LSJ Bayfirst.pdf

Limited-Sources Justification (LSJ) For orders or BPAs exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

LSJ # FY22-00227

LSJ # FY22-00227

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Information Technology Acquisition Center (ITAC) proposes to award an order pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a), Limiting Sources.

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

DHS/OPO intends to limit the number of sources solicited pursuant to FAR Part 8.405- 6(a)(1)(B) for the procurement of Enterprise Architecture and Engineering Services for the DHS Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Program to proposed Contractor: BayFirst Solutions LLC., 6856 Eastern Avenue NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20012.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The DHS HSEN Program provides technical support to the HSEN network to enable information sharing between DHS Components, Trade Partners, and other government Agencies (OGAs) to include shared internet, intranet, and extranet services. The HSEN Program is managed within the DHS Headquarters Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Information Technology Operations (ITO) Enterprise Services Division (ESD) organization and includes functional areas for: (1) Program Management, (2) Enterprise Architecture, (3) Enterprise Engineering, (4) Engineering Operations, and (5) Enterprise Operations Center (EOC) and Network Operations Center (NOC).

ITO/EED has an immediate mission need to acquire continued architecture and engineering services in an uninterrupted manner, pending the award of the acquisition of support services for the HSEN Services Acquisition. Currently, the required architecture and engineering services are being provided by BayFirst Solutions LLC.

The requirement for this action is for services to provide support to the following four (4) types of HSEN services:

1. Maintaining and improving network capabilities to include network modernization and Emerging Technologies.

2. Providing technical support for the design, build, and upgrade of network systems.

3. Ensuring that the network security architecture is in compliance with security standards and complies with federal and DHS architectural guidelines.

http://uscode.house.gov/

4. Providing network performance engineering and network management support to include network monitoring using the tools and technologies provided by

ITO/EOD.

The period of performance shall be a three (3) month base period with three (3) one (1) month option periods for a total estimated value of $5,655,000.00.

The period of performance is:

Base Period: 09/29/2022 to 12/28/2022 Option Period 1: 12/29/2022 to 01/28/2023 Option Period 2: 01/29/2023 to 02/28/2023 Option Period 3: 02/29/2023 to 03/28/2023

4. Authority and supporting rationale.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(B), Limiting Sources., Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

Rationale:

The new Homeland Security Enterprise Network Support (HSEN) Task Order (TO) 70RTAC22FR0000075 was awarded on August 11, 2022, and was subsequently protested on August 22, 2022. The current Engineering support is being performed under task order 70RTAC22FR0000031 until September 28, 2022. A new interim task order with BayFirst needs to be awarded until the protest is resolved on the new contract award. The current task order end date is September 28, 2022, and an interim task order with BayFirst Solutions via the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), contract GS-10F-0356Y needs to be awarded for continued support until the protest is resolved.

ITSO/EED has an immediate mission need for continued architecture and engineering services in an uninterrupted manner. The new competitive HSEN TO, 70RTAC22FR0000075 is under protest. Currently, the required architecture and engineering services are being provided by BayFirst Solutions, LLC until September 28, 2022. The purpose of this interim TO is to provide continuity of service until the on-going protest is resolved.

The Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Program supports the entire DHS wide area network (Architecture, Engineering, Engineering Operations, and Network Operations Security Center (NOSC) Infrastructure Support) and is comprised of NOSC Tier 1 Analysts, NOSC Tier 2 Engineering, HSEN Tier 3 Architects and Engineers who enable connectivity and information sharing among DHS Headquarters, Components, and the mission operators. Any lapse in contractual coverage for the HSEN Architecture and Engineering program could result in significant losses for HSEN operations and support of enhancements to the network, which are of critical importance to meeting the DHS mission.

The potential cost of disruption of services may result in substantial operational loss to the agency as any delay in performance may have a direct negative impact to the operations and functionality in support of an agency’s mission. BayFirst provides critical network engineering support for DHS, which includes the network changes and enhancements requested by all DHS Components to meet their mission needs and requirements. Without this network engineering support, DHS Headquarters (HQ) would not be able to implement the network changes and enhancements on the DHS Homeland Security Enterprise Network that facilitates the data networking requirements and mission needs for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Secret Service (USSS), United States Coast Guard (USCG) and HQ sub-components. The DHS Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) supports the DHS Component missions to include the flow of international trade, passenger screening at all U.S. ports of entry, immigration processing, disaster support and many other mission critical functions of DHS.

Without the HSEN Tier 3 Network Engineering support, network outages would persist without resolution, passenger processing at land border crossings and airports would cease or be delayed, resulting in backups at land border crossings, airports and seaports. This could result in illegal border crossings by personnel that cannot be adequately checked against terrorist watch lists. Cargo may go uninspected due to automated vetting systems being unavailable due to network outages. Network enhancements that allow new vetting systems, databases, and system to system interfaces between law enforcement agencies to be implemented would be delayed without the HSEN network engineers to engineer the network solutions for these systems to interoperate. BayFirst is the current incumbent contractor providing the HSEN Tier 3 network engineering support. Another contractor with new personnel would required 6-12 months to acquire the expertise to engineer solutions on the HSEN network and to again an adequate understanding of the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) system linking DHS to thousands of Trade, airline and external Government agencies facilitating the access to multiple data systems and applications. In addition, the Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) system allows the interoperability between all DHS Components, while keeping each Component network and all of their systems secure and only accessible by authorized personnel. The DHS Cloud Access Points (DCAPs) allow direct secure access to cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). MS Azure, SalesForce and other cloud service providers (CSPs). BayFirst and their sub-contractors built DCAP1 and DCAP2, which are highly complex systems to allow secure access to the CSPs by all DHS Components, and they are uniquely qualified to support them and build new connections to the CSP, and external organizations via these network gateways.

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the anticipated order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The contracting officer has determined that issuing a new interim Task Order to BayFirst for the HSEN architecture and engineering services represents the best value and will result in the lowest overall cost, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. This order will be placed in accordance with FAR 8.404, “Use of Federal Supply Schedules.” The General Services Administration (GSA) has already negotiated fair and reasonable pricing rates. Discounts to these GSA schedule rates will be requested. Additionally, prior to issuance of the task order, the ordering activity will consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the specific tasks 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. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research for the immediate requirement for DHS Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Architecture and Engineering Services was conducted in August 2022 and included a review of contractor capabilities using internet searches of contractor websites and interviews with knowledgeable Government and industry sources. Research also leveraged the results associated with the previous market research effort for Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Consolidated Acquisition for “Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Integrated Support Services.

Research identified a number of vendors as capable candidates for the requirement - but only if time permitted a customary award period and a transition period of 30 days.

Requirement is limited to the incumbent contractor. Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Program officials anticipate approving the necessary sole-source or limited source documentation required to contract without competition.

The services required are for continuation of Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN) Architecture and Engineering Services professional IT support services. The incumbent contractor, BayFirst Solutions LLC; under DHS GSA MAS can provide these services. GSA MAS will be used as will the associated rate structure/pricing will be controlled by the labor rates established on the vendor’s individual contracts for the labor categories and associated quantities proposed.

Based on the acquisition constraints and the results of market research summarized in this report, ITSO/EED considers the incumbent, BayFirst Solutions LLC, to be the best source of services to meet the immediate mission need.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited-sources justification.

BayFirst Solutions LLC, who is currently providing the services, has the institutional knowledge and background of the current DHS HSEN infrastructure to efficiently deliver the highly specialized technical services within the short duration required to provide continued support, with no break in service until the new competitive action is awarded. If DHS is required to competitively solicit a different vender other than an interim order to BayFirst Solutions, then DHS would be required to prepare another acquisition package, solicitation, evaluation, and award an order prior to September 28, 2022, which is impractical. Creating an acquisition package and getting a review for a new solicitation is estimated to take up to 90 days. Solicitating for quotes based upon complexity of this requirement, giving proper time for venders to prepare a technical and price quote, is estimated to be a minimum of 30 days. Evaluation of quotes based upon the selected evaluation method, and the number of quotes, is estimated to take up to 30 days. Routing and approval of the contract award is estimated to take up to another three weeks.

Additionally, upon contract award, the successful Contractor and the out-going Contractor would have to transition the required services. The in-coming Contractor would require completing its staffing level of the contract, process security requirements and on-board activities, and trade-off responsibilities of the tasks provided with-in the SOW. It is estimated that it would take a minimum of 90 days to transition the services of this order from one vender to another vender. During this timeframe, the Government would be receiving less efficient services of which would impact the mission. Without this interim order, there will be a break in service that will have a detrimental impact to the overall mission. BayFirst and their current sub-contractors built the current HSEN network, including DCAP1 and DCAP2, which are modernized and virtualized network systems. It typically takes 6-12 months for a new engineer to acquire the understanding of these systems to be fully capable of engineering enhancements and upgrades to these systems for the DHS Components and DHS HQ. Therefore, an extension of the current contract with the current incumbent contractor is required until the new Tier 3 Engineering contract is awarded.

8. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration (i.e., limited sources) before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

The new Homeland Security Enterprise Network Support (HSEN) contract was awarded on August 11, 2022 and was subsequently protested on August 22, 2022. The current Engineering support is being performed under task order 70RTAC22FR0000031 until September 28, 2022.

A new interim task order with BayFirst for the Engineering support needs to be awarded until the protest is resolved on the new contract award. Task Order 70RTAC22FR0000031 was issued with the full intention of having adequate periods of performance to allow for completion of award.

9. DHS intends to post this requirement on SAM.GOV pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(2)(i).

10. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(x), I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the Limited Sources Justification, are accurate and complete.

Contracting Officer’s Representative/COR

COR’s Supervisor/Director, Acquisition Division

11. Contracting Officer Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(ix), I certify that the Limited Sources Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Contracting Officer

12. Approval.

Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition or Designee Office of Procurement Operations