EADE JA.Redact.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE, DATA, AND ENGINEERING (EADE)

CONTROL NUMBER 20-34

1. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

United States Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, IT Programs & Support Services Division (USTRANSCOM/TCAQ-D), 508 Scott Drive, Scott AFB, IL 62225.

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEINGAPPROVED:

This J&A supports the Air Mobility Command (AMC), the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), and the USTRANSCOM’s requirement to continue EADE technical support services in light of the recent protest filed after contract award (HTC71120DD002). The agency received notification on 26 May 2020 from the protestor, ACTA LLC, that a protest had been filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) under solicitation HTC71119RD007. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 33.104(c)(1), the Contracting Officer is required to immediately suspend performance on the awarded contract. This J&A supports the procurement of mission essential services in the interim until GAO renders a decision and any recommended actions are implemented, and the Government is able acquire services under contract HTC71120DD002.

The contract, HTC71120CD002, was awarded effective 27 May 2020 in the amount of $9,310,136.03, with a performance period of 27 May 2020 – 30 September 2020.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’SNEEDS:

This requirement is to continue essential enterprise architecture, enterprise data management, and information technology engineering services for AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM, to include the operational and system perspectives of Command and Control (C2), planning, transportation, logistics, and business support system domains. In addition, this contract action provides support for software development and system administration to the Government provided architecture tool suite. This supports engineering and analytical services required to support and implement AMC, SDDC and USTRANSCOM operational and system requirement(s) solutions.

The EADE contract provides professional services, enterprise-wide support, and technical guidance related to mission needs and issues concerning the above commands and the Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise (JDDE). The support procured under this effort allows USTRANSCOM and its component commands to share information and data across the enterprise, providing a true enterprise view.

4. STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION.

10 U.S.C.2304(c)(2), Unusual and compelling urgency

5. NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED

In May 2019, USTRANSCOM/TCAQ-D (herein after “the agency”) issued solicitation HTC71119RD007 for the procurement of an Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract for EADE services in support of AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM. The requirement was set-aside for small businesses1 under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541512, Computer Systems Design Services. Proposals were received in June 2019 and the source selection process commenced. In December 2019, a source selection decision was documented and contract HTC71120DD001 was awarded to UNCOMN, LLC. On 13 December 2019, the agency received a size protest from ACTA LLC2 challenging the awardee’s, UNCOMN LLC, socio-economic status. The agency immediately forwarded the protest to the Small Business Administration (SBA) as required by FAR 19.302 for their review and decision. Thereafter, ACTA LLC filed a protest with the GAO on 16 December 2019. The agency issued a stop work order immediately; however, performance had not yet commenced under HTC71120DD001. In December 2019, EADE services were provided by Trident Technologies, LLC through the predecessor IDIQ contract, HTC71114DD003. Individual task orders for EADE services supporting AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM were set to expire on 31 March 2020.

On 24 January 2020, the SBA dismissed the size protest, finding that ACTA LLC did not have standing to protest the award. Specifically, ACTA LLC who was eliminated for reasons unrelated to size, could not protest because they were not able to compete for award even if their protest was successful.

On 17 March 2020, the GAO denied the protest. The agency immediately lifted the stop work order and began transitioning services from HTC71114DD003 to HTC71120DD0013. ACTA LLC then filed a protest with the United States Court of Federal Claims (CoFC) days before the predecessor contract expired and after the agency had already begun transitioning service to HTC71120DD001. The protestor requested a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to prevent the agency from proceeding under HTC71120DD001. On 24 April 2020, the CoFC granted the protester’s motion for a preliminary injunction, but provided sufficient time prior to its taking effect to allow the agency to take corrective action. The agency revised its price evaluation and issued a new source selection decision.

The original contract, HTC71120DD001, and resultant task orders were cancelled effective 11 May 2020, and the agency issued a new contract, HTC71120DD002, to UNCOMN LLC on 12 May 2020.

Task Orders4 for EADE services in support of AMC, SDDC, and USTRANCOM were executed effective 12 May 2020. Thereafter, under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, ACTA voluntarily withdrew its protest at CoFC.

The protestor, ACTA LLC, was provided notification its’ proposal was not selected for award on 11 May 2020. The Government provided a post-award debriefing as requested by the unsuccessful offeror on 15 May 2020. On that day, ACTA LLC submitted a size protest of UNCOMN LLC, which the agency forwarded to the SBA. The SBA provided its’ decision on 09 June 2020. The SBA determined UNCOMN is a small business concern under the size standard $27.5M.

As stated above, on 22 May 2020, ACTA LLC submitted a request to the CoFC for voluntary dismissal of their bid protest. On 26 May 2020, ACTA LLC filed a protest with the GAO and provided written notification to the Contracting Officer as required in the solicitation. As required by FAR 33.104(c)(1), task order performance was immediately suspended under the awarded contract. Due to the unusual and urgent nature for continued service, the Contracting Officer issued a bridge contract to UNCOMN LLC for EADE services in support of AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM effective 27 May 2020. Award to UNCOMN LLC provided the least amount of risk to the Government. The predecessor contract, HTC71114DD003, with Trident Technologies LLC had since expired5 and was no longer an option to procure service.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED

1 Small business size standard at the time of solicitation was $27.5M 2 On 02 December 2019, the Government provided written notification to ACTA LLC informing them their proposal was rejected in accordance with the solicitation, specifically the Addendum to FAR 52.212-2 Paragraph vi (3).

3 The agency awarded three separate transition task orders (HTC71120FD045, HTC71120FD046, HTC71120FD047) with a performance period of 01 April 2020 – 30 June 2020) 4 HTC71120FD058, HTC71120FD059, and HTC71120FD060 5 The ordering period for HTC71114DD003 expired 30 September 2019, with all task orders ending 31 March 2020.

FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS IS PRACTICAL.

Due to the urgency to continue EADE services as documented above, the agency was unable to solicit offers from various sources. The original solicitation, HTC71119RD007, was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website soliciting proposals from small businesses under NAICS 541512. Due to the unusual and compelling nature of this action, the Government had no options available to continue service in the short timeline provided. As stated above, the agency received notification of the GAO protest filing on 26 May 2020, at 2:08 PM Central to be exact. Pursuant to FAR 33.104(c)(1), the agency was required to immediately suspend performance on the awarded contract. The agency had less than three hours in the business day to suspend service on HTC71120DD002 and award a bridge contract to continue essential services. It was completely impractical to solicit offers from other sources and negotiate a new contract award. UNCOMN has been performing EADE services in support of AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM for ~60 days. The predecessor contract with Trident Technologies had expired; as such, all Government furnished equipment had been collected from the Trident Technologies and provided to UNCOMN; Common Access Card (CAC) and other required identification authentication had been provided to UNCOMN; and EADE product/deliverables were “in progress” with UNCOMN. To transition to an alternate contractor would be impractical, as it would cause unacceptable delays in performance and delivery of product/deliverables, duplication of costs for “rework”, and consume Government resources to terminate and reprocess CAC/identification authentication for new contractor personnel.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED

COST THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE.

UNCOMN LLC honored the labor rates proposed under HTC71119RD007 for this contract action. The agency received adequate price competition in response to solicitation, HTC71119RD007. Furthermore, UNCOMN’s price proposal was determined fair and reasonable utilizing the techniques and procedures identified in FAR 15.404.

Based on the Government’s previous analysis, their proposed cost was determined fair and reasonable.

8. THE REASONS MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED

As detailed above, the agency did not have sufficient time to conduct market research for this contract action. The market research analysis and results from Fiscal Year 2019 for the EADE requirement aided the Government in its’ decision to award a bridge contract to a UNCOMN LLC.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION.

Any lapse in EADE support services would be detrimental to the Government as sustainment to existing mission essential programs and activities would be at risk, as well as priorities and initiatives of USTRANCOM and its’ component commands would not be supported. The Government carefully considered its options when the GAO protest was received and a suspension of service was required.

Any delay (i.e. days to a week) or lapse in acquiring service through the use of competition would greatly impact AMC, SDDC, and USTRANSCOM in their mission to support the JDDE.

As UNCOMN LLC had been performing services for approximately two months, their knowledge and expertise was paramount in reducing the learning curve for employees, which would otherwise be lost if the bridge contract was awarded to an alternative company. Awarding service to another company would greatly increase the Government’s administration burden (i.e. transfer of knowledge, personnel requirements to include onboarding requirements and access rights/permissions), leading to unnecessary schedule delays (i.e. time sensitive deliverables, IT security). For example, UNCOMN has been providing technical support contributing to AMC’s ability to develop and sustain the C2, Business and In-Transit Visibility (ITV) Systems which enable AMC’s Mission of Airlift, Air Refueling, Air Evacuation and Mission Support. Any delay of support or transfer to an alternative company could result in a 6 to 12-month delivery delay of architecture and engineering products/deliverables.

Any lapse in service would impact the Government’s requirements for architecture, data and engineering to levels which are unacceptable to the Government, and the following provides such impacts respective to AMC:

a) Enterprise Architecture: Failure to continue service will halt AMC’s ability to comply with public law, Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) and Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) requirements for the development and sustainment of the C2, Business and ITV Systems. Any delay would impact AMC’s ability to document operational requirements for the C2, Business and ITV systems and the operational business processes that inform AMC new initiatives: “Advanced Air Refueling”, “Aerial Port of the Future” and “Mobility Air Force Enterprise Architecture.” Enterprise Architecture support assists the Government in identifying improvements in operational business processes, as well as addresses gaps within the AMC enterprise to ensure the AMC Mission of Airlift, Air Refueling, Air Evacuation and Mission Support. Additionally, a delay would result in various Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Architecture efforts to be pushed into to FY 2021. These delays reduce the speed of operational requirements documentation being provided to the engineering and code developers;

subsequently, this hinders AMC's ability to regain a competitive advantage over foreign adversaries.

Failure to continue service will cancel the Consolidated Architecture Tool Suite (CATS) Help Desk support and software development release cycle, which impacts the Enterprise Architecture Offices efforts in AMC, SDDC, USTRANSCOM, and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). This will hinder their ability to capture architecture while ensuring the data is Secure, Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, and Trusted (SVAULT). The CATS feeds data, which is used to inform leadership’s decision-making process across the Transportation Enterprise as well as within each command.

b) Enterprise Data: Failure to continue service will terminate AMC’s ability to update AMC’s Logical Data Model, which feeds the USTRANSCOM Enterprise Logical Data Model (ELDM). This ELDM is continuously updated to feed USTRANSCOM’s top initiative of “Big Data”. Failure for AMC, or any of the component commands, to provide data will result in a faulty analytical analysis. This analysis is key to DoD and USTRANSCOM’s Digital Modernization Strategies.

c) Enterprise Engineering: Failure to continue service will completely stop AMC’s Enterprise Engineering efforts to complete the Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) for the “Station Coordinator Tool”, which is a top priority for the AMC. The Station Coordinator Tool is to be used by the C2 Controllers and the 618 AOC during the execution of AMC’s air missions.

10. LIST OF SOURCES EXPRESSING AN INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION

The following firms had previously6 expressed interest in providing services to the Government in the event of a bridge contract:

ACTA LLC

2790 Skypark Dr, Ste 310

6 During the CoFC protest, after the judge had granted a preliminary injunction, all of the firms listed in paragraph 10 had contacted the Contracting Officer offering services in the event a bridge contract was needed.

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Torrance, CA 99505

CAGE: 6W045

Socio-economic status: Undetermined7

Trident Technologies 310 Bridge Street, Ste 350 Huntsville, AL 35806

CAGE: 4UMJ6

Socio-economic status: Other than Small

UNCOMN LLC

735 Seibert Rd, Ste 4 Scott AFB, IL 62225

CAGE: 63VW3

Socio-economic status: Small Business

11. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAKE TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY

BARRIERS TO COMPETITION

While the unusual and urgent circumstances made it impractical and in fact, did not permit the Government to solicit proposals from various companies, it is understood this situation is unique and a bridge contract action was required to ensure mission critical EADE support.

12. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION

UNCOMN LLC was awarded the bridge contract action as they were performing the service at the time of the stop work order. Their firm already has personnel, with the appropriate credentials, in place to support the agencies’ mission and is currently in the middle of various projects. Disruption would result in unacceptable schedule delays and significant costs to the Government. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

REBECCA M. CONNOR

Contracting Officer

13. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

TERESA L. OETH

AMC Chief Architect

14. WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF THE APPROVING OFFICAL

Based on the above cited justification, I hereby determine the circumstance in FAR 6.302-2 applies to this justification for other than full and open competition.

KERI A. LINDSCO

Competition Advocate