JOFOC - PCF Extension - FY25.pdf

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Source Selection Information -- See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

CFTC intends to solicit on a sole-source basis. The following rationale is provided in accordance with the requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) FAR 12.102(b) as established by the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO).

1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity.

This justification for other than full and open competition has been prepared by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”), Business Operations Branch, 1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581.

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

The action being approved is the extension of the CFTC’s Primary Computing Facility (PCF) with Recovery Point Services (RPS) to ensure continuity of service for the 3 server racks hosted at RPS. The contract will be for one (1) base year and one (1) option year.

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

The purpose of this contract is to renew RPS services for three CFTC server racks at the RPS location in Germantown, MD. RPS provides a secure location, support, and direct fiber connections to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure (Azure) cloud services.

These server racks and their direct connections to the cloud are critical to CFTC’s Information Technology (IT) infrastructure.

The total estimated value of this contract is $383,855.76 which includes the base year and one option year.

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

The authority permitting the acquisition is 41 U.S.C. § 1901, implemented via RFO FAR 12.102(b). There is only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency’s requirements.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

CFTC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the General Services Administration (“GSA”) in November 2016 to find, lease and assist with space planning for all of its leases. GSA located new space for the Commission’s headquarters at 355 E St SW, Washington, DC, 20024. However, that space requires renovation to become suitable for CFTC use. GSA began work on that renovation on April 16, 2024, but does not anticipate completing the renovation until June of 2026. This completion date may be extended due to any unforeseen renovation delays. As such, CFTC has extended the lease at its existing headquarters location (1155 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20581) for one year, with an additional option year in the case of renovation delays. If the lease extension option period is exercised, CFTC’s existing headquarters lease would be extended to September 30, 2027.

Per this schedule, CFTC anticipates moving its headquarters location on or about June 2026, or when the renovations are completed if delayed. CFTC must have stability of its existing data center and cloud infrastructure during this time to ensure there are no critical system outages.

Recompeting and potentially moving CFTC’s PCF location in a similar timeframe to a physical headquarters move would create too much risk to critical CFTC systems and connectivity to cloud services.

Accordingly, CFTC must renew its existing PCF contract for a base year and one potential option year to ensure this stability. Physically moving the HQ location, on premise infrastructure, and PCF infrastructure simultaneously poses too much risk, as doing so could cause a critical infrastructure failure or loss of connectivity to CFTC’s cloud infrastructure.

Once CFTC has completed the move and its IT infrastructure is stable at the new headquarters location at 355 E St SW, CFTC anticipates recompeting the PCF hosting and cloud connection contract.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by part 5 and, if not, which exception under part 5 applies.

Pursuant to the requirements of RFO FAR 5.101(a), CFTC posted a pre-solicitation notice of its intent to procure data center hosting services on a sole source basis from RPS. The notice described the CFTC’s requirements, and stated that it would consider responses from all responsible sources received. The original announcement was posted on July 18, 2025 with a response date of July 25, 2025. No responses to this notice were received.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Prior to award of the contract, the Contracting Officer will determine whether the proposed price is fair and reasonable using available commercial data. The Contracting Officer will verify that the vendor is proposing commercially available or better pricing.

8. The market research conducted (see part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

CFTC conducted market research in accordance with RFO FAR 10.001 and determined there were multiple providers that offered these services. However, as noted in section 5, moving to another provider in a similar timeframe that CFTC anticipates moving its headquarters location poses unacceptable risk of a critical infrastructure outage. As described in section 6 of this justification, per the requirements of RFO FAR 6.104-1(a)(6) and 5.101(a), CFTC posted a notice on SAM.gov of the Commission’s intent to negotiate a contract for the continuation of its PCF services with RPS on a sole source basis. The announcement stated that all responses would be considered, but none were received.

9. Any other facts supporting using other than full and open competition.

None.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

None.

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

As noted above, once CFTC completes the physical move of its headquarters location, it anticipates competing future requirements for a PCF.

Certifications and Approvals

Technical Personnel Certification

I certify that evidence and any supporting data which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate.

Fei Zhang Date Division of Administration – IT Branch Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Contracting Officer’s certification pursuant to RFO FAR 6.104-1(a)(12).

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

William M. Roberson Date Contracting Officer Commodity Futures Trading Commission