JA Digital Masons A_V Maintenance Contract v6_Redacted.pdf

This is a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (J&A) for a sole-source contract award by the U.S. Department of State.

The Department of State's Acquisition Management division seeks approval to award a new Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract on a sole-source basis to Digital Masons of Washington, D.C., for on-going audiovisual system operations and maintenance services supporting the Executive Secretariat Operations Center (A/V Maintenance Operations Center, S/ES-O). The Operations Center requires experienced on-site audiovisual field engineers and on-call programmers who maintain TS/SCI security clearances to support day-to-day operations. The estimated contract value is redacted, with pricing broken down as Base Year, Option Year 1 (OY1), and Option Year 2 (OY2). The procurement is conducted under the authority of 41 USC 3304 and FAR 6.103, citing FAR 6.103-1 that only one responsible source exists and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

The justification establishes that Digital Masons is the only qualified contractor based on proprietary knowledge of the Operations Center's complex, mission-critical audiovisual system. The system was originally installed by Diversified and is now effectively obsolete due to retired software platforms (non-standard Python and Global Scriptor) and lacks supporting documentation. Digital Masons conducted over a year of hands-on study under emergency break-fix contract 19AQMM23P1308 and has developed demonstrated expertise in system maintenance and operational requirements unique to the facility's diplomatic security restrictions. The J&A notes that any alternative contractor would require reverse-engineering the system from a standing start, posing unacceptable operational risk during mission-critical crisis response operations. The fair and reasonable cost determination is based on GS-equivalency rates for IT Specialists and Electronics Technicians, plus Department of Labor rates for Program Managers and field technicians. The Operations Center plans to pursue future open competition after stabilizing the audiovisual system through this maintenance contract.