OLAO_IT Support for ORS_JEFO_rev_oalm_redacted.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity

Selection Information see FAR 2.101 and

Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

Federal agency and contracting activity. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Institute of Health (NIH), Office of Acquisitions (OA), Office of Research Services (ORS)

Sponsoring organization.

Office of Research Services (ORS)

Project Officer information.

Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Acquisition purpose and objectives.

The purpose of this task order is to provide continued enterprise information technology (IT) support services to the Office of Innovation and Information Technology (OIIT) within the NIH Office of Research Services (ORS) and the Office of Research Facilities (ORF) through a short-term 90-day extension under the CIO-SP3 vehicle. This extention will ensure continuity of operations, maintain security compliance, -on competitive award is finalized.

OIIT provides enterprise IT support to both ORS and ORF. ORS is comprised of 19 offices and divisions responsible for scientific and regulatory support, public safety, security, and a wide range of services facilities, capital construction, space planning, and environmental programs.

b. Project background.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), conducts scientific investigation in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems, and applies that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The nature of this acquisition is to establish a contract extension ensuring uninterrupted IT support services for the NIH Office of Research Services (ORS), Office of Research Facilities (ORF), and Office of Innovation and Information Technology (OIIT). These services directly support mission-critical operations including bio-safety operations such as real-time environmental monitoring systems for BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories, access control systems for secure research facilities handling infectious agents, and emergency notification systems for containment breaches.

NIH awarded Task Order 75N98022F00001 under CIO-SP3 Contract HHSN316201200145W to Grove Resource Solutions, Inc. (GRSi), now known as DLH. The task order is a Firm Fixed Price award with a period of performance that was extended under 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services from July 2025 through January 18, 2026.

OA is actively working with OGC to finalize the acquisition documentation in response to voluntary corrective actions Due to a protest filed against the award of the follow-on competitive procurement under CIO-SP3 and the expiration of the current task order on February 18, 2026, a 90-day extension of the contract is to prevent a lapse in mission-critical IT support services while the protest is resolved.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet needs (including the estimated value).

a. Project title. Information Technology Support Services for the Office of Research Services (ORS)

Project description. The project provides Information Technology Services in support of NIH/ORS/OIIT. The contractor shall perform tasks that include, but are not limited to:

The total estimated value of this effort (including this extension action), under Task Order 75N98022F00001 (CIO- SP3 Contract HHSN316201200145W) is

b. Provide the following information

Requirement type.

Support services (non-research & development) Supplies/equipment

Information technology (IT) Other (specify):

Type of action.

New requirement

Follow-on

Other (specify)

Proposed contract/order type.

Firm-fixed-price

Time and Materials

Indefinite delivery (specify whether indefinite quantity, definite quantity, or requirements):

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.507-6) and the unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited. If the contracting officer uses the logical follow-on exception, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value).

(A) The need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

(B) Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

X (C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-up to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees are given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

The nature of this acquisition is to establish a contract extension ensuring uninterrupted IT support services for the NIH Office of Research Services (ORS), Office of Research Facilities (ORF), and Office of Innovation and Information Technology (OIIT). These services directly support mission-critical operations including bio-safety operations such as real-time environmental monitoring systems for BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories, access control systems for secure research facilities handling infectious agents, and emergency notification systems for containment breaches.

The incumbent contractor, DLH (GRSi), currently supports approximately support these life-critical functions. The existing task order (75N98022F00001, CIO-SP3 Contract HHSN316201200145W) expires on February 18, 2026. DLH has provided these services since July 2022 under a competitively awarded CIO-SP3 task order with acceptable performance. Additional time is required to complete the OGC protest review, award, and transition to the new contract.

Transitioning to a new vendor, even temporarily, would create immediate and unacceptable risks to critical systems. The transition would create a 24 72-hour vulnerability window during credential transfers and system access provisioning, resulting in loss of real-time monitoring capability for biosafety and building systems during knowledge transfer. There would be degraded incident response times while new personnel familiarize themselves with NIH's unique infrastructure, and potential security gaps during cybersecurity tool integration and authorization processes. The financial impact of such a transition is substantial, with of 60-90 days.

Even with an extension contract in place, transitioning to the follow-on contractor will require a minimum 30-day transition period to ensure mission continuity. This transition period is essential to accommodate knowledge transfer during days 1-10, including documentation review, system walkthroughs, and procedure training for life-safety and bio-safety systems. Days 11-20 would involve supervised operations with shadowing of critical functions including after-hours support and emergency response protocols. The final phase, days 21-30, would consist of a phased handover with gradual assumption of responsibilities under incumbent oversight to ensure no service degradation. Without this transition period, the NIH risks service outages affecting patient care at the Clinical Center, delayed emergency response due to unfamiliar systems, bio-safety monitoring gaps creating regulatory compliance issues, and security vulnerabilities during the transition window.

Due to a pending bid protest of the awarded CIO-SP3 task order, performance under the competitive award is stayed in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3553, preventing the Government from initiating transition activities at this time. As a result, NIH faces an immediate risk of interruption to mission-critical IT services supporting biosafety, security, fire-life-safety, law-enforcement, and clinical operations.

safety, security, and clinical IT infrastructure and maintains active personnel clearances and system authorizations that would require approximately 60 90 days to replicate for a new contractor. Introducing another vendor during the protest period would result in significant transition delays, duplication of effort, and increased costs exceeding while creating unacceptable operational risk during credentialing, access provisioning, and system familiarization. As per the FAR citation 16.507-6(b)(3), the order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

The current task order expires on February 18, 2026, and there is insufficient time to conduct a new competitive procurement without creating a gap in mission-critical IT support services. Accordingly, a 90-day extension to DLH during the protest period is necessary to maintain continuity of operations, preserve regulatory compliance and system integrity, and provide a controlled 30-day transition period to the follow-on contractor once the protest is resolved and award may proceed. This approach ensures no interruption to life-critical IT services while allowing the competitive acquisition process to be completed.

(D) It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

(E) For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable: Because this requirement is being issued under the NITAAC CIO-SP3 GWAC, fair and reasonable pricing has been determined at the