LSJ_IMMIX_Kronos_Training__FINAL.pdf

Limited Source Justification Kronos Telestaff Training

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Limited Source Justification (LSJ)

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer hereby approve this limited source justification in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B). The acquisition referenced herein is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Requiring Agency and Contracting Office:

Requiring Agency:

Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) Scientific and Technology Office (STO) 9000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301

Contracting Activity:

Washington Headquarters Services/Acquisition Directorate (WHS/AD) 1225 South Clark Street Arlington, Virginia 22202

2. Nature/Description of Action(s): Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), Security Integration & Technology, Scientific and Technology Office (SIT/STO) is requesting approval for a limited source justification to award of a Firm Fixed Price Blanket Purchase Agreement against ImmixTechnology, LLC’s contract GS-35F-0265X with a ceiling of $1,282,011.36 to procure a maximum of twelve on-site training sessions per year for the Kronos Telestaff Scheduling Software over a five year period of performance. PFPA STO anticipates a minimum or three and a maximum of twelve training session will be needed per year. This is a new acquisition for PFPA meant to expand upon the basic training that was given when the application was purchased in 2012. Services are needed as soon as possible and will need to begin prior to September 30, 2015 as funds are currently available.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: This application is highly technical and allows for increasingly complex and more efficient scheduling activities for the Pentagon Police Officers.

The system allows Administrative users to define Agency work policies, including rules for post assignments and priority selections for available overtime (OT). With a high-level of automation, the application quickly and automatically develops a working schedule that conforms to workforce rules, policies, contract requirements, training requirements, and Officer availability. Officers are able to log in from a DoD networked workstation to view their personal schedules and submit requests. Other users (e.g., Pentagon Police Directorate, or PPD, management and PFPA Leadership) are able to log in to view the post assignments and review past or anticipated costs or manpower use for any given period of time. Using the telephone communication tool, Officers can call into the application to request leave or OT and review their post assignments, preventing confusion due to poor communication. The telephone communication tool is used to fully automate phone calls out to Officers to notify them of OT or special event work opportunities and automatically incorporate them into the schedule if accepted. For the Telestaff application, PFPA requires a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of twelve (12) training periods of approximately two to three weeks each throughout each year.

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The contractor, ImmixTechnology Inc., is the sole provider of Kronos Telestaff scheduling software and is the only company authorized and capable of providing training.

The contractor shall coordinate with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and customize each training based on the operator needs at the time of each training session and provide all materials necessary. All training will be conducted on-site with a maximum of five participants in each session. Training includes basic application functions, advanced application functions, and application functions customized solely for PFPA.

4. Identification of Limited Source Authority and Demonstration of Contractor’s Unique Qualifications:

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(B), only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. ImmixTechnology, LLC is the sole provider for Kronos Telestaff software training. Kronos confirmed that there are no other vendors authorized to provide this training.

The Kronos TeleStaff application is a complex and highly effective scheduling tool that maximizes resource efficiency and eliminates hundreds of hours from common administrative activities. Kronos Telestaff is the only scheduling tool that has been adapted to PFPA operations, specifically the Pentagon Police Directorate (PPD). This is currently the only directorate utilizing the software although PFPA plans to implement it throughout the agency in phases. This system has been operational within PFPA for only one year.

The application was purchased and installed via contract HQ0034-12-F-0268, awarded on September 30, 2012 in the amount of $266,958.24. At the time of initial contract award, STO conducted extensive market research on 38 commercial off the shelf (COTS) products capable of supporting schedule development and spoke with a number of local State and Federal Law Enforcement agencies to determine the efficiency of their scheduling solution. Of the COTS products available, 3 possessed most of the abilities required and the firms were provided the opportunity to brief STO and PPD on their product. Following evaluation of the products based upon requirements, efficiency, interoperability, security, and ease of use required, it was found that only the Kronos TeleStaff product met all requirements. The Kronos TeleStaff application is also the only application meet Information Assurance (IA) criteria by being fully developed within the United States, on an approved Operating System, and meeting or exceeding minimum encryption standards.

It took 13 personnel working with the contractor over a year to deploy the system. After deployment, 6 personnel continued to maintain, trouble shoot, and administer the application.

Training was provided when the system was initially installed but only covered the most basic functions. The basics are quite complicated in themselves; it took current administrators a year to master them and they are still conducting a number of manual steps that require man hours

Page 3 of 5 Pages around the clock. Further increases in manpower resource efficiencies will not be realized without the requested training.

There are currently only two Telstaff administrators within PFPA who are responsible for scheduling and managing over 750 police officers 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. It is necessary to train more administrators on the Kronos application to meet the needs of the growing police force. Due to the complexity and growing staff, multiple trainings are necessary less the Agency lose its current ability to manage and maintain the system. Currently, the Agency is unable to take full advantage of all the advanced scheduling tools and automation.

As the system is expanded to serve the scheduling needs of multiple Directorates within the Agency, additional training is essential and will allow the user significant increases in automation and additional reporting capabilities. Also, new configurations are required as each Directorate is added. The vendor, ImmixTechnology, is the only source of TeleStaff expertise on the current release as well as all future releases of the system. ImmixTechnology is the only vendor capable of providing sufficient training to PFPA and the only source of professionals capable of configuring the application to PFPA’s needs -- now and in the future.

The training that is required cannot be adequately taught by PPD personnel who are just now mastering the most basic level use. The training must come from TeleStaff experts who fully understand the structure of the system as it is deployed at the Pentagon, are already versed on the new versions of the software that come out annually, and can provide the same level of training to other Directorates within the Agency.

The goal is to maximize the cost savings the application can provide the Agency as a whole. The first expansion will be into the Investigation and Threat Directorate (ITD). Additional expansion is anticipated. Lastly, Force Protection Technology Directorate (FPTD )technical support personnel are contractors and PFPA needs to provide system admin training to additional personnel since due to only 2 government personnel remaining. Given the plans to expand the application to multiple Directorates within the Agency to increase efficiencies on a broad scale, the expertise ImmixTechnology offers is critical to continued success.

The Government has invested already invested $412,177.54 for the purchase of software licenses, training, and maintenance and countless hours as the system runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Failure to award to ImmixTechnology would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government and unacceptable delays in the completion of training that is required for the program already purchased.

5. Best Value Determination:

(a) This order represents the best value IAW FAR 8.404(d). By placing an order against a schedule contract using the procedures in Part 8, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) and results in the lowest http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/08.htm#P102_16815 http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/02.htm#P10_628

Page 4 of 5 Pages overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

(b) GSA has already determined that prices of supplies and fixed price services are fair and reasonable;. however, IAW the Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy Class Deviation 2014-O0011, additional proposal analysis using FAR 15.404-1 will be used to determine the price is fair and reasonable. The Government will compare pricing with the vendor’s catalog pricing and in comparison to pricing on historical contracts for same or similar services.

(c) The contracting officer will also seek a price reduction IAW FAR 8.405-4.

6. Market Research: Market Research, based on historical information and a Request for Information (RFI) posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO), verified that Kronos is the sole provider of certified training for this software can only be purchased through ImmixTechnology, LLC.

A review of the mandatory sources concluded that these services could not be acquired through the mandatory Government Sources listed in FAR Part 8.002(a)(1). The use of mandatory sources under FAR Part 8.003 does not apply to this acquisition. The services can be acquired using the non-mandatory sources listed in FAR Part 8.004 via ImmixTechnology’s GSA schedule, GS-25F-0265X.

An RFI was posted on the FBO on August 12, 2015 in order to find other sources that were capable of providing training and trouble- shooting for the Kronos Telstaff application. This RFI was posted for 15 days and when it closed on August 27, 2015 no responses had been received;

thus supporting the conclusion that no vendor other than ImmixTechnology can provide the needed services.

7. Any other supporting facts: N/A

8. Actions the Agency may take to remove barriers that led to the restricted consideration:

(a) Procurement history.

The Kronos Telestaff software was procured on a sole source basis via Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Order HQ0034-12-F-0286 on September 30, 2012. This order included the necessary training with the purchase of licenses; the order expired on September 30, 2013. On September 23, 2014 FSS order number HQ0034-14-F-0263 was then awarded to ImmixTechnology on a sole source basis for the purpose of maintaining the current software, but it did not include training.

(b) Currently Kronos Telestaff is the only application on the market capable of meeting all of

PFPA’s needs. PFPA will continue to review the market for emerging technologies that meet or exceed the minimum requirements.

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9. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Catherine L. Stevens Date Contracting Officer, WHS/AD

(703) 545-0966

10. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included and form the basis for the justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. ((FAR 8.405-6)(c)(2)(x))

Catherine L. Keaty Date Scientist, PFPA STO

(703) 695-3794

12. Procuring Activity Competition Advocate (PACA) Approval: I have reviewed this justification and, since it does not exceed $12.5M, this review serves as approval. (FAR 8.405- 6(d)(2))

Wendy R Schermerhorn Date Competition Advocate, WHS AD

(703) 545-1603

StevensC Typewritten Text 9/11/15 rizzows Typewritten Text 9/11/15