JA ITSI Support Services_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPURTUNITY

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 action is to increase the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) amount for Optional Task (OT) Two, Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) 5001 under Task Order (TO) VA11816F10280004 under Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG) Contract VA118-16-1028 with Veterans EZ Info, Inc. (VetsEZ). This TO was awarded on February 14, 2017 for Information Technology System Integration (ITSI) support services. The TO included one 10-month base period, four 12-month option periods and two OT’s for Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s (OSDBU) Web Portal Operations & Maintenance and additional ITSI support services. Due to an increased level of effort required to supply an adequate level of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support for OSDBU’s development and sustainment of the Veterans Enterprise Management System (VEMS), it is necessary to increase the NTE ceiling in order to allow for one additional 12-month exercise under OT Two, CLIN 5001.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services:

Under TO VA11816F10280004, VetsEZ provides project management, technical support, business process reengineering, systems integration, governance and life-cycle support for various information technology systems supporting the OSDBU line of business.

Specifically, OT Two provides additional contractor support during surges in demand for the types of services described in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). These services include Information Technology Governance Support, Business Process Management/Business Process Reengineering Support, Accreditation & Authorization Artifacts, SharePoint Service and On-Site IT Support, Data & System Integrations Support, Microsoft Dynamics Customer Service Relationship Management (CRM) Administration, and Database and Data Administration. An increase to the NTE ceiling for Optional Task Two, under CLIN 5001 is necessary to provide adequate support for the increase in required O&M services as described in OT Two to support the VEMS application. The total increase in value of CLIN 5001 shall be changed from

4. Statutory Authority:

The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C.

4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

Information Technology System Integration (ITSI) Support Services VA11816F10280004

5. Rationale Supporting Increase to this Contract:

The proposed source is VetsEZ, as the original TO, VA11816F10280004, titled “Information Technology System Integration (ITSI) Support Services”, was competed and awarded to VetsEZ on February 14, 2017. The original TO included an OT for Additional ITSI Support Services which provides surge support for the types of services identified in the PWS.

The increased level of service requested under OT Two is in response to a higher frequency of system vulnerability checks required to be conducted as well as the associated mandatory remediations that are required by the Office of Information and Technology (OIT). The variety of system code security scans conducted in accordance with Web Application Security Assessment (WASA), Nessus or Security Configuration Control Board (SCCD) revealed vulnerabilities in the system code and requires they be resolved in order to maintain an Authority to Operate (ATO). Efforts to resolve these vulnerabilities necessitate changes be made to system code developed by Microsoft in close collaboration with VetsEZ along with updated documentation of the changes. The complexity of the code requires a developer to be intimately familiar with the code in order to not only resolve vulnerabilities but to also avoid inadvertent damage to system functionality, impaired operation or system downtime. Additionally, VetsEZ is currently responsible for all updates to documentation and the maintenance of Authorities to Operate (ATOs) in order for these systems to remain operational in the VA environment.

The risk of these adverse outcomes occurring is greatly increased if VetsEZ cannot perform the necessary code changes to ensure the integrity of the remediation effort. If this code or documentation was updated by another vendor the increased risk of system damage, lack of accountability when issues arise, the likelihood of failed performance testing and probability of increased system downtime would be unacceptable for OSDBU as this would result in the inability to perform the statutory requirements of verifying Veteran Owned Small Businesses in accordance with 38 USC 8127 and 8128. For this reason, VetsEZ is the only source capable of providing these aforementioned services seamlessly under OT Two due to the mission critical nature of the systems involved.

The anticipated increase of the OT Two ceiling of is based on historical data and utilizes the current labor categories and their associated labor rates which were incorporated into the TO at time of TO award.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements.

There is no competition anticipated for this specific action. In accordance with FAR

5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities/beta.SAM.gov site and the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

The Government currently anticipates recompeting this effort during the final period of performance of this TO which is anticipated to end on December 20, 2021. All future requirements for these services will be transitioned to that TO.

8. Market Research:

The Government technical experts conducted market research in December of 2020 to ascertain the ability of other sources meeting VA’s needs. Specifically, the Government’s technical experts reviewed the technical capabilities of other sources from General Service Administration’s (GSA) Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) and T4NG. While other sources were found to have similar general capabilities and staffing availability, no other source was found to have the technical expertise and familiarity of the supported systems and documentation to successfully meet VA’s needs without increasing the risk of performance on the current task order to an unacceptable level.

9. Other Facts: None

10. Technical and 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 a comparison of the proposed price with the historical prices paid, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for the same or similar items.

Additionally, the proposed price will be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action exceeds the $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1) serves as approval.