POSTING_Limited_Sources_JA-___GlobalNet_Merlin.doc

Control No. JA-14-0004

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL LIMITED SOURCES

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full open competition.” The Defense Cooperation and Security Agency (DSCA), Arlington, VA

2. The nature and/or description of action being approved. This Justification and Approval for Limited Sources (J&A) is to execute a bridge order from a Federal Supply Schedule GSA Contract for non-personal services to provide professional management services. FY 14 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and FY13 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) will be used for the six-month bridge. The estimate of $******** covers the entire six month base period.

FAR Clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, will be incorporated. This option to extend will only be utilized in increments minimally necessary to maintain services until competition is completed for these services.

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

The objective of this Bridge Contract is to maintain the current technology solution IAW DoD guidance meeting net centric and information sharing standards during a competition for such services. This Bridge Contract is necessary to maintain services for the GlobalNET user community. The outcome of this effort will be installation of coordinated updates to the current platform, and the ability for the GlobalNET user communities to maintain connection to former participants, share information among each other, and other institutions/activities, using the web-based platform. The contract includes a sixty (60) day phase-out period, which will facilitate the transition from the current contract to the follow-on.

As the responsible organization for managing the Regional International Outreach-Partnership for Peace (PfP) Information Management System (RIO-PIMS) Program, DSCA is responsible for the development and maintenance of a web-based outreach platform “GlobalNET”. The purpose of this action is to provide continuity of support to the DSCA GlobalNet community. GlobalNet is a web-based outreach platform connecting the Regional Centers with their communities and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) partners with each other.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is: 41 U.S.C. 3101 et seq, as implemented by 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. Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication in cost to the Government that cannot be recovered through a competed follow-on contract.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the action requires use of the authority cited. Only the incumbent, Merlin International, Inc. (MII) is capable of meeting the Government’s requirement within the contract timeframe as a “Bridge” contract between the current (MII) contract and the results of the follow-on contract competition. Under the current contract HQ0013-10-F-0026 which was competed under the GSA 8(a) STARS program, since its award in 2010, MII has acquired a unique and specialized knowledge of the Global Net platform which involves maintenance, system integration requirements, and the operational artifacts which are essential to complete critical in process development work and training, helpdesk support and achieve knowledge transfer. An alternative was considered to have Government personnel satisfy the requirement however, there is not a sufficient number of Government personnel with the expertise required to satisfy these requirements. The bridge contract with MII is necessary to provide a continuity of services of both program management and continued R&D efforts. Additionally, due to the requirements and status of specific releases, software, and interfaces the new contract will require a minimum of a 60 day transition period to provide a smooth transfer from the incumbent to the new contractor. It is in the Government’s best interest to allow MII to work with the new contractor to minimize risks and provide continuity of services in the transition period.

It is not cost effective or realistic to solicit for a new contractor during the brief interim period anticipated for this Bridge contract. Attempting to introduce a new contractor into the in-process development work alone would require an immediate two-month ramp-up period with up to 70 percent duplication of MII staffing resources and an overall 30 percent increase in labor costs. The recruitment, relocation, loss-of learning and transition-out costs are difficult to quantify, but are estimated to an additional $*M, for a total duplicative cost of $*M. In view of these likely additional costs, there would be substantial duplication of costs by bringing in a new contractor for the immediate requirement. If the Bridge contract support described in the J&A is not approved, connectivity would cease for users, secure communication would be severely hampered and interfaces and releases would not be performed or halted. This would prove to be detrimental to the mission of the Regional Centers and NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.

It is not in the Government’s best interest to compete this short-term requirement. The solicitation preparation and evaluation would result in a duplication of effort and costs on the part of both the Government personnel, as well as proposal preparation effort on the part of the competing vendors for a contract term not to exceed 6 months.

This action is a six (6) month bridge contract with a forty-five day (45) day phase out. The period of performance commences 28 January 2014 and the phase out period runs from 14 June through 28 July. The current funded amount is $1,273,749.50.

c. Impact:

Failure to continue current operations and maintenance, as well as the development would result in: the shutdown of GlobalNET effecting 17 distinct DoD and international Partner communities comprised of over 50,000 users; and the development support required to research and identify bugs, usability issues, and security flaws in order for the system to continue to operate effectively.

GlobalNET is currently running a Drupal Core of version 6. As of 23 January, Drupal 8 is going into Alpha release with a full release expected in the Spring of 2014. DSCA’s GlobalNET will be two core versions behind. DSCA is already risking losing community support because the community is involved in version 7 and 8 issues, thus the community is becoming less responsive. This means that the Government will no longer have the community maintained code base for bug fixes, vulnerability assessments/patches, and support to be responsive to our customer needs and changes.

Currently, there is a deployed service that will substitute for Adobe Connect but it requires additional research in order to fully implement the system. Testing will be done to ensure that it works with our older version of the Drupal Core (version 6) as its current software support works with a more modern version. The Government requires an engineering plan for a phase out of Adobe Connect or to sign an additional yearly contract with Adobe (currently scheduled for July). Without a new version of Drupal, then all of the research and integration that has been planned to occur during this timeframe will need to be redone under our next core release follow-on contract.

6. A description of efforts to ensure that offers were solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Efforts to obtain competition for this action were not undertaken as competition is neither feasible nor is it in the Government’s best interest. It is anticipated that several vendors will propose when the new solicitation is released. DSCA intends to procure the follow-on contract requirements through GSA 8(a) Stars. GSA approved the requirement under Functional Area I, which corresponds, to NAICS 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services.

7. Action to Increase Competition. The Government is currently working with customer to develop a new performance work statement that clearly states and delineates the O&M and RDT&E requirements in accordance with the requirements of FAR Part 35. As noted above, the follow-on requirement will be competed under Functional Area I of GSA’s 8(a) Stars contract that has over 500 contract holders.

8. A description of the market research conducted (per FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

In accordance with the requirements of FAR Part 10, DSCA conducted market research in support of this acquisition. Market research was conducted using industry best practices and publically available costs. The DSCA Program Office conducted a function point analysis (an ISO standard for software estimation), reviewed services on internet and reviewed commercial products for similar scope. The DSCA Centers Management Office (CMO) researched companies that worked with Drupal (the open source software that GlobalNET currently uses) - doing development and operations.

9. Interested Sources. At present time, no firms have expressed an interest in this bridge contract.

10. Other Facts.

Procurement History - These services are currently being performed under contract HQ0013-10-F-0026 with Merlin International, Inc. The contract was competed under the GSA 8(a) STARS program. The contract included a twelve month year base and four (4) twelve month options. The current contract included a twelve month base period, 28 July 2010 – 27 July 2011, and four one-year options. However, in accordance with FAC 2005-15, FAR Part 16.601(d) and September 14, 2010, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense memorandum entitled "Better Buying Power: Guidance for Obtaining Greater Efficiency and Productivity in Defense Spending" which limit single-award service contract actions to a maximum of three years total, DSCA is recompeting the requirement. DSCA exercised the extension of services clause from 28 July 2013 through 27 January 2013 to allow additional time for the customer to revise the PWS and complete the procurement package. The bridge extension will also allow restructuring of the contract, specifically requirements identified by CMO as RDT&E, in accordance with FAR Part 35 “Research and Development Contracting”.

11. Technical Certification.

“I certify that supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

Typed Name:

Date:

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Title: Contracting Officer’s Representative Signature: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

12. Requirements Certification.

“I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

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Title:

Signature: djkhdajkhdjkfhkjhX

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination.

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. The cost will be compared with the cost currently negotiated and approved on the current Federal Supply Schedule and the independent government cost estimate. This contract is exempt from certified cost and pricing data under FAR 15.403-1 (b)(1) and 15.403-1(c)(1)(iii).

DSN:

Signature: XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXX

14. Contracting Officer Certification.

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

DSN:

Signature: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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15. Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of program management services on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 251 et seq., as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, subject to the availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Signature:__XXXXXXXXXX______________________ Date:

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Typed Name: XXXXXXXXXX Special Competition Advocate

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