J&A_ATS_1_month_extension_JA_OFAC_Redacted.docx

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR PART 6 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Program/Equipment: The Army Training Support Center (ATSC), Fort Eustis, VA, requires technical support for the Army Training Information Systems (ATIS) and Information Mission Area (IMA) automation equipment and system applications.

Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

Amount: $358,215

Prepared by:

Contracting Officer:

Technical:

Requirements:

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Program Manager:

Legal Counsel:

FAR Part 6 Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: Mission Installation and Contracting Command-Fort Eustis 705 Washington Boulevard, Suite 102, Fort Eustis, VA 23604-1278

2. Description of Action: Army Training Support Center (ATSC) requests a firm fixed- price contract modification to task order W91QUZ-06-D-0010-2A13 with International Business Machines Corporation, 11107 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 500, Reston, VA 20190-5375. The Government projects award for May, 2017 and fiscal year 2017 Operations and Maintenance funds will be used. An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The contract provides technical support for all baseline and mission related network components, computers, software, video teleconferencing equipment, projectors, limited wiring, network equipment/software, switches, configuration management, servers, virtual environments/infrastructure, applications, and all associated communications equipment owned and operated by ATSC mission. The requirement encompasses the activities of mission related Local Area/Wide Area Network (LAN/WAN) support such as systems administration, end user training (hardware and software (both virtual and physical)), configuration management, documentation maintenance, computer installation, server installation, configuration and maintenance, limited network cabling, maintenance, network management, World Wide Web (WWW) management (maintenance and creation), system upgrades, system movement, help desk services (baseline and mission), application engineering support, database administration configuration, and management, technical research support, and limited training/training documents. The proposed modification is for one additional month of services, 1 May through 31 May 2017.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The incumbent, IBM is the only responsible contractor that can satisfy the Army’s requirement during this interim period. The rationale for using this authority is to prevent a break in service. The current contractor has been determined responsible in accordance with FAR Part 9.104. This is a temporary solution in order to avoid unnecessary risks until this requirement can be competed under the CHESS ITES-2S contract vehicle. Anticipated date of award is 30 May 2017.

(a) As described at FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), when the supplies or services required by the agency are available only from one responsible source, or for DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard, from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other types of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for. The incumbent, IBM, is the proposed sole source contractor for this effort. They have over 6 years recently as the incumbent on this contract and the experience with the complexity of servers, development efforts, and applications, to maintain and keep all functions and projects operational. The current incumbent has all the permissions and access cards required to access systems and applications. Another vendor would have to have security review. Additionally, due to the complexity of the systems, it is required that a transition period occur to ensure data and inherent knowledge of systems, applications, and projects gained over the last 6+ years is passed to ensure continuity of systems. If not met, the systems will fail and any new contractor will have a high risk of failure.

(b) Alternatives: There are only three alternatives as described below. Recommended Alternative is #3:

(1) Alterative one - Suspend operations (unacceptable): In this alternative the Government would suspend all operation in the area supported by the contract until such time it can be resumed. This alternative would turn off mission critical training systems and application supporting Soldiers Army Wide and interrupt training readiness to a multitude of Army and Reserve units in various states of training operations and completions. This could adversely impact operational readiness and prevent ability to carry out their assigned missions.

(2) Alterative two – In-House Personnel/expertise (unacceptable): In this alternative the Government would attempt to use civilian and military personnel to keep mission critical training systems online and operational in support of Soldiers. However, this is unacceptable as there is currently only one military staff member and 4 civilians to attempt to maintain operations for what normally takes 28-31 CMEs. Additionally, the military and civilians do not have the skillset or certification requirements to maintain systems.

(3) Alternative Three – Thirty Day contract extension (acceptable): This alternative would allow the contractor a 30-day extension to continue to maintain the mission critical system to the standard required while contracting completes contract solicitation phase and awards the contract to new or incumbent team depending on outcome. This maintains full mission capability and readiness.

(c) The complexity of the systems and applications supported by the current contract/incumbent is not something another vendor can learn quickly due to complexity and development requirements currently required/implemented by the Army. If the alternative to extend the contract for 30 days is not granted, the Army and Reserve will impact readiness status of over 350,000 soldiers, and shutdown over 1300 correspondence and online/distance learning training courses. It will additionally disable ATSC’s ability to operate as it will shut down ATSC workforce IT environment (Thin Client) and prevent mission accomplishment of over 400 military, civilians, and contractors supporting ATSC mission to train Soldiers across the Army.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The inherent risks associated with a short term interim effort is obvious. The incumbent, IBM is the only responsible contractor that can satisfy the Army’s requirement during this interim period of 30 days. Effective competition will be achieved by posting the follow-on requirement to the CHESS-ITES- 2S site for all sixteen vendors to offer a task order proposal. IBM currently has a subcontractor, Salient CRGT to accomplish some of the tasks.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: MICC-Fort Eustis intends to acquire the follow-on services for Automation Technical Support in support of ATSC on a competitive basis, utilizing the Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) Information Technology Enterprise Solutions -2 Services (ITES-2S) contract vehicle. The requirement was posted to the CHESS site on 18 Apr 2017 and closes 18 May 2017. The anticipated date of award is 30 May 2017 with performance to begin 1 Jun 2017 and end 13 April 2020, which includes a base year and 2 option years.

8. Market Research: Market research for the follow-on requirement show there are sixteen (16) vendors on the CHESS ITES-2S contract vehicle capable of providing these services; however, a competitive award for this one-month extension cannot be made without a break in service. It would not be in the best interest of the Government to pursue a re-compete at this time.

9. Interested Sources: A Request for Task Order Proposal was posted to the CHESS ITES-2S site on 18 April 2017 with a closing date of 18 May 2016 for the follow-on requirement. This contract vehicle includes a total of sixteen vendors. Based on market research conducted on all previous efforts, there is interest in this requirement. All interested vendors that submit a proposal will be considered for the follow-on requirement.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History

(1) Previous contract numbers:

Task Order W91QUZ-06-D-0010-2A13, 1 May 15 - 29 Apr 17, $7,861,596 Task Order W91QUZ-06-D-0010-2A06, 1 May 12 - 30 Apr 15, $12,582,828 Task Order W91QUZ-06-D-0010-G301, 1 Nov 08 - 30 Apr 12, $10,121,458

(2) These actions were awarded competitively via CHESS ITES-2S contract.

(3) Full and open competition was used for each requirement.

(4) No J&A was required.

(5) This contract action requires a one-month extension to allow the 30 day solicitation period and contract award.

(6) N/A

(7) There was no J&A prepared for the previous requirements.

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Name:

Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Typed Name:

12. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. The contracting officer determined the prices fair and reasonable based on the prices proposed for the extension are the same prices used during the first option period. Those prices were determined fair and reasonable at the time of task order award. Cost or pricing data is not required, in accordance with FAR 15.403(b)(1).

Typed Name:

13. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.