REDACTED BNJ MICROSOFT 365.pdf

CUI//SP-PROCURE//FEDCON

MICC-CB-2026 - 05<SAT

CUI

Memorandum for Record – Limiting Competition at or below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

1. Requiring Activity: Chief Information Office, Carlisle Barracks PA 17013

2. Contracting Activity: Mission & Installation Contracting Command-Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013

3. Description of Action: Microsoft 365 Educational License Renewal

Nature of Requirement: New -on Extend

Brand Name: Yes No

Contract Vehicle: Purchase Order

Pricing/Contract Type: Fixed Price

Funds: FY: 26 Operations & Maintenance, Army (OMA)

Name of Proposed Contractor(s) and Address:

Microsoft

4. Description of Services or Supplies:

300 each – Microsoft 365 A5 for Faculty licenses– Annual Education Pricing 12,000 each – Microsoft 365 A5 for Students NOT SEPARATELY PRICED

5. Authority: Select the appropriate authority below:

FAR.201-1 For commercial acquisitions valued at or below the simplified acquisition threshold

Controlled by: U.S. Army Controlled by: MICC Carlisle Barracks

CUI Category: General Procurement and Acquisition Distribution/Dissemination Control: FEDCON

POC: John Thoman, 520-669-9067

CUI

6. Reasons for Authority Cited:

a. For a brand name restriction – The brand specified, Microsoft 365 A5 for Education (EDU), is the only product that meets the full spectrum of requirements necessary to support the academic, administrative, and cybersecurity operations of the U.S. Army War College. Microsoft 365 A5 EDU is a federal cloud-approved, education-specific subscription suite that uniquely integrates essential services including enterprise-grade productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), cloud collaboration (Teams), advanced endpoint and identity protection (Microsoft Defender, Azure AD Premium P2), compliance tools (eDiscovery, Data Loss Prevention), analytics (Power BI Pro), and secure device management (Intune).

This platform is tightly integrated with the Army War College's existing Microsoft 365 tenant environment, which is already provisioned, secured, and structured according to DoD cybersecurity standards. The solution supports multi-factor authentication (MFA), required for secure access, and provides account provisioning and device imaging capabilities that are central to managing Government-furnished devices for faculty, staff, resident and distance learning students, EDUnet users, alumni, and military spouses.

Alternative products are not compatible with the current Microsoft environment, nor do they provide the required features as a unified, centrally managed platform. Use of any alternative would result in major disruptions to operations, security gaps, significant retraining costs, and the inability to meet DoD IT and data protection standards.

b. Failure to approve this brand name justification and proceed with acquisition of Microsoft 365 A5 EDU licenses of the required brand name product would result in serious injury to the mission of the U.S. Army War College. Without renewal of these licenses, the college would lose access to essential services including secure email, file storage, collaboration tools, learning management integration, and compliance features critical to federal data handling.

Specifically, the consequences would include:

1. Disruption to Academic Instruction: Faculty and students would be unable to access core communication and instructional tools, severely hindering both in-person and remote education delivery.

2. Security Risks: Lapses in identity protection and endpoint management would create vulnerabilities and non-compliance with DoD cybersecurity mandates.

3. Loss of Data and Continuity: User accounts, files, and academic records tied to the existing tenant would be rendered inaccessible or unrecoverable, affecting mission-critical systems.

4. Increased Costs and Delays: Transitioning to a non-Microsoft platform would require full system migration, retraining of users and IT personnel, and potential duplication of capabilities — all of which would incur unplanned financial burden and delay.

7. Publicizing Contract Actions:

a. The public display and synopsis requirements of RFO FAR 5.101(a) and FAR 5.101(d) apply and will be followed

b. Requirement to post justification in accordance with, RFO FAR 5.201(c)(3) unless:

Action is a brand name restriction under FAR Part 12. It will be redacted and posted with the solicitation.

8. Market Research: Multiple government resources were used during this market analysis, including the Army's Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) contract portal, the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI), and a review of previous years’ solicitation results. Input was also obtained from contracting officers and federal acquisition professionals with experience in procuring similar IT services.

This research confirmed that while alternative software suites like Google Workspace for Education exist, they are not viable. Specifically, alternatives lack native compatibility with the Army's mandated Microsoft 365 tenant environment and fail to provide the same level of integration, security compliance, and critical tenant capabilities. For example, they lack the enterprise-grade device management (comparable to Microsoft Intune) required to secure and control Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE).

Adopting an alternative would require complete, cost-prohibitive data migration and would introduce significant operational disruption and security risks. Furthermore, research conducted via the CHESS portal confirmed the availability of multiple authorized resellers for Microsoft licenses, ensuring adequate price competition will be obtained for this brand-name requirement.

9. Other Facts: N/A

10. Technical/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.

11. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based upon price analysis.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that completing this purchase as a sole source is in the best interest of the Government. Additionally, I approve this justification to limit competition subject to the availability of funds and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.