JA - ITSI - 6 Month Extension - Redacted.pdf

CONTROL NUMBER VA-25-00047089

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed Firm Fixed Price sole source action is for Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) Information Technology Systems Integration (ITSI) operations and maintenance which includes balancing the Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) demands of the Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) directorates and the OSDBU leadership priorities to manage critical IT Product Lines. The proposed contractor for this action is Clear Vantage Point Solutions LLC (CVPS), 7630 Little River TPKE STE 205, Annandale Virginia, 22003-2610.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action will provide project management, technical support, business process reengineering support, systems integration, governance, and life cycle support for various information technology systems supporting OSDBU’s line of business. The systems include OSDBU’s core business systems such as the VetBiz Portal, VetBiz Stat (Goals Management, Predictive Analytics and Market Research system), Forecast of Opportunities (FCO), Event Management Software as a Service (EMSS), eRFI and other applications being developed for the Veterans Enterprise Management System (VEMS).

The period of performance (PoP) shall be February 11, 2025 through August 10, 2025.

The total estimated value of the proposed action is

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this acquisition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(5), “Authorized or Required by Statute”, as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-5. For this action, 38 U.S.C. 8127(c), known as the Veterans First Contracting Program provides the authority to directly contract with a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) or a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB).

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source for this acquisition is CPVS who is a certified SDVOSB and is technically qualified to support the ITSI requirements. The Government has been actively pursuing a solicitation to recompete the subject services. These recompete efforts have been met with significant organizational challenges that have led to delays that the program has been unable to mitigate. These recompete efforts will continue throughout the entire period of this extension but it is critical that the current support services continue without disruption until a new competitive contract is awarded. Awarding this 6-month extension will not only allow adequate acquisition lead-time to complete recompete efforts for the long-term support requirements but will ensure continuity of critical services.

Information Technology Systems Integration CONTROL NUMBER VA-25-00047089

The ITSI support service enables OSDBU to carry out its mission through numerous services for Veterans and Service-Disabled Veterans who seek to open or expand a business. As mandated by 15 USC 644(k) OSDBU provides outreach and liaison support to businesses (small and large) and other members of the public and private sectors concerning Small Business Acquisition issues. These mission objectives are enabled by VEMS and the collection of capabilities it integrates. The sustainment of these critical capabilities is 100% reliant on the IT technical expertise currently being provided by CVPS. CVPS maintains the VEMS backend which is built on the Microsoft D-365 Customer-service Relationship Management (CRM) platform, and the front end (the VetBiz Portal) which utilizes Microsoft Power Pages/Portals. Any break in service would result in; a backlog of unresolved system security findings and privacy failures, leading to a loss of our VEMS Authority to Operate (ATO), a loss of Microsoft SharePoint support for process modernization, a loss of Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) customer service database maintenance, and a loss of OSDBU web portal functionality. The sum total ultimately results in a failure to meet our legislative mandate.

CVPS has demonstrated that it is a responsible Offeror with respect to performance in project management, technical support, business process re-engineering support, systems integration, governance, and life cycle support for various information technology systems supporting OSDBU's line of business. The systems, successfully supported by CVPS, include OSDBU's core business systems, such as the VetBiz Portal, the VetBiz Stat (Goals Management, Predictive Analytics and Market Research system), Event Management Software as a Service (EMSS), 2268NextGen and other applications being developed for the VEMS. CPVS provides IT expertise, technical knowledge, support personnel, and other related resources necessary to support the following areas; IT governance, Business process requirements definition, Microsoft Dynamic Customer-service Relationship Management (CRM) D365 administration and maintenance, Systems and User administration for all business systems as required, Cyber and systems security support, Lifecycle activities for software improvement, systems integration, and web/interface, Program and project management, SharePoint development and maintenance, Portal development and maintenance, IT Technical Support, and Database Administration.

Additionally, awarding this extension to CVPS is in the best interest of the Government, as CVPS is a SDVOSB, is currently supporting these requirements, and have the personnel on-boarded and readily available to continue support during this extension.

Therefore, by awarding this contract to CVPS, it will not only contribute directly to VA reaching its SDVOSB goal, it will continue these critical services without placing an additional burden on VA’s OSDBU staff and allow them to focus on supporting the recompete efforts.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted from October 2024 through January 2025, as discussed in Section 8. Upon determination that a sole source award to CVPS was in the best interest of the Government, the Contracting Officer confirmed that CVPS meets all of the requirements detailed in VAAR 819.7008.

Consistent with the guidelines of the Veterans First Contracting Program, the proposed action described herein will be synopsized and this justification will be posted on the Contracting Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR Part 5.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: As stated above, this effort will be issued as a sole source action to CVPS using the VA Veterans First Contracting Program, which allows the Contracting Officer (CO) to make a sole source award as a business decision wholly and to the discretion of the CO. Awarding this contract to CVPS aligns with the VA’s commitment to supporting SDVOSBs and VOSBs, promoting the economic well-being of Veterans and fulfilling the goals of the VA Veterans First Contracting Program. The use of sole source authority in this case is compliant with VAAR 819.7008, ensuring that all procedural requirements are met, including the business meeting the eligibility requirements in VAAR 819.7003. Additionally, consistent with the guidelines of the Veterans First Contracting Program, the proposed action described herein will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page pursuant to FAR Part 5.

8. Market Research: Market Research was conducted in October 2024 when a Request for Information (RFI) was posted on SAM.gov under NAICS code 541512 to 36U10125Q0005. Simultaneously, under RFQ1730758 to GSA eBuy, notification was forwarded to category 54151S contract holders of the RFI announcement. Additionally, a directed communication was distributed to all the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology-Next Generation prime contractors along with Vets2 and Alliant2 contract holders, notifying them all of the posted RFI. In total the SAM.gov announcement was sent to 40,179 entities registered under NAICS 541512, 4,678 GSA category 54151S contract holders, 36 Vets2 contract holders, 38 Alliant2 contract holders, and 34 T4NG contract holders. The RFI was released on October 21, 2024 with a closing date of October 28, 2024 to determine if there was adequate competition. On October 28, 2024 the RFI closed with the Government receiving a total of 74 responses. Recompete activities continue to assess the results and determine the most appropriate acquisition strategy for the follow-on contract. Based on the current expiration date of the existing support contract being February 10, 2025, a continuation of the existing contract is necessary to allow for proper recompete efforts. A short-term continuation of the support provided by CVPS was determined by the Government’s Technical Experts to be the best and most readily available solution to continue support while the recompete is solicited and ultimately award using competitive procedures.

The Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) database was accessed on February 3, 2025. This search yielded 5,061 certified SDVOSBs and VOSBs.

Additionally, This concluded that CVPS is registered and certified and qualifies as an SDVOSB in accordance with the federal small business size standard for the applicable North American Industry Classification System Code 541512. It was verified on February 4, 2025 that CVPS is registered in the SAM.gov database, via Contractor Responsibility Assessment (CRA) and is eligible to receive a Government contract.

In addition, a Contractor Responsibility Assessment was pulled on January 31, 2025 and a review of their Representations and Certifications was conducted and CVPS has no exclusions. Finally, the SAM Responsibility/Qualification system, formerly Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), was reviewed and shows no reports for CPVS that would indicate defective pricing, instances of contractor fault or recipient not-qualified, terminations for cause, default or material failure to comply, or non-responsibility of the contractor.

9. Other Facts: The CO has determined that this proposed action meets all the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 8127(c) and VAAR 819.7008. This acquisition is below the $5,000,000 threshold, CPVS is a responsible SDVOSB for performance of the services described herein, the proposed contract can be awarded at a fair and reasonable price, and award to CPVS is in the best interest of the Government.

10. Technical/Requirements Certification

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

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination

I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on price analysis and comparison with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

12. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. This contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $750,000, therefore, the certification required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(A) serves as the Contracting Officer’s approval.