JA 2021-81.pdf

J&A 2021-81

Page 1 of 3 J&A No. 2021-81

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Orders under Multiple Award Contracts / Fair Opportunity - FAR 16.505

Requisition Number(s): N/A; Funding available via CLIN Extensions

Contract Number: SECHQ115D0037

Task Order Numbers: 0005, 0006, 0007, 0008, and 0009

Procurement Title: Litigation Support Electronic Discovery Support Services

Contracting Office: Office of Acquisitions

Total Estimated Value: $2,939,487.60

Authority: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Number: 2021-81

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Competition Advocate, hereby approve this exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR

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

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Office of Acquisitions

100 F Street, NE

Washington, DC 20549

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

This justification is to extend Task Orders 0005, 0006, 0007, 0008, and 0009 under IDIQ

SECHQ115D0037 with CACI as an exception to fair opportunity. The extension will allow for continued support for three (3) months from August 31, 2021 through November 30, 2021 with a three (3) month option. This extension is required so that the SEC’s Division of

Enforcement (ENF) continues to receive these critical, specialized services in the short-term and to ensure a successful transition with minimal risk to the two (2) new Electronic

Discovery Support of Litigation (“EDSL”) Task Orders which are anticipated to be awarded by September 01, 2021. Both Offerors have been notified of their pending award.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

Task Orders 0005, 0006, 0007, 0008, and 0009 under IDIQ SECHQ115D0037 provide the SEC

Division of Enforcement with Litigation Support Electronic Discovery services, including: (1)

Receipt and Logging of Productions; (2) Program and Project Administration for eDiscovery workflows; (3) IT Forensic Lab; (4) Electronic Document Discovery (EDD) Processing and Data

Conversion; and (5) Records Management. These services are central to the SEC’s ability to perform mission-critical activities related to enforcing the securities laws and protecting investors.

To effectively and efficiently perform, the contractor must have significant knowledge and

Page 2 of 3 J&A No. 2021-81 understanding of the SEC’s internal workflows and procedures related to litigation support databases, receipt and logging of electronic productions, use and administration of the

Recommind application, the SEC’s IT forensic lab, electronic document discovery (EDD) processing and data conversion, and records management. This extension is necessary to transition the aforementioned task orders to two (2) new task orders which are anticipated to be awarded by September 01, 2021. Both Offerors have been notified selection has been made and they are the apparent successful Offerors. The total estimated value of this extension is

$1,469,743.80 for three (3) months and $1,469,743.80 for an optional three (3) months for a total estimated value of $2,939,487.60.

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b)(2)) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications 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):

(a) Exception to Fair Opportunity:

Per FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), this order will be awarded to CACI on a sole-source basis because only CACI is capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique and highly specialized. Currently CACI provides the services under five task orders issued under an existing IDIQ contract that is due to expire on August 31, 2021. All awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

(b) Supporting Rationale:

It is currently anticipated that the two (2) new EDSL procurement actions to continue this support will be awarded no later than September 01, 2021, and the transition from the existing task orders to the new task orders will be completed by November 30, 2021 which is the end of the new performance period provided for under this justification. An additional three (3) month option will be included to mitigate risk if there should be any unforeseen issues encountered during the transition. The scope of the new task orders encompass all of the existing requirements and consolidates similar requirements for additional SEC offices and divisions.

The additional time is required to facilitate transition to the new task orders and transition out of, and close out, the current task orders. Having different contractors take over this mission critical work for ENF under a very short or nonexistent contract transition period presents undue risks to the SEC for this critical support. The new contractors will need significant time to transition and obtain the knowledge the current contractor already has on the daily operations of this work. During this time it is imperative that a contractor experienced with the business needs as well as workflows and processes continues to provide the same support currently being provided. During the three (3) month transition ENF requires the inventory and physical move of hard media, records, and productions to the new task orders and then the inventory and erasing of all media used by the incumbent containing SEC information, some of which is non-public and often times contains PII data. ENF requires the current CACI personnel to continue performing under the current task orders while the new contractors take over the work and CACI winds their support down. During the

Page 3 of 3 J&A No. 2021-81 transition, the new task order awardees will be on-boarding new personnel therefore the length of time to complete the PERSEC process needs to be accounted for which is currently taking longer than normal,. The extension will allow continued access to CACI’s offsite forensics facility will allow the SEC to continue sending on-site OTS FTEs to the facility, a result of the SEC’s current telework posture. With the SEC’s return to the office (i.e. on-site) policy still unknown and ENF’s contractor work force still likely to be performing off-site for a period of time, the logistics noted above are more challenging for the data and media that are currently off-site..

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer, by signature on this document, hereby determines that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable based on the current conditions requiring this extension.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

This action is an interim solution until such time when the new EDSL program is fully operational and the old LSED contract is closed out.

7. 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.

(a) Procurement History:

Contract # SECHQ115D0037 was competitively awarded to CACI on July 31, 2015 for a period of performance of one (1) base-year with four (4) one-year option periods and one six-month extension period through February 28, 2021 with all options exercised. One (1) offer was received, and award was made in the lifecycle amount of $102,000,000.00. The two (2) new

EDSL Task Orders anticipated to be awarded by September 01, 2021 to fulfill this requirement are also being competitively awarded, and the extension of the current CACI Task Orders authorized by this exception to fair opportunity is necessary to support the transition to the new competitively awarded Task Orders.

(b) Subsequent Acquisitions:

The SEC is using competitive procedures to award the new EDSL Task Orders, and also intends to use competitive procedures for the future support needed at the completion of this contract and the new Task Orders.