J and A SERCO AV O and M____.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other than Full and Open Competition

Version 2.3 Page 1 of 4

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

FINANCE DIVISION | PROCUREMENT SECTION

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A) FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION IN ACCORDANCE WITH 41 U.S.C. 3304 (A) (1)

Requisition Number: SHOP-PR-24-001218

Date: 04/18/2024

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Information Technology Acquisition Unit (ITAU), has prepared this Justification for an Other Than Full and Open Competition, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Service Contract with Serco Incorporated on behalf of the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG), Technical Response Unit (TRU).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved, i.e., sole source, limited competition, establishment of a new source, etc.

It is the intent of the CIRG, TRU to award a firm-fixed price contract for Operation, Maintenance, Repair, and Support Contract for Audio/Video (A/V) systems to Serco, Inc.

(SERCO) via sole source contract. The period of performance will be a one-year sole source to Serco for continuation of services to the O&M contract.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs.

The Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) requires an Operation, Maintenance, Repair, and Support Contract for A/V systems at an estimated cost of _____. The O&M services contract will cover approximately 50 conference and training rooms throughout numerous FBI facilities. Each of these facilities are located at various locations throughout Virginia and Washington DC.

This requirement is to provide an O&M contract with SERCO which is necessary for CIRG to support the many A/V systems deployed within the Division. The deployed AV systems serve to provide for remote teleconferencing capabilities internally, throughout the many FBI sites and field offices, and with other government agency partners as well as academia and private industry partners, to include LEGATs and other entities that operate abroad.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

Version 2.3 Page 2 of 4

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304 (a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements”.

Due to mission requirements, the FBI has an operational need to continue services with Serco, Inc. to avoid a lapse in service as well as delays in service to the customers.

5. Demonstrate the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

Serco Inc. is uniquely qualified to provide immediate, and comprehensive subject matter expertise and institutional knowledge of the approximately 50 FBI deployed A/V systems. Such unique qualifications are explained as follows:

• Serco Inc. has the specialized training and knowledge of every FBI deployed A/V system and the comprising components. Knowledge of use case, product application, and applied agency security policies/restrictions are key to adequately maintain, repair, assist and service each system.

• The FBI’s A/V platform has been custom designed, built, programmed, and implemented to support unique, mission specific, and site-specific mission objectives. Accepting or instituting an other-than Serco A/V contractor would cause unacceptable delay and disruption to CIRG’s daily operations and mission critical response posture. Such operations/mission critical events include:

o Daily executive and mid-level management meetings o Daily mission essential interaction with other agency partners (to include the

White House Military Office (WHMO) and the White House Communications Agency (WHCA)) o Daily interaction with LEGATs and international partners o On-demand availability for the FBI Director’s brief to the U.S. Congress o On-demand availability for response to crisis events adversely affecting the

National Capital Region o On-demand availability for National Crisis Coordination Center (NC3) activation and response to crisis events and/or national emergencies.

o 100% system availability/up-time in support of the No-fail, Global, 24x7x365

Strategic Information & Operations Center (SIOC), Watch Operations Unit

(WOU).

• All FBI deployed A/V systems, to include the 40,000 square-foot facility in HQ SIOC, have been specifically engineered and programmed to operate and function per Serco Inc. integration and design practices in coordination with customer specific requirements over the past ten years. These A/V systems operate over a common network infrastructure to enable seamless compatibility and harmonious interoperation between all the video teleconferencing systems. The expansion of these systems over the past ten years has amassed an approximate, total investment well over $11M. These systems are uniquely engineered to function as a comprehensive and consolidated platform based on common interface programming across all control systems.

Version 2.3 Page 3 of 4

• Should there be a change in the programming format for any part of the existing system (e.g., due to work performed by an alternative contractor) or related systems on the same infrastructure, there is a very high probability that all systems would fail to function collaboratively across the network. Degradation of performance to this extent would adversely affect the mission and effectiveness of the CIRG Division. To redress such impairment would require a comprehensive system redesign, reconfiguration, and reprogramming, an extensive amount of valuable time to implement, and would yield significant costs to the government to rectify.

• There are various other entities throughout CIRG and other FBI field offices that also employ products and services from the vendor here-in recommended (i.e., Serco).

• As a collateral benefit to the FBI, there is a cost savings that is realized based on a common Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contract for all CIRG systems combined.

Alternatively, inclusion of an accessory O&M provider would bifurcate the support structure and expressly complicate maintenance and repair efforts by all parties with an interest in the systems.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

A major factor limiting alternative, potential sources is the previous engineering and integration work performed by the recommended contractor here-in. A substantial portion of the work to be performed in the accompanying statement of work includes platform integration of the previously executed engineering, configuration, and related systems programming. The design and implementation of the existing system is unique to the vendor and would otherwise require lengthy exploration, discovery, and redesign to keep functional;

especially critical in a ‘No-Fail Mission’ environment as is the case with CIRG.

7. The anticipated dollar value of the proposed acquisition, including options if applicable, and a determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated dollar value of the proposed acquisition is approximately ______. The equity for the anticipated cost is predicated on comparison of similar work conducted on prior projects over several years past. Specific pricing is immediately unattainable due to the uncertainty of actual equipment selection and engineering specifications proposed by the vendor/integrator.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results.

The Operation, Maintenance, Repair, and Support Contract for Audio Visual (A/V) systems requires measured human-resource hours and specialized technical and engineering knowledge to keep the A/V systems adequately serviced and operational, which Serco Inc. can provide without loss of, or disruption to, service and operations. Market research conducted via internet searches for services within the respective markets yielded no definitive pricing as the “product” here-in requested is a custom (unique to the requestor and extensive in scope), engineering and integration service/product versus an off-the-shelf (OTS) service or product for which there is an established market pricing model.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%205_2.html#wp1107980 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%205_2.html#wp1107990

Version 2.3 Page 4 of 4

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

While the products that ultimately comprise the final system will be primarily off-the-shelf equipment, the integration, configuration, and programming of said equipment is critical to achieve a fully functional end-product. Since the requirement here-in solicited is peripheral to an existing integration design, it is unsound and imprudent to compound divergent integration and programming techniques or practices.

As stated in section five (5) above, changes in the programming format for any part of the existing system or reconfiguration of existing system parameters (e.g., as part of any remediation work performed by an alternative contractor) are very likely to introduce adverse performance issues and erratic system behaviors. With the introduction of an inconsistent integration technique, there is a very high probability that new and existing systems would fail to function collaboratively across the common platform. Degradation of performance to this extent would adversely affect the mission and effectiveness of the CIRG Division. Subsequently, to pursue corrective action would require a comprehensive system redesign, reconfiguration, and reprogramming and would yield significant costs to the government to rectify.

10. A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

A notice of intent will be posted on the www.SAM.gov website. The resultant contract is intended to be awarded as a sole source, one-time, firm-fixed price contract to Serco, Inc.

11. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

In the case that subsequent acquisitions are anticipated for the requirement here-in, a full system replacement would best entertain the removal of any barriers to competition as the full product design, implementation and performance would then be compatible, consistent, and functionally reliable in accordance with a common vendor’s/integrator’s engineering design. Operational downtime notwithstanding, it is important to note that a full system replacement would multiply the cost to the government several times over the anticipated dollar value of the proposed acquisition here-in.

At the conclusion of the term of this contract, said contract may be considered for market recompete.

http://www.sam.gov/