Exception to Fair Opportunity - IT CSSS.pdf

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Technology Procurement Section

Washington, D.C. 20534

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

(REVOLUTIONARY FAR OVERHAUL (RFO))

This justification is provided for approval of an Exception to Fair Opportunity in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) RFO 16.507-6(d).

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (Bureau), Central Office, Administration Division, Acquisitions Branch, Technology Procurement Section.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This action will be a sole-source firm-fixed-price delivery order for Information Technology Cyber Security Support Services (ITCSSS) to be acquired against Credence Management Solutions LLC NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) government wide acquisition contract (GWAC) 75N98119D00015. These services were originally procured under the previous delivery order 15BNAS21D00000108.

3. Description of the supplies/services required to meet the agency’s needs, including the estimated value.

The Bureau requires a 30-day logical follow-on for the continued critical ITCSSS for operational project support currently provided under the existing contract. These services include, but are not limited to, continuous security monitoring, incident response support, vulnerability management, and direct support to ongoing enterprise IT initiatives.

The estimated value of this award is not expected to exceed $689,614.21 and has an April 1, 2026 – April 30, 2026 period of performance.

4. Exception to the fair opportunity process and supporting rationale.

FAR RFO 16.507-6(b)(3) – The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is 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.

The incumbent contractor is uniquely qualified to provide these services during the interim period due to their direct integration into the Bureau’s cybersecurity operations and project execution environment, specifically:

Operational Integration: The contractor currently provides embedded support across multiple mission-critical systems and projects, with established access, configurations, and workflows that cannot be rapidly replicated without disruption.

Institutional Knowledge: The contractor possesses detailed, system-specific knowledge of the Bureau’s environment, including security architecture, active vulnerabilities, ongoing remediation efforts, and project dependencies, which is essential to maintaining continuity of operations.

Immediate Responsiveness: The contractor is actively engaged in real-time cybersecurity monitoring and incident response activities, requiring continuity to ensure no degradation in detection, response times, or risk mitigation capabilities.

Transition Risk Mitigation: Introducing a new vendor without a structured transition period would result in operational gaps, increased onboarding time for needed background checks, and an elevated cybersecurity risk during a critical period.

Given these factors, no other contractor can provide the required level of immediate, uninterrupted support within the required timeframe without introducing unacceptable risk to the Bureau.

5. Determination that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a completed price analysis conducted on the proposed 30-day extension quote received from the incumbent contractor. The technique at FAR RFO 15.404-1(b)(4), comparison with competitive published price lists, published market prices of commodities, similar indexes, and discount or rebate arrangements, was utilized for this price analysis. The General Services Administration (GSA) CALC+ Independent Government Estimate Tool was utilized for this comparison. The Credence price of $689,614.21 verse the GSA MAS Median price of $698,000.16 is $8,385.95 less, or (1.20%) lower, and provides the continued critical IT CSSS for operational project support provided under the previous contract without a lapse in services. Additionally, the Credence pricing for this 30-day requirement was extended from Option Year 4 and the six-month extension. Option Year 4 pricing was evaluated at time of award and found fair and reasonable at the exercise of the option year and subsequent six-month extension.

By signing the justification, the Contracting Officer has determined that the costs/prices to the government are expected to be fair and reasonable.

6. Other facts supporting the justification for the exception to the fair opportunity process.

None.

7. Actions, if any, the agency will take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies and services is made.

The Bureau intends to release a competitive procurement for this requirement by April 10, 2026. This Exception to Fair Opportunity will be published to the Government Point of Entry , https://www.sam.gov, within 14 days after placing the task order in accordance with FAR RFO 16.507-6(f)(1).