JA for sole source v8 redacted version_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(b)(2)

SOL # 140D0420Q0135

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.”

Contracting Activity: Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business

Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate

(AQD)

Requiring Activity: Department of the Interior, Office of the Chief

Information Officer (OCIO)

Project Identification: Email and Collaboration / O365 Administrative

Support

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

The OCIO requires Office 365 (O365) Subject Matter Expert (SME) support. AQD plans to award a Labor Hour (LH) contract with a fixed-price labor rate to Vidoori, Inc. (Vidoori) as an 8(a) sole source award under the GSA Streamlined Technology Application Resource for Services II (STARS II) Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) IAW FAR

16.505(b)(2).

Vidoori is a current 8(a) STARS II vendor with an appropriate labor category

(Engineering Subject Matter Specialist) under STARS II that would be best suited for the subject requirement. FAR 6.302-5(b)(4) permits an exception to full and open competition for a sole source award under the 8(a) program as directed awards under the competitive threshold, which is currently $4 million, are authorized by statute (15 U.S.C.

637). As such, a directed STARS II 8(a) award to Vidoori is authorized by statute and considered to be in the best interest of the Government.

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

The OCIO has a requirement for one (1) Subject Matter Expert (SME) Full-Time-

Equivalent (FTE) to provide comprehensive technical expertise to support continued development and operations of the 0365 Government Community Cloud (GCC) environment and components in order to deliver improved levels of service and security.

This requirement for Microsoft (MS) Office 365 (O365) administrative support services requires the Contractor to perform the following tasks:

• Assistance in the configuration and use of the Teams Collaboration Suite,

• MS SharePoint Online services,

• MS Exchange Online configuration and security

• Integration with Azure Active Directory, to include role and perm1ss1ons delegations,

• Security and Compliance Center Management including configuring and deploying Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Records Management and Retention, e-Discovery, and Threat management, and

• Administration, configuration, and governance oversight of the 0365 technical services.

The total estimated value of the award if all performance periods are exercised is $849,036.00

($990,542.00 including the 6-month extension IAW FAR 52.217-8).

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).

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(e) – For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

This acquisition utilizes the ordering procedures at FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(e) and will be awarded under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) 8(a) STARS II GWAC.

FAR 6.302-5(b)(4) also permits an exception to full and open competition for a sole source award under the 8(a) program as directed awards under the competitive threshold, which is currently $4 million, are authorized by statute (15 U.S.C. 637). As a result, the

GSA STARS II 8(a) GWAC allows for directed orders under the competitive threshold

IAW FAR 19.804-6(c)(2). As such, a directed STARS II 8(a) award to Vidoori is authorized by statute.

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

Market research and pricing analysis indicated the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on price comparison to the Government's IGE, GSA STARS II discounted pricing, and the STARS II average pricing (mean) among STARS II vendors.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

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.

N/A

8. The contacting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

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

Elliott Jones Date

Contracting Officer

9. Evidence that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or requirements or other rationale for an exception to fair opportunity) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

I certify that the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and meets the Government’s minimum needs.

Benjamin Weinischke Date

Program Official

10. A written determination by the approving official that one of the circumstances in FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) through (E) applies to the order.

The above analysis concludes that the following exception to fair opportunity IAW FAR

16.505(b)(2)(i)(E) applies to this requirement.

11. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Kimberly Rainey Date

Branch Chief

Concur

Sarah Rumney Date

Division Chief

Approve

Michael Whalen Date

Competition Advocate