M04 Limited Sources Justification.pdf

GS-03F-0154V DJO-OA-17-G-0300

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION FOR

FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE PROGRAM

Task/Delivery Order Number: ____________________________________

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as Contracting Officer, hereby approve the use of sources limited to fewer than those required in FAR 8.405-1, FAR 8.405-2, and FAR 8.405-3 pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 251 as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C). This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program (FAR 8.401).

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

Requiring Activity: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Administration (OA), Business Resources Division (OA-BRD), Washington, DC.

Contracting Activity: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Administration (OA), Acquisition Management Division (OA-AMD), Washington, DC.

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

This limited sources justification (LSJ) supports the award of new work as a logical follow-on of the requirement for the Contractor to support the continued operation and management of a program to scan and digitize paper documentation applying optical character recognition into a searchable online secured database allowing the Agency to meet a December 31, 2022 deadline. Per the Office of Management and Budgets directive on Managing Government Records Directive (M-19-21), OJP has a requirement to transition its paper records to a searchable, digital format.

3. A complete description of the supplies and/or services required to meet the agency’s needs

Previously, OJP procured services from Vastec via an interagency agreement with the Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The intent was for this agreement to provide services until the end of the 2019 calendar year; however, the Agency was notified that the NTIS would no longer be providing these services and OJP would need to find another means to procure the services necessary to meet the OMB directive.

Vastec, Inc. will continue the Agency’s effort to digitize its legacy, paper records and documents through implementation of the following tasks: a) Program Management; b) Document Discovery; c) Scanning; d) Document Preparation; e) Onsite and Offsite Digitization; f) Indexing and Image Correction; and g) Conversion to Adobe PDF with searchable text.

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 36 for “Office, Imaging, and Document Solutions” were utilized to award a task order to Vastec, Inc. of Tampa, FL., hereto after known as Vastec. The Task Order was issued against GSA Schedule Contract GS-03F-0154V/DJO-OA-17-G-0300 under SIN 51-506 Document Conversion Services on September 26, 2017.

The DOJ intends to award a modification to the current task order as a logical follow-on to Vastec to provide continued digitization of documentation. This work is a logical follow-on and the action and will result in an increase in the task order ceiling in the amount of $150,000.00 in the Option Year 4 Period, which will be extended by six (6) months to a new task order end date of March 25, 2021.

4. An identification of the LSJ rationale, and if applicable, a demonstration of the contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

Under FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C), in the interest of economy and efficiency, the work is a logical follow-on to the original Federal Supply Schedule order as the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. An award to Vastec will increase the project’s continued success as the Department has made significant progress towards the goal of transitioning to a paperless records storage and retrieval system. A repeatable workflow has been created, and by collaborating with Office of the Chief Information Officer’s (OCIO) SharePoint Development Team have created an efficiency in the creation of the customer records centers in SharePoint that has reduced our reliance on the SME labor categories. This project is at a critical point in its process, and a proper transition would take 180 days to enact, at which time OA-BRD will no longer no longer be able to utilize the current task order in place with Vastec, Inc. This downtime will have a significant effect on the current progress, and jeopardize the Department’s ability to complete our transition to a paperless document storage and retrieval system by the end of calendar year 2022.

5. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

In accordance with FAR Subpart 8.404(d) GSA has already determined the price of supplies and fixed-price services, and rates for services offered at hourly rates, under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, ordering activities are not required to make a separate determination of fair and reasonable pricing, except for a price evaluation as required by 8.405- 2(d).

After considering the level of effort and the mix of skills available for the tasks needed, the Contracting Officer has determined that proposed order represents a reasonable total price and represents the best value for the Department of Justice.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders, and the results of the research, or a statement why market research was not conducted. A statement must be made that the supplies and services are available from the FSS.

This requirement is suited to an urgent and compelling award as awarding to another source is likely to result in a significant disruption of current document digitization services necessary for the Agency’s mission. The internet and government service indexes were searched to identify firms that provide document conversion and digitization services. Awarding to a Contractor other than Vastec could result in substantial duplication of effort and costs to the Government and would cause unacceptable delays. These costs would not expect to be recovered through competition. The Government has chosen to minimize its risk for the successful completion of the requirement by determining that a logical follow-on modification to the existing task order would be in the best interest of the Government.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited source justification.

OA-BRD and OCIO have made significant investments in planning, consulting OJP personnel, defining customer metadata, appropriate taxonomies to retrieve scanned documents, storage needs and developing SharePoint storage solutions that are compatible with the process we have created with Vastec. An award to another vendor will require the Department to commit additional funds to the project which is not in the best interests of the Government. A transition time of 180-days and the associated cost, currently estimated at $150,000.00, will be required to be expended in order for another firm to be acclimated to the level of the current contractor so that we can meet the mandated completion deadline of December 31, 2022.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency will take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for supplies and services is made.

None. No subsequent acquisitions are anticipated and areas currently identified are being provided for under this task order. If new areas are identified, a new competitive procurement will be conducted to fulfill any future requirements.

9. The ordering activity Contracting Officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the Contracting Officer’s knowledge and belief and evidence that the supporting data that form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by technical/program personnel.

Certification

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

Signature Date

Contracting Officer:

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

Signature Date

7/7/2020

07/07/2020