JEFO FY21-037- Redacted.pdf

OPOAM 3016.505-90(a)(2)(ii) Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity

Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

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4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

___ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A). The agency’s need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

_____X____ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B). 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. [The justification must demonstrate that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited].

__________ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The order must be issue 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. [For logical follow-on, 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)(D). It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

__________ 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.

Rationale:

CSD requires continued Management Support Services in order to support organizations within CSD as well as their senior leaders with mission support requirements. Currently the work is being performed under Task Order No. HSHQDC-16-F-00077 with GDIT, which is set to expire on March 31, 2021. Due to the program’s reorganization activities, impacts from COVID and requests from DHS procurements reviewers, an additional RFI phase was added and the SOW with associated funding was changed leading to an extended time for award. This occurring at the end of FY20, strained available resources. The new administration has shifted the program’s focus on the reorganization of the Division while, managing the recent National breach during

JEFO No. FY21-037 Rev. 2/5/2015 3 the holiday season, to which, the GDIT contract is intimately involved. There were also delays during the solicitation phase of the procurement due to changes required as a result of the Solar Winds attack and rapidly changing requirements that required significant revisions through amendments. The magnitude of changes during the solicitation required further extensions for vendors to allow sufficient time to prepare proposals. The follow-on procurement solicitation has now closed and proposals are being evaluated and the estimated award date is June 1, 2021.

Therefore, due to the current magnitude, scope, and critical issues, both the program and the contracting office concurred with maintaining the current contractor GDIT, with no impacts to transition(s). The six-month bridge is necessary for transition that will be required since that effort involves a large number of FTEs. It will also assist with continuing the critical cyber security services while allowing time to complete the suitability process on the follow-on requirement.

There will also be considerable cost savings to the Government due to the continuity of operations and savings in administrative costs by not re-soliciting the requirement for the limited, six-month extension bridge. This will also save the Government time and resources not having to onboard new contractor personnel with DHS Suitability as well as technically train the new contractor on DHS processes and procedures for such a limited, six-month timeframe. Overall, utilizing full and open competition for this sole source requirement is not in the best interest of the Government because it would be impossible to bring in a new contractor to pick up where GDIT left off for the next six-months and cause a service disruption to program management support services, which would be detrimental to CISA/CSD in fulfilling mission requirements. No other vendor except the incumbent can continue to provide the services on a short-term basis considering the current status of the recompete and the required EOD process.

The newly formed CSD organization is the nation’s risk advisor, working with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborating to build more secure and resilient cyber landscape. As the new CSD organization continues to be developed and evolve, reorganizations occur, priorities shift, and new requirements emerge, it is more critical than ever to maintain a continuity of service to our stakeholders at the Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) levels in our cyber security environment. The primary activities of this current requirement directly support these activities and include, but are not limited to, Cybersecurity detection, protection, risk management, mitigation, stakeholder engagement, and program management support in accordance with DHS Management Directive (MD) 102-01. With the recent cyber activity behind the Solar Winds attack, the requirement is essential to retain the most experienced and proficient support available.

If a gap would to incur, the CSD and its subdivisions day to day business operations would come to a halt to include the following impacts:

CSD’s internal communication structure will break and will be unable to respond to requests for information, issue and track taskers, and coordinate internally administrative actions.

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Administrative, programmatic and advisory support will stop which will cause delays to critical programmatic documentation, correspondence, briefing materials, reports and advisory to cease.

National Cyberspace Security Response System will lose support to a level in which DHS will not be able to adequately respond to the public requests to assist thus resulting in higher cyber-attack consequences and negatively impacting the public confidence in CISA’s cyber support.

The support of Cyber initiatives with both the public and private sectors that reduce vulnerabilities and minimize the severity of cyber-attacks will be significantly delayed.

The Nation’s cybersecurity training and education programs will cease leading to a weakened cyber posture that will make the public and private sectors more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Coordination with the intelligence and law enforcement communities to identify and mitigate threats to cyber space will decrease to the level that not every key stakeholder will be included leading to a vulnerability in the overall cyber security posture.

The Nation is at a very critical juncture where cybersecurity is more important than ever, and the nation looks to CISA for leadership, guidance, and protection. Our Operational Collaboration Team, Vulnerability Management, and Threat Hunting all serve a critical role in detection and management strategies regarding the SLTT stakeholders. The support functions provided in this contract are key contributors to these missions.

5. The Contracting Officer has determined that issuing the proposed order to GDIT for the required program support services represents the best value and will result in the lowest overall cost, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. The CO has determined that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable based upon the OASIS labor rates which have already been determined to be fair and reasonable and were used as a basis for pricing on the current task order. The CO will also request discounts from the current OASIS labor rates.

Prior to issuance of the order, the ordering activity will consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the specific task being ordered in order to determine that the total price is reasonable. The contractor’s labor mix and level of effort will also be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

6. There are no additional facts supporting the justification.

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. The agency is actively pursuing a full and open competition for the follow-on