M04 Initial JA 13.5 Bridge Action WHS-2024-1256_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

WASHINTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES

1155 DEFENSE PENTAGON

WASHINGTON, DC 20301-1155

ACQUISITION

DIRECTORATE

WHS-2024-1256

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION UNDER SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES

FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

UNDER FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) 13.5

1. AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY: The Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Acquisition Directorate is the contracting activity. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) Acquisition Policy & Innovation Directorate (API) is the requiring activity.

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: Requesting approval for an interim sole source contract to cover the period between the end of task order and the follow-on in accordance with Bridge Contract definition pursuant to ADAP 202.1. The task order is currently under a FAR 52.217-8 six-month extension and is scheduled to expire on August 14, 2024. This new action will support a portion of the work under , namely CLIN(s) 5003, 5007, 5008, 5010 and 5013, for an additional six months to allow adequate time to finish the re-compete and award a follow-on contract without a break in service.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The Performance Work Statement (PWS) includes support to fulfill the subject matter and technical expertise of a wide range of analyses, assessments, and deliverables in support of the operation and mission of OUSD(A&S) specifically in the following areas:

OUSD(A&S) requires continued support of subject matter experts and technical support analysts to produce deliverables, reports, results and recommendations to support informed decisions relating to program investment strategies, guidance and directives, acquisition strategies and funding allocations for their areas of responsibility and oversight. Critical support includes development of intellectual property (IP) negotiation strategy recommendations and IP valuation (estimating the cost of vendor’s IP assets) of major capability acquisitions across the Department. Also included are the updates and revisions of the Department’s foundational acquisition policies across the six acquisition pathways. In the PWS, the Government estimates Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) for each task to indicate anticipated work effort.

prototyping and rapid fielding will not be completed because API lacks the government civilian manpower to complete the work without contracted support.

API’s Intellectual Property (IP) Cadre (a division within OUSD(A&S)), required by 10 USC 1707 and 3791, will be unable to deliver the statutorily required cross-functional expertise to provide IP training, best practices, tools, and support to Programs across the DoD.

IP Initiatives such as piloting an IP strategy and understanding the IP and data rights implications of advanced manufacturing and modular open systems approaches.

Interruption to Defense Business System (DBS) tracking and monitoring for OUSD (A&S) including the creation of the annual Information technology budget submission and reporting to Congress on the Department’s DBSs.

Delayed processing of numerous inquiries and report requirements including the fielding, tasking, coordinating, and reviewing responses to these report requirements.

Non-compliance with Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act Section 836 which required OUSD(A&S) to establish a cadre of personnel who are experts in software development, acquisition, and sustainment to improve the effectiveness of software development, acquisition, and sustainment programs or activities across the Department of Defense.

6. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: In accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1) acquisitions conducted under simplified acquisition procedures are exempt from the requirements in part 6. However, as stated in a previous section, the recompete is underway for this requirement. To date, a request for information was released and responses were received on May 17, 2024. Based on the responses, the requirement is being refined to ensure clear understanding to support competition to maximum extent practicable.

WHS/AD will utilize the Analytic and Technical Support Services (ATSS) Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle and plans to compete in the Unrestricted Pool among eight vendors. WHS/AD plans to release the solicitation on or around October 22, 2024.

7. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION: The techniques identified at FAR 13.106-3(2) will be used to ensure the award will be at fair and reasonable prices.

Commercial product or commercial service are exempt from the certified Cost and Pricing Data requirement pursuant to FAR 15.403-1(b)(3).

8. MARKET RESEARCH: The short duration of this contract would allow no vendor other than the incumbent to adequately and successfully perform the work required by the Government. The market research completed for the follow-on to this requirement includes the following techniques: 1) speaking with a knowledgeable government individual, 2) reviewing systems such as SAM.gov and FPDS-NG for similar and historical contracts, and 3) reviewing results of recent market research undertaken to meet similar and identical requirement. Upon analyzing all market research conducted, the Government intends to release a competitive solicitation on or around October 22, 2024 under the ATSS multiple award IDIQ contract.

9. INTERESTED SOURCES: Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) is posting in SAM.gov a notice of the Government’s intent to issue a sole source bridge contract to Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in accordance with FAR 5.2. Pursuant to FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii) justification is required to be published 14 days after contract award.

10. ACTIONS TO INCREASE COMPETITION: As bridge contracts impede competitive awards, the expectation is to prevent a gap in service of these critical services and allow adequate time to refine the requirement to maximize participation in the future ATSS competition. The follow-on contract will be solicited competitively with an estimated award date in February 2025.

11. Is this acquisition for a non-competitive follow-on acquisition previously awarded on a non-competitive basis?

Yes. A copy of the previous justification is attached. The actions to remove any barriers to competition cited on the previous justification were were not completed

No. The original acquisition was conducted on a competitive basis.

Not Applicable. This is a new requirement.

CERTIFICATION

I, hereby, certify that the supporting data under my cognizance included in this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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APPROVAL

This justification is, approved.

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