Approved Justificaiton for LSS EFO.pdf

Laboratory Support Services Exception Justification Justification Tracking No.: 031 C-II

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

(I) Agency and contracting activity.

The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Procurement Operations, USCIS Contracting Office proposes to acquire Laboratory Support Services on behalfof USC IS, Office ofInformation Technology as an exception to fair opportunity in accordance with F AR16.505(b )(2)(i)(B).

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

USCIS has a requirement to obtain Laboratory Support Services on a sole source basis because only one awardee is capable of immediately providing these services at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

USCIS intends to award a 90 day fixed price task order to SAIC, utilizing their National Institute ofHealth (NIH) ChiefInformation Officers (CIO) Solutions and Providers (SP2i) Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) 263-0l-D-0046 to continue to provide the unique and high specialized services required ofthe Laboratory Support Services.

(3) Description of supplies/services.

The Laboratory Support Services provide for IT system testing in the form of User Acceptance Testing (UAT); System Acceptance Testing (SAT); Interoperability Testing; and Certification and Accreditation (C&A) as part of the Independent Verification & Validation (IV &V) program for IT systems used throughout USCIS. In addition, this requirement will include transition support for the replacement acquisition, Technical Testing Services.

The period ofperformance for this contemplated task order will be September 8, 2011 December 9,2011 (90 days) and allows USCIS to complete the competitive award known as Technical Testing Services (TIS). The 90 day period ofperformance provides adequate time to complete transition activities to the new TIS award.

The estimated total value for the services to be acquired is $2,157,940 for this task order.

(4) Identification of the exception to fair opportunity.

FAR 16.505(b )(2)(i)(B) provides for an exception to the fair opportunity process when only one awardee is capable ofproviding these services at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

These required services are currently provided by SAIC under Task Order HSSCCG-l O-F 00298 which is due to expire on September 7, 2011. USCIS is in the process of completing a competitive DHS EAGLE task order award replacement acquisition. USCIS needs

Justification Tracking No.: 031 C-11 additional time to complete the new award without disrupting our information technology (IT) infrastructure.

SAIC provides these services utilizing Senior Functional Analysts and Principle Information Engineers who have thorough knowledge of the systems being tested and the networks used, thus meeting the unique and highly specialized skill sets necessary of the Laboratory Support Services. No other contractor would be able to provide these services immediately. The establishment of a new service provider would take approximately 90 days to accomplish which includes the security clearance process and knowledge transfer. Therefore, SAIC has the unique and highly specialized manpower to provide the Laboratory Support Services for the short period of time it will take for USCIS to complete award the new, competitive, long term task order.

(5) Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable.

As the Contracting Officer, I have determined that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable as it is anticipated that the costs for this task order will be nearly identical to those costs from the previous task order, HSSCCG-I 0-F-00298, for Laboratory Support Services.

These costs will be based on rates established in the NIH CIO-SP2 GWAC.

(6) Other supporting facts.

Without this Exception to Fair Opportunity, uscrs would require up to 90 days to establish a new service provider and create an unacceptable break in service. The break in service would disrupt current testing work and hinder the continuation ofthe transformation initiative, thus, creating unacceptable disruptions to USCIS mission capabilities.

The inability ofUSCrS to have Laboratory Support Services would result in USCIS not having a means for current and future operational rT system changes through testing and validation. The consequence of not having available U AT, SAT and rnteroperability Testing puts uscrs mission operations at risk and dramatically increases the risk that vulnerabilities could be introduced into the IT working environment. Without the ability to test, uscrs will not be able to implement changes in numerous applications, which reduces our ability to respond to Federal mandates, Legislation, or operational needs and result in unacceptable delays in meeting USCIS operational needs. Additionally, USCIS is in the midst of an enormous transformation initiative in an effort to modernize information technology systems/applications by moving uscrs from a paper-based processing ofapplication for citizenship to a more efficient, electronic environment. The transformation initiative is moving to the implementation phase, which will require each system/application to be replaced or enhanced, be validated and tested via this task order. Not having the ability to provide Laboratory Support Services for the transformation initiative will result in not meeting the transformation initiative for USCIS.

Justification Tracking No.: 031 C-ll

(7) A statement of the actions. ifany, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for required supplies or services.

The replacement acquisition, which is a competitive acquisition under DHS EAGLE, is in the negotiation stages of the acquisition process. Future acquisitions for these services (after the expiration ofthe EAGLE TO award) are also expected to be competitive.

(8) Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify this requirement meets the Government's minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

co., !, J /1 Illlll: •

(9) Contracting Officer's Certification.

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use ofthis exception to fair opportunity

~e \0 the best ofmy knowledge and belief. IfI /07 ~ /

NedR.Ross ~ Contracting Officer USCIS Contracting Office

(10) Approval:

I determine that the circumstances in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) applies to this Exception to Fair Opportunity and accordingly approve this exception., Jan Wisor Competition Advocate DHS, Office of Procurement Operations