JEFO (REDACTED).pdf

Source Selection Information – see FAR 2.101 and 3.104

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

FOR AN ORDER EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION

THRESHOLD(AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i))

1. Agency and contracting activity. Government Accountability Office, Acquisition Management Office.

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

This is a justification for an exception to fair opportunity for a new order against the General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Universal Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

By way of introduction, the GSA Networx Universal program / contract was established to meet most of the Government’s requirements for telecommunications services. The Networx Universal program / contract expires on May 31, 2023. Currently, GSA is transitioning Agencies from the Networx program / contract to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) program / contract that is a comprehensive solution-based vehicle intended to address all aspects of federal Agency Information Technology (IT) telecommunications, and infrastructure requirements, such as: Virtual Private Network Service, Managed Network Service, Voice Service, and Ethernet.

This new order will be a logical follow-on to delivery order number GAO-15-DI-0004 placed against the GSA Networx IDIQ contract. The proposed order will be solicited on a sole-source basis to Qwest Government Services, d.b.a. CenturyLink/ Lumen to acquire internet, WAN, device management, 24 x7 Network OpsCenter, Managed Security, and Web Conferencing. The short term order will ensure continuity of operations until GAO is transitioned to the EIS program / contract. The order type will be on a firm fixed price basis.

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

The scope of order number: GAO-15-DI-0004, which GAO issued, is limited to obtain internet, WAN, Managed Network Service, Managed Security, and Web Conferencing Service from Lumen. In order to ensure continuity of operations, ISTS will operate under the contract to maintain all datacommunications services.

Service Description Estimated Cost Base

Period Estimated Cost Option Period

NB-IPVPN service – GAO Wide Area Network connectivity, management andequipment

REDACTED

Internet Access Service (IPS) REDACTED REDACTED

Managed Firewall Service (MFS) X X Managed Network Service (MNS) REDACTED REDACTED Web Conference Service (WCS) REDACTED REDACTED Total Estimated Cost per Contract Period REDACTED REDACTED

The estimated value of this acquisition for the base period (2-months), and option period (12-months) is: REDACTED

4. Authority and supporting rationale. The contracting officer has determined the circumstances of the acquisition meet the following statutory exception under FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). In the interest of economy and efficiency, this order must be issued on a sole-source basis because it is a logical follow-on to order GAO-15-DI-0004 already issued under the contract and all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

Supporting Rationale – The relationship between the initial order and the follow-on order is logical because the original procurement was competed by multiple vendors in support of GAO’s Wide Area Network and internet services. The time and effort to implement these services took a great deal of planning, engineering design, and coordinated downtime to combine the Agency’s 12 locations and the associated classified and security related telecommunications services. Specifically, the cost and time needed to install new circuits under a new vendor and complete the de-installation of current services would take at least 6 months and would require GAO to continue paying for the current arrangement during the transition period. The anticipated contractor support costs for the additional effort based on estimates from our contractor network support team is REDACTED hours of support at REDACTED per hour for the 11 field offices ($REDACTED) and REDACTED hours each for Headquarters (HQ) and the Alternate Computing Facility (ACF) REDACTED for a total of REDACTED. There are numerous specific security-related configurations on the service enabling devices that would require an equivalent amount of labor hours to be rebuilt and tested by the contractor which amounts to an additional REDACTED.

In addition, the operations related work to reconfigure our monitoring and reporting systems, vulnerability management systems, inventory management system, Service Level Agreement monitoring system, and updates to the network schematics, Standard Operating Procedures, and other monitoring, notification, and escalation processes is estimated at REDACTED based on REDACTED hours at REDACTED per hour. Since this level of effort would be above and beyond the existing fixed priced service management support under this logical follow-on, we would be required to add additional funding to support this effort, or establish another contract vehicle to cover the supplemental work. No new services can be undertaken as GSA requires agencies to transition to EIS. Specifically, GAO needs the ExpressRoute expansion to allow migration to Exchange online and other M365 related services which is on hold. The migration to Teams is also on hold at this time due to service constraints by GSA.

In addition, the time and effort to design and deploy a new network would cause a break in service, unnecessary rework and duplication of cost re-establishing a wide area network and internet services to staff as the agency begins to come back into the building after the Pandemic. Moreover, there are risks that the replacement would not be fully compatible to the Agency's essential needs, learning curve delays, among other unforeseeable issues discovered during the replacement phase, while we mainly intend to downsize and move to another contract. When GAO transitioned to the current environment in 2009, new equipment and circuits from the vendor took 3 months of parallel connectivity to establish at a cost of approximately REDACTED per month, equating to REDACTED. A re- compete of these services with possible award to another vendor would cause disruption in transitioning of equipment and services from Networx to EIS. For this reason, it is more economical to retain the current vendor as opposed to obtaining a new vendor to avoid disruption of essential services and ensure continuity of service needed to maintain the wide area network and internet for GAO to continue to support Congress and meet its essential mission needs.

It must be noted that this issue is not due to a lack of planning on GAO’s part. The solicitation for the EIS was posted on March 17, 2021 and circumstances causing delays beyond GAO control with the award exist, and therefore this logical follow-on order will enable GAO to avoid a gap in service from now until the award of the new order against EIS.

GAO would be at great risk if the above-mentioned services were replaced and there was no coverage. Additionally, undue expenses to rip and replace these services could not be recouped by re-competing this effort and awarding to another vendor when factoring in the short term contract need and current phase of the transition work from Networx to EIS. As GAO moves toward EIS, this contract requirement will be a short term follow-on to allow ample time to transition services without disruption. Recently, GSA has stated that agencies may not execute orders for service changes under Networx; they emphasize the transition to EIS as the solution.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and services under the Networx Universal contract to be fair and reasonable. A price analysis was conducted in accordance with FAR 15.305(a)(1) to ensure prices are fair and reasonable prior to making an award with the contract holders.

The GAO Contracting Office will seek additional discounts prior to issuing the delivery order.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

7. 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.

It is the policy of the GAO Acquisition Management contracting office to maximize competition when acquiring products or services. The specific requirements for this contract action is a contract to the incumbent. A future procurement will allow for competitive procedures forfulfilling the requirements for full and open competition.

8. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification.

I certify that this requirement constitutes the Government’s minimum needs and the supporting data provided herein is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name and Signature REDACTED

9. Approving Official Determination of Circumstance Applicability.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(10), the undersigned approving official for this justification hereby determines the circumstance cited above at #4, Authority and supporting rationale, applies to this order.

10. Contracting Officer’s Certification and Approval

I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11. Office of General Counsel Concur.

Concur

REDACT

12. Concurrent and Approval for Justification.

Concur

Approve