NATIONS Bridge JEFO 14 FEB 2020 redacted.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

JEFO No. FY20-0024 Page 1 of 4

JEFO No.: FY20-0024

Date: February 1, 2020 PR Number: OIT208013

1. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services

(USCIS), Contracting Office prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity to address requirements for the USCIS Office of Information Technology (OIT), IT Field Services (ITFS) Division.

2. Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S.

Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), Contracting Office intends to award a task order, using a fair opportunity exception, to Salient CRGT under its Alliant 2 Unrestricted contract number 47QTCH18D0060. Salient CRGT is the incumbent task order contractor HSSCCG-14-J-00168 National Area and Transnational IT Operations and Next-Generation Support (NATIONS) on the Alliant 2 Unrestricted Track, a Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), which is a multiple-award ID/IQ contract vehicle.

3. OIT has a requirement to obtain broad range of IT support services to all USCIS end users.

OIT IT Field Services (ITFS) Division provides USCIS user support. The support will include:

Service Desk Support o Service Desk Tier 1 o Service Desk Tier 1.5 o Incident Management o Knowledge Management o Problem Management o Service Request Management o Specialized Support

Field Services o Deskside Support (CONUS/OCONUS)

Asset Inventory Support Disposal Preparation Support Encryption Services

Video Conferencing and Audio/Video (A/V) Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Local On-Site Cabling OCONUS Site Support o Wireless Services o Deployment Services o Server Operations and Maintenance o Training Support

Service Center Services Account Management Services Hardware Incident Resolution

JEFO No. FY20-0024 Page 2 of 4

The period of performance for this task order includes a three-month base period and five

(5) one-month option periods and will commence on February 28, 2020. The estimated cost for this sole source award is

Base Period 02/28/2020 – 05/27/2020 Option Period One 05/28/2020 – 06/27/2020 Option Period Two 06/28/2020 – 07/27/2020 Option Period Three 07/28/2020 – 08/27/2020 Option Period Four 08/28/2020 – 09/27/2020 Option Period Five 09/28/2020 – 10/27/2020 Total

4. Pursuant to FAR16.505 (b)(2)(i)(A), the agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

To date, the requirements described in the previous section have been performed under the competitively awarded NATIONS task order (HSSCCG-14-J-00168) with a period of performance of February 29, 2015 through February 27, 2020 as extended. The extension beyond the original task order was needed due to the protest of the two previous solicitations for the NATIONS follow on task order. Corrective action was taken each time with no award of the task order. The last NATIONS II solicitation (HSSCCG-17-R- 00010) was cancelled due to changes in the requirement (additional task areas were included), and the follow on to the NATIONS task order, Information Technology User and Field Operations Support (NEON) procurement was started. The current task order supports approximately 270 USCIS locations worldwide. The information technology support provided by the subject task order enables employee productivity, and maintains efficiency of employees through pivotal technical refreshes of information technology operating environment.

The award of the task order to the incumbent contractor for the services discussed in Section 3 above is necessary to prevent a lapse in services while the source selection of a new competitive award is finalized and if needed, the awardee of the new USCIS NEON task order is effectively transitioned-in. The current NEON procurement planning started, shortly after the cancellation of the NATIONS II solicitation. Currently, the NEON procurement is in the solicitation review phase. The award is planned for late April or early May 2020.

This sole source task order award is urgent because all end user IT support across the USCIS enterprise will cease after February 27, 2020. Market research was conducted for the NEON re-compete and the results show that the EAGLE NextGen suite of contracts does have other firms capable of performing this requirement. However, this acquisition has a short timeframe to award to prevent a gap in this essential service and therefore requires the ability to procure a team quickly that will contribute to maintaining the current level of service, which is currently available on the current task order (HSSCCG-

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14-J-00168). Due to the critical nature of the NATIONS task order and the vital role it plays in supporting the entire Agency, it is in the Government’s best interest to issue a sole source task order for this short period alone as the cost and time involved would not be recovered through the competitive process of this and another simultaneous competition. The solicitation release is estimated for early March 2020 with an anticipated award for late April or early May 2020. The Office of Contracting estimates that the suitability determinations will take approximately 5 days for transition of Salient CRGT personnel. The suitability determinations for a new contactor may take at least 90 to 120 days for new contractor personnel. In addition, due to the possibility of transitioning tasks from the incumbent contractor to the new contractor, a period of 90 days transition until October may be required. The service delays are also unacceptable because there is a high risk of loss or degradation of end-user IT support across the USCIS enterprise without a meaningful transition. Preventing delays in providing an integrated IT staff that supports the growing scale of USCIS operations is essential to the ITFS mission. The current incumbent is the only source capable of continuing the services at the quality required on a 24/7 basis at multiple locations. Additionally, these services involve access to sensitive information, facilities and systems; hence, the suitability determinations necessary for a period of 8 months would not be competitively advantageous, administratively feasible nor accessible through another EAGLE NextGen awardee.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer anticipates the pricing provided under the Alliant 2 Unrestricted GWAC contract held by Salient CRGT will provide a reasonable price, as this contract was recently awarded on a competitive basis. Other than certified cost and pricing data may be requested to help in an assessment of the fair and responsible price. In addition, historical pricing information is available for all services to be provided, which are the basis for the independent government cost estimate. Pricing shall be evaluated for reasonableness in accordance with one or more analysis techniques identified in FAR Subpart 15.404-1.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

There are no other facts supporting this justification.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

Any barrier to competition will be removed upon finalization of the source selection and potential transition to a new awardee. No other competitive barriers are known at this time, which would lead to a future fair opportunity exception.

8. DHS intends to post this requirement on FedBizOpps pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).