AFPOA_Justification_for_an_Exception_to_Fair_Opportunity_signed.pdf

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

1) Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justif ication f or an Exception to Fair Opportunity.”

Procurement Office: General Services Administration (GSA) – Region 7, Federal Acquisition

Services (FAS), Acquisition Operations Division (AOD)

Agency: Air Force Personnel Operations Agency (AFPOA) Task ID: ID07160040

Description of Requirement: Bridge task order for Information Technology Disaster Recovery (ITDR) support for continued operations of the AF/A1 Human Resource software applications

Total Estimated Value of the Action: $550,000.00

Period of Performance (PoP): 1 September 2016 – 31 August 2017

Contractor Name: HP Enterprise Services, LLC

Procurement Vehicle: Air Force NETCENTS-2 Network Operations and Infrastructure Solutions

IDIQ

2) Nature and description of action being approved:

The AFPOA has a critical need for continued Information Technology Disaster Recovery (ITDR) support at the HP Business Continuity Center, in Alpharetta, Georgia, which provides equipment, connectivity, and a facility where AFPOA data center operations may continue in the event of a disaster at the AFPOA data center located in Building 499 at Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) – Randolph. The period of performance will consist of twelve (12) months beginning on September 1, 2016.

3) A descrip tion of the supplies or services r equired to meet the agency’s needs (inclu ding the estimated value):

AFPOA provides for constant global capabilities of over two hundred (200) integrated and standardized software systems. The AFPOA data center located in San Antonio, TX hosts a majority of the AF/A1

Human Resource (HR) applications which are critical to the continued operation of the Air Force. In the event the AFPOA data center becomes inoperable, the ITDR facility will provide a physical alternate location for recovery.

The current ITDR location is the Hewlett Packard (HP) Business Continuity Center in Alpharetta, Georgia. The contractor shall provide continued use of this secure, alternate computer facility with capability to support mission-critical operations if AFPOA’s data center is destroyed or rendered inoperable in accordance with AFPOA’s Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).

4) Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting a Fair Opportunity Exception:

FAR 16.505(b)(1)(i) requires the Contracting Officer to provide each awardee under a multiple award contract, a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,500 unless a statutory exception applies. The specific exceptions set forth in 16.505(b)(2) that preclude the fair opportunity process are listed below. The authority pertaining to this specific acquisition is marked accordingly.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/16.htm#P399_69627

X 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

______ 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) 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.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(D) It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(E) For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

16.505(b)(2)(i)(F) In accordance with section 1331 of Public Law 111-240 (15 U.S.C.

644(r)), contracting officers may, at their discretion, set aside orders for any of the small business concerns identified in 19.000(a)(3). When setting aside orders for small business concerns, the specific small business program eligibility requirements identified in part 19 apply

5) Supporting rationale (for the authority cited in 4) above) including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s un iq ue qualif ication s or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value):

AFPOA must maintain an alternate ITDR facility in the event that the aforementioned data center located in San Antonio, TX is rendered inoperable. The COOP dictates that an alternate facility must be maintained and capable of operation and response within twenty-four (24) hours of notification by

AFPOA’s COOP Recovery Coordinator or designated representative. The ITDR must also provide connectivity to the equipment and support for the Government provided equipment that will comprise the facility’s backup and storage capability. Additionally, the AFPOA data center in San Antonio, TX has the responsibility of running production of HR applications that support all active duty, civilian, guard, retirees and reserve Air Force personnel. These HR applications run on dated, proprietary HP Unix-based Itanium systems. The equipment in the ITDR facility must be able to support these highly specialized and dated HR applications as well as the diverse number of existing configurations running HP-UX in order to fully meet AFPOA’s need. Because these systems are comparatively antiquated to the current commercial standard and supporting these systems are not cost effective, these systems are no longer widely utilized or supported by industry.

The only equipment provider that can support the number and type of required systems is Hewlett

Packard (HP). Introducing new equipment into this ITDR facility would result in compatibility issues between the equipment and the HR applications as well as a probable break in service. Failure to utilize HP equipment would lead to significant connectivity and execution issues, and would significantly impact AFPOA’s mission accomplishment. Additionally, the Air Force presently owns the backup HP equipment necessary for the facility. This equipment is currently located at the HP

Business Continuity Center in Alpharetta, Georgia. The facility in Alpharetta, Georgia is suited for this requirement as not only does HP’s Business Continuity Center currently house the Air Force-owned data backup equipment, but it also provides the necessary commercial connection between the

HP data center and the Air Force Network for operation. The purchase of new equipment while the backup HP equipment is already available and operable or relocation of the existing Government-owned equipment to another commercial facility would be an unnecessary duplication of costs.

An anticipated move of the Government-owned equipment to a military base has necessitated the award of a bridge contract in order to maintain the ITDR support in Alpharetta, Georgia until the plans for the relocation can be finalized. HP currently has a contract under the NETCENTS-2

Network Operations and Infrastructure Solutions IDIQ which is in compliance with the Air Force’s mandatory use of the NETCENTS-2 IDIQ contracts.

An alternate solution at this time would not provide a cost-effective solution for the total critical disaster recovery capability needed. Furthermore, AFPOA would not be able to recover essential Air

Force applications that support all personnel and would result in an unacceptable gap in service without the required disaster recovery capability. It is considered to be in the best of the Government to procure continued ITDR support from HP at the HP Business Continuity Center in Alpharetta, Georgia.

6) Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer will conduct a comparison of the vendor’s proposed price with the historical cost from the previous task order and Government estimate to determine that the quoted pricing is fair and reasonable before award of the bridge task order.

7) Any other facts supporting the justification:

As stated in Section 5 of this document, AFPOA intends to migrate its ITDR support from the HP

Business Continuity Center, a commercial facility, to a military base. They have partnered with the

AFRC/A6 data center located in Warner-Robins, GA (Warner-Robins Air Force Base) in order to accomplish this task. This configuration will eliminate the commercial link between the Business

Continuity Center and JBSA Randolph as well as the need for the Air Force provided backup equipment.

As such, maintaining ITDR support at the HP Business Continuity Center in Alpharetta, Georgia through HP with the expectation of a move will be more cost effective than awarding this requirement to an alternate vendor at an alternate location thereby committing the Government to fund two relocations rather than only one.

8) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

In addition to the anticipated data center move to Warner-Robins, AFPOA is currently working on a second effort to eliminate the need for the HP Business Continuity Center in Alpharetta, Georgia. The production HR applications that currently run on proprietary HP Itanium systems are being converted to open source Linux operating systems. This allows for the HR applications to properly run on inexpensive, commodity-based servers from many manufacturers that provide this technology. Once the conversion from HP Itanium to Linux is complete, the need for the highly specialized HP equipment will be removed altogether and provide for open competition for any future ITDR support requirements.

9) The contracting of f icer’s ce rtif ication that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contrac ting of f icer’s kn ow ledge and belief :

The contracting officer’s signature on the Signature/Approval page evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief.

10) Evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verif yin g the Gov ern ment’s mi nimu m needs or requirements or o ther ra tionale for an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel:

See Technical Representative’s signature on Signature/Approval page.

By signatory below, I state that I have read, understand, and agree with the technical information/representation made herein. The client provided the Agency and site specific technical information expressed herein, which is current and accurate to the best our knowledge.

Technical Representative’s Certification:

Technical Representative Date

By signatory(s) below, I state that I determine the statutory authority as cited herein and expressed in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) apply to this justification, and the justification is hereby approved on its merits as noted. Technical information was presented as being accurate and complete as received from the client, and was fully relied upon to document the request for

“exception to fair opportunity,” described herein.

Contracting Officer’s Certification/Approval

Contracting Officer Date