is to obtain continued IT services largely focused on, but not exclusively for, support to the Federal

Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) IT projects and the Federal Aviation Administration’s

(FAA) Aviation Safety portfolio of projects supported by the Volpe Center; this scope of work will also include important requirements for management and administration of the proposed task order. The period of performance (POP) of this directed award task order will be from the date of task order award through November 30, 2015; this is in line with the POP of SGT’s Master Contract DTRT57-10-D-

30026. The POP for all five V-TRIPS Master Contracts was modified by the Contracting Officer on

March 4, 2015, to extend it to November 30, 2015. The supporting data for this recommendation are as follows:

A. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

The Volpe Center utilizes a combination of Federal and Contractor personnel to maximize the broad range and quantity of skills needed to perform sponsoring organizations’ projects. This directed task order award will constitute an important part of the Volpe Center’s resources by providing high-technology capabilities and skills targeted to the Volpe Center’s programmatic requirements in the area of

IT for the FMCSA projects, the FAA Aviation Safety projects, and other small projects that cut across all modes of transportation, both national and international, for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and non-DOT organizations, including state and local governments.

IT support services have historically been provided through the utilization of on-site and off-site technical support services contracts, allowing the Volpe Center to quickly respond to new projects and changing requirements of ongoing technical programs. The support will provide the necessary IT capabilities and expertise in response to technical project requirements presented by the Volpe Center. Technical project requirements vary widely in scope, cost estimates, and schedules.

SGT is currently providing IT support services to the Volpe Center under Task Order DTRT57-10-D-

30026, DTRTV-T01001. SGT was determined to provide the best value to the Government through competitive procedures among the five prime V-TRIPS contractors. SGT is providing IT support in the following five task areas:

1. System Analysis, Development, Operations and Maintenance, Deployment, and Information

Security;

2. System Architectures and Framework;

3. Facility and Operations Support;

4. Technology Assessments and Modernization; and

5. Other Specialized Areas.

B. BACKGROUND

On September 2, 2010, contracts were awarded to five prime contractors following a competition under solicitation DTRT57-10-R-20008 for V-TRIPS. These are multiple award task order-type contracts and have a combined total value of $233.9M. SGT was one of the five companies awarded a prime contract.

On October 4, 2010, the Volpe Center issued a Task Order Request for Proposal (TORFP) to all five

V-TRIPS contractors. The TORFP included a scope of work to support the Volpe Center, and it required the submission of Technical Proposals and Cost Proposals. The Volpe Center received proposals from all five V-TRIPS contractors.

Task order award criteria included technical understanding, management administration, staffing, and transition as well as a determination of cost reasonableness. Four of the five proposals received a rating of acceptable or higher; one proposal was rated marginal overall. On February 1, 2011, the Volpe Center awarded V-TRIPS Task Order DTRT57-10-D-30026, DTRTV-T01001 to SGT in an amount Not-to-

Exceed (NTE) $109.9M. The POP was 5 years through August 31, 2015.

When the Independent Government Estimate (IGE) for V-TRIPS Task Order DTRTV-T01001 was developed, the Procurement Request (PR) Initiator solicited input from the Volpe Center Management

Team about recommended additions, deletions, and edits to the support requirements of the Statement of

Work (SOW) from the predecessor Transportation Information Project Support (TRIPS) task order. The

PR Initiator considered the feedback received from senior leadership when determining if the level of effort (LOE) and requirements would grow, decrease, or remain the same; this feedback was reflected in the IGE and the LOE for V-TRIPS Task Order DTRTV-T01001. The PR Initiator also considered historical information and trends based on the specific knowledge derived from day-to-day functional activities, including the review of all job orders and job order plans for the predecessor TRIPS task order and consultation with Volpe Technical Center division chiefs and project managers to determine the nature and quantity of the LOE for contractor IT support for V-TRIPS Task Order DTRTV-T01001.

Even though there had been a history of acquiring similar types of IT support services, the description of services could not have been defined or anticipated more clearly given the ever-changing nature of the extensive and diverse portfolio of projects supported by the Volpe Center that require IT professional services.

Subsequently, work requirements within the scope of the V-TRIPS Task Order DTRTV-T01001 from

FAA and FMCSA projects exceeded the volume and pace estimated by the Government at the time of task order award. For example, there has been continuous work meeting milestone delivery dates in support of the FAA’s Safety Assurance System large-scale system development activity. Another example has been unanticipated work continuing to support the FMSCA’s central and field systems due to a delay in transitioning the National Applications and Technology Solutions Services (NATTS) work to FMSCA (FMSCA had projected transitioning work from the Volpe Center by approximately

; however, the transition was delayed due to

These are two examples of primary projects where the performance of unexpected continuing work caused the LOE and, therefore, the NTE value to be reached earlier than anticipated.

Due to this unanticipated increase in capacity, support under V-TRIPS Task Order DTRTV-T01001 will reach its ceiling approximately 4 months before the task order expires. There is insufficient time to pursue a competitive follow-on task order that would afford a fair opportunity to the other V-TRIPS master contract holders. Historically and presently with the task orders that the Volpe Center is currently pursuing through fair opportunity, it takes approximately 2-4 months (and sometimes longer) to provide a fair opportunity to multiple contractors.

C. CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

The task order must be issued on a sole source basis to SGT as a logical follow-on to Task Order

DTRT57-10-D-30026, DTRTV-T01001.

Based on FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), “The task order must be issued on a sole source basis in the interest of the economy and efficiency because a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract , provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order,” it is requested that this contract be awarded non-competitively for the following reasons:

a) As stated in Section B above, all five V-TRIPS contractors submitted a proposal in response to

TORFP DTRTV-T01001 and were considered by the Government for task order award. SGT was selected as the contractor with the overall best value to the Government and awarded task order DTRT57-10-D-30026, DTRTV-T01001. SGT has developed and demonstrated the technical knowledge and experience required for performing the tasks outlined in the SOW for task order DTRTV-T01001. The SOW for this logical follow-on task order will be nearly identical to that of Task Order DTRT57-10-D-30026, DTRTV-T01001.

b) Under fair opportunity, the following steps would need to be completed, thus reducing efficiencies and increasing cost to the Government:

Develop and approve a Technical Evaluation Plan;

Develop and approve technical evaluation criteria;

Staff and manage the evaluation of up to five cost and technical proposals;

Pursue clarifications of up to five cost and technical proposals;

Possibly engage in negotiations with up to five V-TRIPS contractors;

Evaluate transition plans; and

Implement the transition plan to mitigate cost and schedule impacts.

c) The current monthly expenditure rate for the support work that SGT is performing under Task

Order DTRT57-10-D-30026, DTRTV-T01001, is approximately $ to $ per month.

Transitioning to an acceptable level (i.e., full capability) of performance with a new contractor to achieve a satisfactory performance level is estimated to take approximately 90 days from task order award. A task order competition among the five V-TRIPS contractors would take approximately 8-10 weeks and, thereafter, the 90-day transition period would be required; in total, the entire process would take approximately 145-160 days to achieve full contractor performance. If such a course were pursued, only approximately 60-50 days of performance would remain on the task order. Accordingly, an expenditure of the required government resources to acquire a new contractor for this short period is neither economical nor efficient.

Based on the reasons cited in Sections A through C above, this task order must be issued on a sole source basis to SGT; otherwise, IT security and privacy support provided to the Volpe Center would cease, thereby placing DOT system owners at risk of having their respective safety systems lose authority to operate due to a lack of required assessments. These direct impacts would severely compromise Departmental mission objectives related to safety systems. Furthermore, an unwarranted risk would be placed on the Government with regard to quality of deliverables, an increased LOE, and increased costs by not issuing this task order on a sole source basis to SGT.

D. STATEMENT OF ACTION TO OVERCOME EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

The Volpe Center prepared a competitive solicitation to continue the contractor support provided under the

V-TRIPS contracts. The follow-on acquisition to V-TRIPS, entitled “Support Onsite for Information

Technology Services (SOFITS),” was initiated under PRs and on September 19, 2014. SOFITS is a competitive solicitation for IT and information systems security

(ISS) support that is similar to the services provided under V-TRIPS. The SOFITS solicitation was issued on February 6, 2015. The Volpe Center anticipates a concurrent award of the new SOFITS IT Support and IT Support Task Order 1 and the ISS Support and ISS Support Task Order 1 by mid-August 2015, beginning with a 90-day transition period to transition the services performed under V-TRIPS Task

Orders DTRTV-T01001, DTRTV-T01002, DTRTV-T01003, and DTRTV-T01004 to the awardees of the

IT Support Task Order 1 and the ISS Support Task Order 1. A transition period of at least 75 days is critical to ensuring that the awardees of the IT Support Task Order 1 and the ISS Support Task Order 1 can achieve satisfactory performance on the first day of full task order performance. Historically, the

Volpe Center has provided for transition periods of 90 days for the purpose of ensuring continuity of services under the Volpe Center’s on-site contracts. Prior experience has proven that a period of 75-90 days is necessary for the contractor to successfully perform the many tasks associated with transition, including identifying and hiring qualified staff; establishing financial/job order reporting systems; and reviewing, planning, and staffing more than 80 ongoing job orders and technical memorandums for

SOFITS support services. Under the current acquisition schedule, full task order performance for both the IT Support Task Order 1 and the ISS Support Task Order 1 is scheduled to begin in mid-November

2015.

This solicitation contains two functional areas: (1) IT support and (2) ISS and Privacy support. The

IT support functional area shall provide IT expertise services such as system analysis, development, operations and maintenance, deployment, field support, and analytical research analysis; system architecture and framework; facility and operations support; technology assessments and modernization;

and other specialized areas. The ISS and Privacy support functional area shall provide ISS expertise services such as systems security administration and cyber-security assessment and assurance.

The Volpe Center intends to make two master contract awards as a result of this solicitation. The IT support functional area, Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) 0100, is issued using full and open (F&O) competitive procedures and will result in a single contract award. The ISS and Privacy support functional area, CLIN 0200, is issued as a Small Business Set-Aside (SBSA) among eligible small businesses, resulting in a single contract award. Competitive proposals are being requested from all eligible sources using this solicitation

The Volpe Center is submitting this justification for a directed logical follow-on task order to SGT to maintain continuity of support as the Volpe Center pursues a competitive solicitation to support the continuing and future IT support requirements.

E. TECHNICAL OFFICE CERTIFICATION

The requirement set forth is initiated to satisfy a recognized Government need. As applicable, the plans, drawings, specifications, and statement of work are limited to state the minimum needs of the Government. I certify that the above information which serves as the basis for the justification for other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

"original signed by." ______________________

Date

Technical Initiator

Concurred By:

Deputy Director for Research and Technology

PART II – CONTRACTS SUPPORTING DATA

A. Description of the Procurement Action - This non-competitive procurement action will result in an award of a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) task order for the five SOW tasks currently performed by SGT under Task Order DTRT57-10D-30026, DTRTV-T01001 that was awarded as a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee

(CPAF) task order. This logical follow-on task order will be issued as CPFF since the POP, approximately 7 months, does not afford the Government with the ability to provide the contractor with feedback to incentivize performance. Therefore, the cost that would be incurred by the Government; and the resources required to administer a CPAF task order would not be justified. The POP is from date of award through November 30, 2015.

B. Authority - Circumstances Requiring the Exception to the Fair Opportunity Process; Federal

Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) - The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of the economy and efficiency because a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

C. Efforts to Obtain Competition - All V-TRIPS multiple awardees will receive notification of the Volpe

Center’s intention to issue a directed task order award on a non-competitive basis. Any statement of capability or expressions of interest received from any of the multiple awardees in response to this notification will be referred for technical review.

D. Fair and Reasonable Cost - The signature of the Contracting Officer provided below represents a determination that the anticipated amount to be paid for this task order will be fair and reasonable. The contractor will be required to submit detailed cost and pricing information with its proposal. The

Contracting Officer will conduct cost and price analysis on this information either to confirm the fairness and reasonableness of the amount proposed or to establish the Government’s objective position for purposes of entering into negotiations with the contractor to obtain agreement on a fair and reasonable amount for the resulting task order. This process will be documented in the task order file.

PART III - REVIEW AND APPROVAL SIGNATURES

REVIEWED FOR LEGAL SUFFICIENCY

"original signed by."____________ ______________________

Office of Legal Services, V-140

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and that the anticipated estimated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

"original signed by” ______________________

Contracting Officer, V-222

CONCURRED:

Chief of the Contracting Office, V-220

Deputy Director for Operations, V-200

APPROVED:

I determine that circumstances requiring an exception to the fair opportunity process; specifically, FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), applies to the order.

"original signed by."_______ _______________

Executive Director