MPSE ASI Software JA Final 4-14-20 - Redacted1.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND AIRCRAFT DIVISION

21983 BUNDY ROAD

BUILDING 3272

PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND 20670

J&A NUMBER: 20-0203

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Patuxent River, MD

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes and approves the issuance of a contract on a sole source Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) basis, to Andromeda Systems Incorporated (ASI), 615 Lynnhaven Pkwy, Virginia Beach, VA for up to seven (7) months of software development services in support of the Maintenance Planning, Scheduling, and Execution (MPS&E) tool suite services.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

MPS&E is a system of twenty related Government-off-the-shelf (GOTS) software applications used by the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) to track and maintain Operational, Intermediate, and Depot level aircraft maintenance planning and workload management activities. The Government-owned information technology (IT) solution provides an opportunity to reduce the cost of maintenance by providing better Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) analysis, maintenance task analysis, planning, and scheduling of aircraft maintenance and repair. The MPS&E system currently supports 2,275 active users and the customer base is growing daily.

The program offices utilizing MPS&E is very broad and includes Commander, Fleet Readiness Center Headquarters (COMFRC HQ), multiple Fleet Readiness Centers (FRCs), and an array of Program Management Activities (PMAs). The scope and magnitude of this software development effort includes conversion, test, and fielding of ten (10) software applications that span engineering and logistics disciplines of Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) Engineering, Maintenance Planning, Design Interface, In-Service Repair (ISR), and O-I-D (Operational, Intermediate and Depot) level scheduling and execution of planned preventative maintenance actions. A sound working knowledge of these principles and processes as well as their interrelationships is critical to the conversion of these software tools.

The estimated cost of the contract action is $940K.

Estimated Dollar Value

FY20

OM&N $940K

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the needs of the agency.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The required critical services include technical conversion and fielding of antiquated software that will otherwise be forced to shut down after 31 December 2020. This deadline has created a high priority or the code to be converted as quickly as possible. There are eight (8) applications that remain to be converted, tested, and fielded. ASI began work on this effort as a subcontractor on a Technical Direction Letter (TDL) under contract FA8075-16-D-0010. Although ASI was the subcontractor, 100% of the work on the TDL was performed exclusively by ASI. ASI has Original Software Developer-level knowledge of the entire MPS&E suite since inception in 2009. The source code is owned by ASI for Government use, and this approval will provide a logical follow-on to meeting a critical deadline. It is advantageous to the Government to allow ASI to complete this work, which is at a volatile development point, in order to prevent loss of service. If a different Contractor were to be utilized, an extremely steep cost and learning curve would occur due to lack of familiarity of the history and about the ongoing effort and sustainment requirements will contribute to a very high risk of not meeting the required need date. Use of another contractor would also lead to increases in cost and development time because of the unique differences in coding and software-system design that are typical from software developer to software developer. A new IT team will require extensive knowledge transfer and clarification from users that execute the modules in order to get up to speed to show any cost savings or meet the December 2020 completion date. A new contractor team would be unable to find success without the existing knowledge from the ASI team to support and provide that knowledge transfer for system clarification. Each software tool has achieved a level of complexity that would require a new software-development team months to fully understand the discipline’s working-level process flows and intent of the requirement to accomplish a work task.

Testing of the current conversion effort has identified deficiencies and solutions and are in various stages of completion. Each software application has a software-discrepancy tracker with help-desk support to address defects. A new contractor would be required to rapidly and seamlessly exert control over these areas without disrupting service to the fleet. In addition, a new contractor would likely have to duplicate a substantial amount of prior work to get up to speed, and there would be a high risk of errors created by configuration management issues during the transition from the incumbent contractor to a new one. Turning this effort over to a new contractor at this time would cause interruption of the continuing effort and requirements information may be lost with the turnover. Additional delays in the implementation will increase the risk of having to shut down the applications that have not yet been converted by December 2020.

Award of this effort to a contractor other than ASI would add an extensive cost in work and create an unaffordable delay in conversion. This would expose the project to an unacceptable shutdown until the system could be brought back on-line which would cause significant risk to the programs that use it.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

Pursuant to DFARS PGI 206.302-1, a sources sought was posted to the beta.SAM.gov website on 02 March 2020 to determine if other companies could demonstrate their ability to complete the required effort by the required completion dates. The sources sought closed on 17 March 2020 and four (4) responses were received. Capability statements were received from New Tech Solutions, Inc, SONA Networks, Fabius Labs, Inc, and ASI.

After careful consideration of the information submitted by the four companies, it was determined that ASI is the only company capable of fulfilling the requirement. New Tech Solutions, SONA Networks, and Fabius Labs did not indicate a clear understanding of the ColdFusion Flex technology system. Due to the short timeline for having all of the modules converted/upgraded, accepted, tested and fielded by 31 October 2020 to allow time for validation and testing, as well as address any post-production fixes, an understanding of the current ColdFusion Flex technology is imperative. New Tech Solutions, SONA Networks, and Fabius Labs were advised of the Government’s position on 26 March 2020 that their capabilities package did not clearly demonstrate an understanding of the requirement.

Also, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.201(b), a synopsis for the MPS&E services was issued on the beta.SAM.gov website on 26 March 2020, specifically stating the Government’s intent to contract on a sole source basis with ASI for the required effort. The synopsis was posted for 15 days and no other companies provided a response to the posting.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

In accordance with FAR 15.402, the Contracting Officer shall ensure that all supplies and services provided under this contract are procured at a fair and reasonable price. The Contractor’s proposal will be reviewed by experienced technical analysts and contract specialists. The Contracting Officer will utilize cost and price analysis as the basis for negotiation a fair and reasonable price.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

The Government anticipates delivery of a stable, functional set of converted software tools that are fully compatible and integrated with the existing MPS&E suite by the end of December 2020. At that time, the primary IT management and software conversion roadmap for the antiquated code should be complete. While this effort is being worked, the plan is to pursue an open competition opportunity to the maximum extent possible for future sustainment and incremental development of the suite.