JA - Veteran Support - Final - Redacted - 7_2.pdf

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 sole source action is a firm-fixed price (FFP) contract for Veteran facing Support for the VA.gov and the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) helpdesk in support of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. The proposed contractor is Oddball, Inc. (Oddball), 1775 Tysons Blvd., Mclean, VA 22102.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The proposed action is to continue the current support for the VA.gov and the VEO helpdesk in support of PACT Act implementation. This includes but is not limited to the following: Tier 2 and 3 Customer Support, Customer Support Training Documentation and Content Management, advising on product enhancements to relevant systems (e.g.

Salesforce and Cisco, AskVA/Microsoft (MS) Dynamics) and services, and support the creation and maintenance of digital surveys on VA.gov. The goal of these services is not only to create a support process for VA.gov issues that leaves the user satisfied, but to create a process that has feedback loops so that issues, even small ones, can quickly be seen by the right teams and addressed. Our goal is for Veterans to be supported when they have a problem and for future Veterans and users to not have to experience those same issues. Using a combination of feedback through customer support channels and the Veteran Feedback Tool, there should be a robust input of data that can be shared to teams and leadership and help understand how to improve products and the overall VA.gov experience. The proposed FFP action is for a 12-month base period, plus an optional task for 60 days to support transition to a new contractor. 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 Oddball. Oddball is a certified SDVOSB and is technically qualified to support Veteran users of VA.gov. Oddball won a competitive task order in May 2023 to perform this work and has performed successfully to date.

VA.GOV VETERAN SUPPORT

The existing task order expires on June 30, 2024, however, the need for continued Veteran customer support and customer service training is an ongoing need beyond this task order. Under the proposed action, the contractor will continue to support Tier 2 and 3 Customer Support, Customer Support Training Documentation and Content Management, advising on product enhancements to relevant systems and services, and support the creation and maintenance of digital surveys on VA.gov. If there were a gap in service, there would be insufficient communication, knowledge sharing, and support tracking to ensure that Veterans experiencing technical issues with VA.gov were getting the help they need. The VA employees running call centers would not have information about VA.gov products and would have no escalation path to address Tier 2 and 3 technical issues. This would result in Veterans dealing with unresolved support issues and delays to resolve those issues.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted in May 2024, as discussed in Section 8. Upon the determination that a sole source award to Oddball was I the best interest of the Government, the Contracting Officer confirmed that Oddball 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: The current task order was awarded on the Customer Experience, DevOps, Agile Releases (CEDAR) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle. The contract ceiling of CEDAR is accounted for, and therefore the continued support requirement cannot be competed on CEDAR. A new IDIQ, the Secure, Performant, Reliable, and User-Centered Experiences (SPRUCE) contract is planned to replace CEDAR and is currently in the evaluation phase. Continued support for the VA.gov and the VEO helpdesk is ongoing and needed to bridge the gap between the CEDAR and SPRUCE contracts.

It is expected that future needs for this work will be competed on the SPRUCE contract in fiscal year 2025. CEDAR (and SPRUCE, when it is awarded), are the preferred vehicles to acquire the type of software development services under this action as they are 100% set aside for SDVOSBs and the awardees have proven software development capability.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2024, specifically in May 2024. The Contracting Officer considered other contractors in the marketplace. However, given that the CEDAR contract is nearing its ceiling and is no longer a viable vehicle for this work, and the follow-on IDIQ contract, SPRUCE, is not yet awarded, it is not in the Government’s best interest to compete for a short-term bridge effort as it may result in a transition to a different contractor, and then a transition to a third contractor once SPRUCE is awarded. The potential for three different contractors to have to transition this work in roughly 12 months would likely result in disruptions to the services being performed. As described in Section 5, the need for continued Veteran customer support and customer service training is critical, as there would be insufficient communication, knowledge sharing, and support tracking to ensure that Veterans experiencing technical issues with VA.gov were getting the help they need. In order to minimize disruptions in service and continue addressing Veteran technical issues, it is in VA’s best interest to award this action to the current contractor, Oddball, with the planned follow-on action to be competed under SPRUCE.

The Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) database was accessed on May 31, 2024. This search concluded that Oddball is registered and certified and qualifies as a SDVOSB in accordance with the federal small business size standard for the applicable North American Industry Classification System Code 541519. It was verified on May 31, 2024 that Oddball is registered in the SAM.gov database and is eligible to receive a Government contract.

9. Other Facts: The Procuring Contracting Officer has determined that this proposed action meets all the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 8127(c). This acquisition is below the $5,000,000 threshold, Oddball 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 Oddball 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

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

Approval In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of VA.gov Veteran Support services on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.