A02 JA for RCC-C Extension final - SAM.gov posting_Redacted FINAL.pdf

Control Number:

United States Army Regional Cyber Center - Continental United States Information Technology Services

(Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition – FAR Part 6

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Huachuca Division, 2133 Cushing Street, Building 61801, Room 3410, Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613-7070.

2. Description of Action: Request Senior Contracting Official (SCO) approval of this proposed bridge modification to the existing contract for an additional twelve month period of performance in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 6.302-2(a)(1). This modification will increase the current value of by approximately to an estimated contract value of . This will be a modification to the current contract for six months, with two three-month options, as award of the follow-on contract is delayed. Competing for this twelve-month period of performance will cause an unacceptable delay, as the current contract expires on 29 February 2024, and a phase-in period is required. The United States Army Regional Cyber Center – Continental United States (RCC-CONUS) requests approval to modify the existing Cost-Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract, W91RUS19C0014, awarded to DirectViz Solutions, LLC, 1595 Spring Hill Road, Suite 600, Vienna, Virginia 22182, for Information Technology support services. The proposed modification is for six additional months of services with two option periods.

The short-term extension is required to keep these critical Information Technology (IT) Support Services in place while affording the Government sufficient time to award the re-compete. This modification will be funded using Fiscal Year 24 Operations and Maintenance Army funds.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The Government has an ongoing need for Information Technology support services for RCC-CONUS to provide the full range of operations, maintenance, and defensive functions of the Army’s portion of the Global Information Grid (GIG). The three interdependent tasks necessary to operate the GIG are (1) Enterprise System Network Management, (2) Information Assurance/Computer Network Defense (CND), and (3) Content Staging/Information Dissemination Management.

The Independent Government estimate (IGE) provided for this action on 23 January 2024 is based on historical information on the current contract monthly invoicing costs, escalated for inflation by . Also, additional requirements have been added to the performance work statement (PWS). The IGE was created by the contracting officer’s representative (COR), , and was updated by . The anticipated costs and periods of performance are:

Period of Performance:

Base Period: 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2024 Value:

Option Period: 1 September 2024 to 30 November 2024 Value:

Option Period: 1 December 2024 to 28 February 2025 Value:

Total:

The workload of the RCC-CONUS is divided into four major service areas: Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) Division, the Department of Defense Information Network Operations Division, the Sustainment Division Mission, and the Theater Operations Division Mission.

The contractor will support the RCC-CONUS mission to operate, maintain and defend the Army’s GIG by providing management, administrative and technical support services. The contractor shall provide all personnel, management, and other related services. The Government will require Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) compliant contractor performance on tasks identified in the PWS in both the classified and unclassified network environments. Work includes current and new systems at various lifecycle staged, and any future applications/systems not currently identified.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302- 1(a)(2)(iii)(B), “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements” – for DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.”

5. Reason for Authority Cited: The RCC-CONUS is responsible for the network security of all U.S. Army installations within the Continental United States. In addition to this security mission, the RCC-CONUS also monitors and manages the systems that support or enable Army operations. These systems have users in every theater, worldwide.

The main delay in executing the follow-on contract is due to unforeseen delays in the execution of the competitive re-compete effort. It has been determined that the PWS needs to be rewritten to provide the best overall value to the Government, which was not previously anticipated. The PWS used in the re-compete solicitation was written in 2019 and does not accurately depict the current RCC-C mission. The scope of the mission has changed and increased as the task order was solicited, awarded, and protested. These changes were not captured or bid against in the new award. Also, the PWS will need to be reviewed by the Acquisition, Contracts, and Efficiency team and be re-approved by the Command General before the Contracting Officer receives the complete package from the requiring activity. As such, this proposed modification will keep the above-described critical services in place while the follow-on effort is completed.

For the reasons above, this mission is critical to the U.S. Army and cannot withstand a gap in service. An extension to the existing contract is needed to be put in place before 29 February 2024. Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements," services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements for this short-term bridge. It is too late in the acquisition cycle to solicit from any other sources, and a delay in modifying the existing contract to the incumbent contractor, DirectViz Solutions, LLC, will cause serious harm to the Government.

The immediate need for a large number of employees with the high-level security and certification qualifications for personnel supports the use of the authority of only one responsible source. The current contract is supported by hundreds of contractor employees possessing ITIL knowledge who meet specific technical and functional certification requirements. Each current contract employee has at least a secret security clearance. In addition, employee qualifications must reflect Personnel Security (IT Level) and Information Assurance (IA) Workforce Specialty requirements, aligning the IA functional responsibilities and access levels to the contract tasks, in accordance with Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program Department of Defense (DoD 8570.01M) and Cyberspace Workforce Management and Information Management

Information Assurance Army Regulation 25.2 (AR 25-2). Also, all of the key technical personnel require computing environment certifications at performance start date for 11 labor categories. Most of the computing environment certifications (Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Certified Forensic Analyst, GIAC Certified Incident Handler, GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst, GIAC Certified Penetration Tester, and Certified Ethical Hacker) required for the key technical personnel are highly desirable to the Government and industry.

Furthermore, it is not in the Government’s best interest to bring on a new contractor for such a short duration prior to executing a three-year competitive award for these services for two main reasons.

The incoming contractor must have employees who meet CE certification standards on contract start date for all of the key technical personnel. Receipt of Department of Defense, IA certification is a process that could take between six months to a year. In addition to IA certifications background investigations for security clearances, will take at least four weeks. A minimum 30-day phase-in period is needed for the transition of complex mission tasks and personnel. The RCC-CONUS contract requires highly technical and diverse employees to possess secret and top-secret clearances in a highly competitive labor pool in a remote area that has a higher cost of living than Tucson. Changing contractors for this short duration bridge would seriously disrupt mission performance and result in duplicative costs, which would not be recouped.

Finally, as stated above, the impact and harm to the Government would be substantial if this justification is not approved.

Background/Facts Leading to Need for Bridge Services:

On 03 June 2019, contract W91RUS19C0014 was awarded to DirectViz Solutions, LLC as a . The requirement was competitively awarded as a cost-plus fixed fee type contract for Information Technology Services and Support in support of the RCC-CONUS, which expires on 29 February 2024. It is anticipated that the competitive follow-on contract will be awarded by 25 October 2024, with full performance beginning 01 December 2024. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the existing contract for the period of 01 March 2024 through 30 November 2024.

since the PWS was written in 2019 and does not accurately depict the current RCC-CONUS mission.

As such, this proposed modification will keep the above-described critical services in place while the follow-on effort is re-awarded. The corrective action will include: (1) resolicit; and (2) make a new award decision based on the technical evaluation and cost evaluation.

Acquisition milestones for the bridge action are provided in the table below:

Milestone Event Projected Date

Receive Complete Package

RFP Letter (ROM)

J&A Approval (SCO)

Alpha Contracting Negotiation

Q&A Period

Proposal Due

Proposal Evaluation

POM/Negotiations

CRB

a. Effective competition.

b. Subcontracting competition. Subcontracting competition is achieved as the

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Contracting Office is currently working on the follow-on requirement, anticipated for award on or about using fair opportunity procedures described in FAR 16.505.

8. Market Research:

9. Interested Sources: expressed interest in the source sought for this short-term bridge action.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history.

(1) Contract numbers and dates of all awarded contracts for these same requirements.

Contract Number: Competitive Status:

b. Other facts. N/A

11. Technical Certification:

Contracting Officer

Signature: Date:

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the modification of Contract W91RUS-19-C-0014 for RCC-CONUS Information Technology Services, in the estimated amount of for an extension of the period of performance for twelve months. This action is made on another than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 United States Code 3204(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements” – for DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements”, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for this acquisition.

Date:

Senior Contracting Official