JEFO 75N98019D00011-75N91019F00129-P00005 Redacted.pdf

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

"Source Selection Information- see FAR 2.101 and 3.104"

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

a. Federal agency and contracting activity. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Office of Acquisitions (OA)

b. Sponsoring organization. National Cancer Institute, Office of Management (OM), Information Technology Resource Center (ITRC).

c. Program Manager information.

• Program Manager's name: Robert Barber

• Mailing Address:

• E-mail Address:

• Telephone Number:

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

a. Acquisition purpose and objectives.

The purpose of this contract action is to extend the existing Task Order 75N98019000011 - 75N91019F00129, awarded under NIH BPSS II IDIQ to Guidehouse LLP, for a period of 10.5 months and change the end date of the period of performance to July 12, 2023, from August 31, 2022, in order to avoid a lapse in services needed in support of critical NCI administrative operations. The award of the NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ pool is delayed, and a re-competition under the existing pool could only result in the next order for these services having a duration of less than 1 year, which would not be prudent in the interest of economy and efficiency. A sole source extension of services will be pursued until the NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ contracts are issued and a new task order with a period of performance longer than 1 year can be competed under fair opportunity.

b. Project background This Task Order supports the activities and operations of the NCI Information Technology Resource Center (ITRC) in its mission to support the administrative operations of the NCl's Office of Management through the application of information technology.

The contractor provides skilled staff, business solutions, project management, business process improvement, organizational assessment support, change management, program planning and management services, implementation and system integration services in support of NCl's content management, qusiness process re-engineering (BPR) and workflow automation efforts with the following objectives for this project:

• Identify, document, and prioritize existing business processes or administrative improvements and supporting technologies

• Streamline, consolidate, and simplify current and future administrative and business processes

• Automate selected processes and administrative improvements via tools and technologies

• Provide technical support and technical consultation for the administrative applications developed by the ITRC

• Increase the level of process and administrative improvement transparency and ease of communication

• Increase process and administrative improvement standardization across NCI

• Increase reporting, metrics and dashboard capabilities

• Implement an agile IT platform that can quickly be adjusted to meet emerging business and compliance needs

• Manage user adoption by designing and implementing leading organizational change management techniques

Contract/Task order 75N98019D00011 - 75N91019F00129 was awarded to Guidehouse LLP under the NIH BPSS II IDIQ program. The Time and Materials type order included a base year period of performance followed by two (2) 12-month option years. In addition, the award included options for increased quantity to allow for surges in capacity needs. The current period of performance is September 1, 2019 through August 31, 2022 and the total obligated amount to date is out of the

QC!Tllm!:llTCOn value negotiated.

he requirement falls under the following

Acquisition Strategy-The National Cancer Institute -Wide Acquisitions.

NCI had been planning to competitively award a new Task Order under the NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ program, as the current task order under NIH BPSS has performed successfully and use of the program furthers NIH strategic sourcing initiatives. However, the projected award date for the new IDIQ pool under the NIH BPSS program has been pushed back several times. Communications with the NIH BPSS team now indicate that the new pool will not be awarded in time to solicit, negotiate and award a new order before this current NCI task order expires.

NIH BPSS II IDIQ contracts have been modified to allow for orders to be placed through July 13, 2022 and for deliveries to be accepted through July 12, 2023 in accordance with FAR 52.216-22.

NCI is seeking a 10.5-month extension of the existing task order under NIH BPSS II to avoid a lapse in support until NIH BPSS Ill becomes available. This would allow for the current order to perform until the final delivery date on the NIH BPSS II IDIQ contract, while the NCI acquisition team waits for a new strategic sourcing vehicle to be put in place, without excessive disruption due to transition of contractor staff as a result of the unexpected delay in the award of NIH BPSS Ill contracts.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

a. Project tide. Continued Support to Information Technology Resource Center (ITRC)

b. Project description.

• Requirement type.

□ Research & development (R&D)

□ R & D support services IXJ Support services (no~R&D)

□ Supplies/equipment IXllnformation technology (IT)

□ Construction

□ Architect-engineer (A & E) services

□ Design-build

□ Other (specify): _______ _

• Type of action.

□ New requirement

□ Follow-on IXJ Other (specify): Modification to active Task Order

• Proposed contract/order type.

□ Firm-fixed-price

□ Other fixed-price (specify, e.g., fixed-price award-fee, fixed-price incentiv~fee): ____ _

□ Cost-plus-fixed-fee

□ Other cost reimbursement (specify, e.g., cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-incentiv~fee): ____ _ IE Time and materials

□ Indefinite delivery (specify whether indefinite quantity, definite quantity, or requirements): ____ _

□ Other (specify): ____ _

□ Completion Form □ Term form

• Acquisition identification number. 75N98019D00011- 75N91019F00129, Modification P00005,

c. Total estimated dollar value and performance/delivery period.

The performance period of the extension (Option Period 4) will be September 1, 2022 -July 12, 2023. The extension will include Option Period 4 for core work and multiple options for increased quantit~ total estimated cost of all options for the extension is -

4. Identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

IEI This acquisition is conducted under the authority of exception found at FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)

(C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor(s) unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

a. Name and address of the proposed contractor(s).

Guidehouse LLP 1800 Tysons Boulevard 7th floor Mclean, VA 22102-4257

b. Nature of the acquisition and proposed unique qualifications of the contractor(s ).

The purpose of this contract action is to extend an existing Task order awarded to Guidehouse LLP who was selected through a fair opportunity award process under the NIH BPSS II strategic sourcing vehicle.

NCI had been planning to competitively award a new Task Order under the NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ program, as the current task order under NIH BPSS II has performed successfully and use of the program furthers NIH strategic sourcing initiatives.

However, the projected award date for the new IDIQ pool under the NIH BPSS program has been pushed back several times. NIH BPSS Ill contracts are now projected to be awarded by July 13, 2022, although the target award date has already been missed and re-established previously, so there is risk that this date will not be achieved as currently planned. Even if the BPSS Ill is timely awarded, the NCI acquisition team anticipates needing more than 6 weeks to solicit, negotiate and award an order for the services discussed in this document.

While an order could still be placed on an NIH BPSS II contract, it is not determined to be in the interest of economy and efficiency for the Government to re-compete these services twice within the span of a year, and potentially manage the transition of two different vendors onto complex, critical and customized NCI IT system support in less than a year, due to the delay in the re-competition of the base IDIQ contracts.

When NCI approached the NIH BPSS team to discuss the situation, NIH BPSS staff advised NCI that an extension to its BPSS II order would be a feasible approach to handling the unexpected delay.

An extension to the current order is necessary for economy and efficiency in this situation because Guidehouse has unique knowledge of NCI customized IT platforms, such as NCiConnect and FastTrack Pro, and the specific training required to maintain, operate and enhance the platforms. It is critical to avoid disruptions in support which will lead to system outages including failures in more than 180 automated workflows. There are also more than 30 development projects underway to enhance systems support for areas critical to NCl's mission.

NCiConnect is the primary workforce productivity platform used across the Office of Management NCI. The majority of all administrative policy, guidance, procedures and forms are supported within the platform. It is used 7 days a week 365 days per year by the administrative staff of NCI to perform their duties. The site averages more than 450,000 visits per year for an average of 2,500 staff hours per month by NCI staff. Every month NCI staff download more than 9,000 documents and perform more than 1,000 content searches in support of operations.

FastTrack Pro, the primary workflow automation tool of the Office of Management, is used by staff to conduct administrative business including Human Resources, Grants, Contracts, Budget, Travel, Procurement, Space and Facilities Management, Technology Transfer, Ethics and all other areas of administration. Over 6,200 electronic packages are processed annually across all areas of administration. The platform consists of a complex and highly integrated architecture involving Microsoft SharePoint and Dynamics, QlikView, Power Bl and numerous upstream and downstream integrations with NIH systems. User access is governed by a complex provisioning model to ensure confidentiality of data that cannot be inadvertently corrupted. Numerous custom-built applications supporting Technology Transfer, Staff Training and Procurement that must be maintained for continual operation.

Disruption would also put the security of system data at risk, and interrupt migration of the NCiConnect platform from an on-premisis instance to the cloud, as well as delay implementation of a system solution for the NCI Office of Budget and Finance which it needs to close out the end of the fiscal year. It is not realistic or feasible to change vendor support teams twice in less than 12 months and ensure the required system up time for these tools, as the underlying ordering vehicle programs are working towards revised award dates.

The current order's vendor, Guidehouse, provides the primary operational, maintenance and development support for this platform and are the only vendor capable of providing these services at this point in time. Technical support, operation and maintenance of the system requires a thorough understanding of components of the platform and how they are integrated. While the system is well documented, a new contractor would need to become familiar with the system, the NCI organization and the NIH IT community involved in hosting and supporting the architecture. Adjustments must also be made by the contractor swiftly and continuously to avoid disruptions which would result in immediate work stoppages.

The knowledge required to achieve the thorough understanding of the platform to effectively operate and troubleshoot the system real time would take 6 to 8 months.

The extension is requested is for 10.5 months. During that time, this requirement will be competitively re-solicited, with a transition period component that will allow for a new successful awardee with a period of over1ap with the incumbent awardee to ensure continuity of operations.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable. Indicate whether a SAM.gov notice was or will be publicized as required by FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

Exception to FAR 5.202(a)(6) applies and therefore, a notice will not be publicized.

7. Detennination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost/price to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The NCI Contracting officer will consider the historical pricing as well as prices negotiated in the base IDIQ as a determining factor for reasonableness before award. Based on the information presented in this document, there is no indication that the price will not be fair and reasonable to the Government. A final determination will be made prior to the execution of the proposed action. The action will only be executed if it is shown that the quoted price to the Government is fair and reasonable.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

The current task order contract (75N98019D00011-75N91019F000129) was procured under the NIH Wide Business and Professional Support Services (NIH BPSS) II contract vehicle. A search of the current NIH BPSS II contracts revealed that the services can still be procured under this vehicle. The NIH BPSS is a multiple award IDIQ that currently has fourteen (14) contract holders consisting of eight (8) large and six (6) small businesses.

8. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

N/A

9. Listing of sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

NCI anticipated and planned to award a three-year Time and Materials Task order under NIH BPSS Ill. NCI is working on the re-competition of this requirement. Fair Opportunity will be provided to all NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ holders after NIH BPSS Ill is in place. Fair opportunity was provided to NIH BPSS II IDIQ holders when the Task Order was originally awarded. NIH BPSS is best suited for these types of services because the IDIQ pool includes small and large businesses, and the labor category rates are already pre-negotiated by the Government. This greatly streamlines the process of obtaining services by using FAR 16.505 procedures. Market Research was conducted when the Task order was awarded and is documented in the Acquisition Plan.

11. Statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the required supplies or services.

NCI does not anticipate needing to issue another J&A to continue work on this project NCI is currently working on the re-competition of this requirement and intends to award a new contract/task order to support the activities in the Statement of Work once NIH BPSS Ill IDIQ awards are in plac-e_ Alternatively, NCI is also working toward awards in November 2022 of NCI-wide Blanket Purchase Agreements for IT services using GSA schedule contracts. This is another strategic sourcing vehide that could be used for this requirement, to ensure that the next award for this requirement is competed in a multiple-vendor pool and further limitations of competition are not necessary_

12. Program office certification

This is to certify that the portions of this justification that have been developed by the undersigned program office personnel, including supporting information and/or data verifying the Government's minimum needs, schedule requirements and other rationale for other than full and open competition, are accurate and complete.

Official

Program Manager (PM)

PM's Immediate Supervisor

Head of the Sponsoring

Program Office

Name & Title

13. Contracting Officer Certification.

Signature

This is to certify that the justification for the proposed acquisition has been reviewed and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the information and/or data provided to support the rationale and recommendation for approval is accurate and complete.

Official

Contracting Officer

Name & Title Signature

Branch Chief

14. Chief of the Contracting Office and Head of the Contracting Activity signature(s).

Official

Chief of the Contracting

Office

Head of the Contracting

Activity

Name & Title Signature ..

15. Competition Advocate signature.

Official

Competition Advocate

Name & Title

16. HHS Senior Procurement Executive signature.

NIA

Signature Date

06/2021