Redacted LSJ.pdf

J&A Number: 24-0135

LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) China Lake, CA

2. Nature and/or Description of Action being Approved.

This Limited Source Justification authorizes and approves the issuance of a task order on a sole source basis under General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Contract #47QTCA18D008L with Gartner, Inc., 56 Top Gallant Road, Stamford, CT 06902-7700.

3.

estimated value).

NAWCWD requires assistance in creating its technology workforce strategic framework and action -relevant technology services. This contract will provide NAWCWD management with the following:

An understanding of the overall NAWCWD strategic drivers that will shape the future technology workforce.

Identify discrete talent management objectives.

Create scenarios for planning purposes that ground talent management objectives into mission-relevant narratives for leadership communication.

Provide inventory of -relevant skills, to identify gaps related to anticipated changes in work demand.

anticipate future work demand.

Create a defensible, achievable talent strategy and action plan for NAWCWD to proactively source the skills needed from its Government and contractor workforce.

NAWCWD requires the specific application of the research described above from experienced, professional resources to the specific goal of a service and product-oriented technology operating model and workforce. This application will take the form of an embedded team working alongside NAWCWD personnel to define the facilitate NAWCWD workforce development and skills evolution.

NAWCWD requires assistance in the evaluation of its processes, products, and technologies as a core business function, to deliver unbiased recommendations regarding organizational technology workforce strategic framework and action plan. The evaluation will with a combined Research and Applied Research Consulting capability that provides the most efficient use of Government resources to address the multiple workforce-related challenges noted.

These capabilities will include:

A short-term, project-focused Applied Research Consulting team to collaboratively create

Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Spectrum Warfare organizations.

A longer-term access to research libraries and executive advisors, to provide members of NAWCWD with both the research that illustrates purposes of conducting knowledge transfer and upskilling). In addition, executive advisory partners will provide continued mentoring and advising to NAWCWD as the command executes on the talent strategy following the conclusion of the Consulting project.

The required research under this contract shall be timely and most relevant to workforce talent evolution. It shall assist in key decisions in the planning and delivery of mission-relevant technical capabilities to the NAWCWD organization. This research will also provide insight into likely adjacent priorities for the workforce, including broader technology modernization imperatives, federal-specific technology regulation, strategic planning and portfolio management, as well as emerging technology market trends and analysis.

NAWCWD requires access to up-to-date technology and business research documents, through research library portals and database, and associated toolkits. The research library services will assist leadership in alleviating challenges associated with facilitating the transfer and implementation of the strategic plan(s).

The period of performance will be two (2) years at an estimated value of $950K, funded [Redacted]

4. Identification of the Justification Rationale (see FAR 8.405-6) and, if applicable, a Demonstration of the Proposed Contractor's Unique Qualifications to Provide the Required Supply or Service.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), 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.

NAWCWD has been working with Gartner for 3 years in support of our organizational alignment, IT investments, strategic plan, agile implementation and ServiceNow roll out. To apply the research that NAWCWD requires and to continue to refine its operating model, it is necessary to leverage the company who developed the source research, toolkits, and frameworks, as they are not transferrable to other private sector consultancies. Gartner does not have any resellers of its research tools or methodologies. No other vendor can use, distribute, or modify the Gartner Portal (which is copyrighted) except Gartner personnel. Gartner owns all copyrights related to its research material.

Gartner is therefore the only source of this research, with Gartner Consulting as an extension and application of that research.

5. Determination by the Ordering Activity Contracting Officer that the Order Represents the Best Value Consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

additional discounts from the schedule holder before placing an order, as the order will exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, in accordance with 8.405-4.

Prices on the DoD-ESI have been determined to be fair and reasonable by GSA and the DoD.

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.

DFARS 208.7402 states that departments and agencies shall fulfill requirements for commercial software and related services, such as software maintenance, in accordance with the DoD ESI.

DFARS PGI 208.7403 states that after requirements are determined, the requiring official shall review the information at the ESI website to determine if the required commercial software or related services are available from DoD inventory. If the software or services are available, the requiring official shall fulfill the requirement from the DoD inventory. If the required commercial software or related services are not in the DoD inventory, and not on a DoD ESI, the contracting officer or requiring official may fulfill the requirement by other means. If the commercial software or related services are on an ESI and the terms, conditions, and prices represent the best value to the Government, the contracting officer or requiring official shall fulfill the requirement for software or services through the DoD ESI.

After determining the program requirements for the NAWCWD Information Technology (IT) & Cyber Workforce Assessment procurement, market research was completed by the Contractin

COR) and requiring official. DoD ESI was researched and they determined that the NAWCWD IT & CYBER Workforce Assessment requirements could be fulfilled via DoD ESI. The DoD ESI has Enterprise Software Agreements (ESA) for Category-based BPAs available to all DoD organizations that provide IT Research and Informative Services.

Three DoD ESI ESAs were located that provide IT Research and Informative Services. These ESAs are with [Redacted] Gartner, Inc. Of the three service ESAs, it was determined that [Redacted] could not meet the contractual requirements as it is a subscription service that provides information on federal spend and opportunity data. [Redacted] does not provide any executive consulting and advisory services or access to research libraries. The remaining contractors [Redacted] Gartner) both offer each of the required types of services: research, data and tools, consulting and advice, and access to special events.

However, in-depth reviews of both [Redacted] and Gartner's websites reveal substantial differences in the focus of the services provided. onclusively, the research above showed that only Gartner can meet the specialized Government requirements.

Due to the above information, Gartner is the only DoD ESI ESA contractor that will be able to meet the Government's requirements for this acquisition.

7. Any other Facts Supporting the Justification.

NAWCWD needs a firm with no relationships to outsourcing vendors with an interest in managed service, outsourcing arrangements, or possible implementation efforts that result from applied research or analysis projects. Gartner is the only company that has no strategic or competitive relationships with the contractor support community.

Gartner Research provides objective, industry-standard, vendor-agnostic reference architectures that provide detailed definitions and descriptions as well as frameworks, templates, roadmaps, metrics, and best practices to successfully align organizations to advance achievement of their mission critical priorities. Gartner research is unique in that its own full-time subject matter experts solely author all research providers. Gartner Consulting leverages proprietary field research studies for in-the-trenches perspectives of how other IT organizations are deploying new technologies, including evolutions in leverages internal, reusable templates to accelerate the creation of internal architecture, roadmaps, governance documentation, and applied research for its government clients.

8. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers that Preclude the Agency from Meeting the Requirements of FAR 8.405-1 and FAR 8.405-2 before any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services is Made.

Use of the DoD ESI BPA maximizes efficiency throughout the procurement lifecycle. Using the DoD ESI BPA will reduce the burden on NAWCWD resources by eliminating the need to procure a new contract for future contract actions. DoD 5000.74 mandates the use of preferred, existing government-wide contract vehicles for service acquisition. The DoD ESI BPA is a preferred government-wide contract that fulfills this mandate. This approach is consistent with the government-wide Category Management initiative to reduce Spend Under Management (SUM) by creating BPAs under GSA Schedules to promote an efficient use of resources.

Due to the nature and sensitivity of the services NAWCWD provides and the mission-unique use-cases individual NAWCWD departments leverage technology services and resources. Gartner will provide NAWCWD with an IT Research, Advisory, and Consulting Service company with a complement of security capabilities.