J A_-_Final.PDF

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION (J&A)

Date: June 25, 2015

TO: Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

THROUGH: Cristina Olive, Director, Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis (SPA)

FROM: Trish Savage, Contracting Officer Representative, Kenya Support Project (KSP)

SUBJECT: Justification and Approval for other than full and open competition for Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) award AID-623-I-12-00001 under AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5)

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of other than full and open competition, in accordance with AIDAR 706.302-70. This document was prepared by USAID/Kenya & East Africa (KEA)/SPA in support of modification to IDIQ # AID-623-I-12-00001, of which Management Systems International (MSI) is the single holder.

2. The nature and description of the actions being approved:

This is a request to approve modification of the subject contract to MSI. The maximum amount of services that can be ordered under this IDIQ is currently $23,000,000. Approval is sought in order to: (i) expand the scope and (ii) increase the maximum contract ceiling by $4,500,000, for a new total of$27,500,000; (iii) update the ordering mechanisms allowable under the IDIQ. Under this action MSI will provide increased support to the USAID/KEA Mission through coverage of not just Kenya-specific activities but to activities throughout the East Africa Region. The completion date of the IDIQ remains the same; the period of performance does not change.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value:

a. Increase the scope of the award to include coverage of regional -East Africa- activities.

The September 2013 Westgate terrorist attack and on-going threats have significantly increased security concerns in Kenya. In response, a rightsizing exercise was undertaken in 2014, which resulted in the reorganization of the USAID presence in Nairobi under a single management platform combining Kenya, East Africa, and Somalia. Program and technical offices have been integrated with distinct regional and bilateral programs. As such, the new combined Mission’s programming support, communications and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) needs have increased. The referenced IDIQ was written and executed to service the Kenya Mission alone, however, as a result of the transition several of the contract's services will need to serve Kenya, East Africa, and Somalia as well. that the proposed modification will add to include East Africa and Somalia in the scope of the IDIQ. It is imperative that the Mission ensure systematic, standard services equally and equitably across all technical offices and sectors, whether bilateral or regional, which is one reason we can only support one Mission-wide institutional contract. The management burden of contracting a second entity would be incredibly detrimental in terms of the man hours needed to consolidate processes and procedures. The new combined Mission has named monitoring and evaluation as a top priority moving forward and intends to utilize a tried and true, very well tested and proven successful partnership, with MSI, to realize our programming, communications and M&E goals and objectives.

b. Increase the maximum ordering ceiling of the award by USD $4.5 million.

The need to provide services to a larger Mission and increased geographic coverage will result in additional activities under this very successful and highly utilized IDIQ, resulting in the need to increase the ceiling of the IDIQ by $4.5 million. Several task orders under the IDIQ originally only covered Kenya. Our communications and outreach support, performance management data system support, strategy development and measurement assistance as well as activity monitoring and verification support will now cover the region, increasing the funds needed annually by an estimated $2,207,636; as broken down below. These estimates are derived from input from the technical offices, previous reporting, and expected program offices costs for upcoming tasks . From experience, we know that unanticipated needs will also arise. With the time remaining in the contract, (end date is 9/28/2017) the $4.5 million will be needed. Please see table below.

Costs by Type Annual Cost Estimated Difference in Total of Services of Services Annual Costs Cost Per Year Additional Ordered Ordered for Additional Cost for the under the Services Remaining Current IDIQ Ordered Per IDIQ POP (2

Proposed Years) Modification

Core services $1,790,940 $2,150,940 $360,000 $720,000 (20% increase) Communications $806,844 $1,048,800 $241,956 $483,912 (30% increase) IT Systems $268,320 $324,000 $55,680 $111,360 (20%) increase Monitoring and n/a $250,000 $250,000 $500,000 Verification Evaluations $1,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 $2,000,000 Other $500,000 $800,000 $300,000 $600,000

$0 Total $4,366,104 $6,573,740 $2,207,636 $4,415,272

c. Allow for cost reimbursement task orders.

The current language in the IDIQ allows only firm fixed price (FFP) task orders (TO) which have proven to be inappropriate to the Mission's needs. The initial determination to utilize only FFP TOs under this mechanism was made at the time of award, prior to the Mission consolidation and therefore could not take into account the challenges of coordinating across the multiple, newly combined technical and support offices of the combined platform. The resulting unique management challenges of the Mission have made implementation of FFP type TOs an administrative hindrance rather than the facilitative help they are meant to be._ To date those nearly all of the TOs successfully completed under this IDIQ have required one or often more modifications to update deliverable & payment schedules and/or to extend the POP due to delays from the Mission. The proposed modification will amend this language to allow for cost reimbursement-type task orders in addition to FFP TOs.

Under this action, MSI will continue to provide programming support, communications and evaluation services to the Mission in meeting day to day information needs in order to make informed program management decisions, as well as to provide substantive support with qualitative, quantitative, and analytical information to assist in continually assessing and evaluating the Mission's overall development hypothesis.

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The request for use of other than full and open competition is made given that the current contractor is in the best position to implement the additional activities without adverse affect, unacceptable delays or substantial additional costs to the government. AIDAR subpart 706.302.70(a) permits other than full and open competition when such competition "would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purpose of foreign aid, relief and rehabilitation." Moreover, AID AR 706.302-70 (b)(5) authorizes "An award for the continued provision of highly specialized services when award to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the government or would result in unacceptable delays.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited:

As a proven industry leader in the provision of Mission programming support services and the development of effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools and systems for USAID, and the current holder of the Program Support IDIQ for USAIDIKEA, MSI is uniquely situated to implement the additional work now required by the mission .. MSI has completed over 1,000 discrete support tasks for USAID since 2000. MSI is currently implementing over 100 projects and analytic assignments and serves as prime contractor for over 8 long-term projects providing program support, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) support to USAID Missions in Afghanistan, Colombia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, Vietnam and South Sudan. MSI also implements a similar, large M&E support project for the E3 Bureau.

Under the Kenya Support Project (KSP), which MSI has held for more than 2 years, MSI has already successfully completed nearly 25 task orders, which have included the following:

• MSI has worked with USAID/Kenya to help develop, reconcile, and streamline a wide variety of essential and required program support systems; from the Mission-wide Program Monitoring Plan (PMP) which is used to manage progress against the Mission CDCS, to the Project level Monitoring, Evaluation and Leaming plans, and supporting activity-level M&E plans. MSI has developed templates, approaches and each component of the system, working closely with each Development and Technical team in the mission to develop the PMPs at each level of the system. This process, the CDCS PMP development and project and activity alignment process, is innovative, time consuming, and vitally important for measuring strategic results against stated objectives of the Mission as a whole.

o As a combined Mission, USAID/KEA will implement this same process, ideally in a very similar manner, for the RDCS which is being developed for the East Africa regional platform. It is imperative in this operating environment that this is done by an experienced contractor, one having the benefit of managing it before and MSI is probably the only contractor to have done this involved and extensive work.

o MSI has supported the Kenya Mission in its process of transitioning to an IT Data Management System as a part of its program support services. This System represents a key component of operationalizing the Mission's M&E system and making data available to USAID managers. MSI provides personnel to manage this system and the transition of business practices to implement it. Having provided technical expertise and support to the Mission in the development of this system, MSI is uniquely positioned to understand how the system works, the information required at each level of the system, the reporting requirements, and how to ensure that IPs provide the data that is needed.

o As a combined Mission, USAID/KEA will need to implement one single IT data management system, which covers Kenya and EA. This can only be done by a single contractor; it would be a logistical nightmare to attempt otherwise. MSI has been working with the Mission on this IT system for over a year and is uniquely positioned to assist in making this an all-inclusive system.

• MSI has provided Communications and Outreach support for the USAID/Kenya Mission, and filled critical communication gaps through the present transition of senior staff. As mentioned in the examples above, the combined Mission will require one, single Outreach and Communications Unit in the newly integrated Program Office, which will support the same processes, procedures, and products for the entire Mission. As such, the support we require must come from one, single institutional contract, which provides the same services and products across the entire Mission. At this stage in the Mission's platform transformation, it is unacceptable to have the same products and services coming from different contracts for different geographic regions falling under the newly combined platfonn.

• MSI has conducted several evaluations for the USAID/Kenya Mission and has helped the Mission institute well-known and well-received evaluation procedures. As a combined Mission, USAID/KEA will require the same evaluation processes and procedures across platforms and as such, one contractor to manage the evaluations.

MSI is also uniquely positioned because they have built relationships and rapport with mission staff and relevant points of contact in USAID/Washington. For the Mission, this translates into efficiency; saved time and resources. This mission is intensely interested in combining and streamlining processes across the new platform and having ONE institutional contractor, MSI, which already knows the operating environment, players and unique needs of USAID/KEA will greatly further that objective.

Per the requirement of AIDAR 706.302(b)(5) MSI is the only contractor with the specialized skills to undertake the expansion of activities without substantial additional costs and unacceptable delays. To hire another contractor for the expanded activities would incur additional costs related to 1) travel to and around Kenya, 2) recruitment of personnel, 3) start-up & mobilization costs, 4) purchase of additional equipment and supplies, 5) stakeholder engagement and other consultation expenses. Further, an award to a local Contractor would be insufficient as they are not privy to the implementation of the project nor do they have the necessary stakeholder consultation information.

MSI' s Contract Performance Report for October 11, 2012 to October 10, 2013 for Task Order AID-623- T0-13-00001 (Core Services), shows exceptional rating for Quality of Service, Schedule, Business Relations and Management of Key Personnel. This core services task order, which is the largest in terms of dollar value and was established in 2012, will run through 2017. Products and services routinely exceed accepted technical and professional standards. The contractor is also extremely client oriented and goes out of its way to identify pertinent issues to USAID, and is consistently proactive on identifying potential challenges and resolving them in a manner that benefits USAID before they escalate into problems. The contractor goes to great lengths to identify and hire key personnel who not only meet or exceed the qualifications of key positions, but who are able to bring intangible skills appropriate and necessary for the real-life tasks and working environment under the task order.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation ff AR) 5.202 [AIDAR 705.002):

The current IDIQ with MSI was competitively sourced as required by FAR 5.202 .. Further, per FAR

5.201 and AID AR 706.302-70( c )(I) a pre-solicitation notice was published on FedBizOpps. Any expressions of interest received will be considered.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

Based on the IGCE developed by the Mission for this expansion and the historical costs of the contractor under this mechanism to date, the Contracting Officer, by way of approving this justification and affixing her signature hereon, determines that the cost for the order represents the best value to the USG and will result in the lowest overall cost alternative to meet the USG needs. The anticipated costs are determined to be fair and reasonable. Further, the alternative of making a new award to another resource via a separate full and open competition would result in substantial additional costs to the government and would result in unacceptable delays.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted for this activity. The results of that research show that MSI has a unique ability to provide the services currently required and at a competitive price. The subject contract was awarded through a full and open competition. . Over the course of implementation to date, as reflected in the referenced CP ARs report, MSI has proved to be an efficient and cost effective partner. Other contractors providing similar services on the market in Kenya and the EA region have been found lacking in performance and cost effective conduct, and lack the strong in-country team presence. As laid out above, the benefits of establishing a new mechanism for additional activities that are within a current SOW of an existing mechanism far exceed the costs of extending a current agreement that has an established and mobilized team in Kenya.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

USAID/Kenya and East Africa believes that procuring services through another contract would impose unnecessary and unacceptable costs as described above and cause an excessive loss of time as laid out in the sections above. Moreover, the need for the additional services under the IDIQ could not have reasonably been anticipated at the time of the original contract, because the consolidation of Missions and offices did not occur until a later date.

The contract in question was originally designed for USAID/Kenya with that Mission's needs alone.

When the three platforms, Kenya, East Africa, and Somalia were combined, USAID/KEA underwent a massive transition, not only of combining offices and personnel, but of combining, streamlining and relying on best practices to implement Mission-wide processes, procedures, standards, and regulations.

Communications, strategy development and measurement, monitoring, evaluation, learning, , and the Mission performance management data system, all of which MSI has assisted Kenya with over the past two years, need to be standardized across the entire Mission/new mission platform. It is unacceptable, and extremely unrealistic for the Mission, with its combined and increased platform and decreased number of personnel to contemplate managing multiple contractors to perform the same services in a coordinated fashion across the Mission's now combined platform. The Mission currently has nearly 100 vacant positions, out of 370, and lacks the personnel to manage multiple Mission support contracts with various processes and procedures in the attempt to gain coordinated outcomes and products. It will likely take a couple of years to get the Mission staffed up to the appropriate level. While this lack of personnel also speaks to the Mission's great need for support services, those services need to be consolidated and standardized, which is infinitely more feasible through a single support contract; one that has been working with the Mission for years already.

10. Sources. if any, which expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition:

A synopsis pertaining to the proposed additional activities was publicized in fbo.gov. Any responses received will be considered.

11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

If any subsequent requirements beyond the scope and duration of this award are needed, the action will be competed in a full and open competition.

12. Technical or requirement personnel certification: In accordance with FAR 6.303.2(b), I hereby certify that the technical statements included above and which form a basis for the justification are complement and accurate.

Drafted by:

Contracting Officer Representative Date

Mission Clearances a&,j; µ;), vfi/f( d')<l lj( Cristma Olive Date 1 I SP A Office Director '.-I f , . ~ dd)11 " I

Mark river Date / /

Senior Resident Legal Officer

Date I

Contracting Officer Certification & Approval:

I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Caroline Berto1il1 Contracting Officer

~oved/ 0Disapproved:

r· Date

Justification and Approval for other than full and open competition on a modification to IDJQ No. AID-623- 1-12-00001 to increase the maximum ordering ceiling.

Date Agency Competition Advocate