Redacted_Bridge_-_2_Month_Limited_Source_Justification_1.pdf

BRIDGE – LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract GS-35F-241CA / EP-G17C-00740

1. Identification of the Agency and Contracting Activity:

U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina; Office of Acquisition Solutions (OAS), Information Technology Acquisition Division (ITAD).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

• Type of Action: Bridge – Limited Source Justification

• Contract Vehicle: General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award

Schedule Contract GS-35F-241CA / EP-G17C-00740

• Vendor: Ardent Technologies, Inc.

This Bridge – Limited Source Justification (LSJ) supports a two (2) month extension of services on Task Order EP-G17C-00740 to provide Information Technology (IT) Support Services for EPA Cincinnati Facilities as described in the Task Order Performance Work Statement (PWS). Option Period IV expired on September 30, 2022, at which time a six-month Option to Extend Services period was exercised for four (4) months in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. On January 24, 2023, Option to Extend Services period was exercised for one (1) month in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. On February 22, 2023, Option to Extend Services period was exercised for one (1) month in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. This current contract action will result in a bridge modification to Task Order EP-G17C-00740 extending services on a sole source basis for two (2) months (April 1, 2023, through May 31, 2023). The follow-on competition for IT Support Services is scheduled for award in May 2023. The purpose of this document is to justify the need to extend the current contract (EP-G17C-00740) by an additional two (2) months to prevent a lapse in support for critical Information Technology Support services to maintain the Cincinnati, Ohio EPA Operations while the new support task order is competed.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

The IT Support Services Contract provides IT support required by the Information Resources Management Division (IRMD) in the Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM), for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Cincinnati, Ohio facilities including:

• Analysis, troubleshooting, integration, installation, operations, maintenance, documentation, and administration for Agency architecture support.

• Service desk support, functions as the first line of support for the areas of Internet/Intranet support, telecommunications support, hardware inventory database update and inventory support, and conference room set up support.

• Demand management to provide support for EPA Cincinnati internet/intranet sites, and digital signage, design and create Web pages using a variety of Web authoring software tools provided by the EPA.

• Voice and video telecommunications support for all Cincinnati EPA sites.

Prices - EP-G17C-00740:

Base Year Option I Option II Option III Option IV 4 Month Extension

1 Month Extension

1 Month Extension

2 Month Bridge

Period of 10/1/2017 - 10/1/2018 - 10/1/2019 - 10/1/2020 - 10/1/2021 - 10/1/2022 – 2/1/2023 - 3/1/2023 – 4/1/2023– Performance 9/30/2018 9/30/2019 9/30/2020 9/30/2021 9/30/2022 1/31/2023 2/28/2023 3/31/2023 5/31/2023

Alloted Price/Labor $1,064,691.96 $1,079,765.64 $1,095,140.76 $1,110,823.56 $1,126,819.92 $375,606.64 $93,901.66 $93,901.66 $193,437.42

TOTAL $1,064,691.96 $1,079,765.64 $1,095,140.76 $1,110,823.56 $1,126,819.92 $375,606.64 $93,901.66 $93,901.66 $193,437.42

4. The authority and supporting rationale and a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service:

• Exception Cited: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(C) - In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.

The Government is not stating that there are no other contractors who can support this requirement. Instead, the Government’s position is that considering the short period of performance contemplated within this extension, no other contractor could transition this workload from Ardent Technologies, Inc. and efficiently continue performance without potentially reducing services, increasing costs, and unnecessary risks to the Government.

Ardent Technologies, Inc. has been providing these PWS requirements since October 1, 2017.

The Government is currently in the process of consolidation of this RTP Information Technology Infrastructure Operations Support (ITIOS) requirement with the RTP IT Support Services (ITSS) requirement and the Cincinnati IT Support Services requirement. The resulting combined PWS is contemplated to be awarded under a new support task order in May 2023.

A Determination & Findings (D&F) for Consolidation of Requirements, in accordance with 15 U.S.C. 657q and FAR 7.107-2, was approved by the Director of OAS on September 14, 2022. The resulting RFQ was issued via GSA EBuy on December 16, 2022, and Quotes were received on January 12, 2023. After coordinating the review of an RFQ compliance issue regarding two of the offers, which had the potential to cause the elimination of the offers in question from further consideration for contract award, the decision was made to amend the RFQ. In accordance with OGC advice, the RFQ was then re-opened for four days in order to revise the Government Pricing Model to correct an inconsistency with other language in the RFQ which required that pricing be provided for the 6-month Option to Extend Services period under FAR 52.217-8. Revised Pricing proposals were subsequently received on February 13, 2023, bringing all of the original offers into full compliance with the terms of the RFQ. The Technical Evaluation was formally kicked-off by the Contracting Officer on February 13, 2023. The Technical Evaluation and Price Evaluation are currently milestoned to be completed by March 10, 2023.

This consolidation will provide IT site operations support for RTP and Cincinnati campuses. Through this partnership, our objectives are to reduce PM (project management) overhead costs, attain a more uniform pricing structure than what currently exists across three separate contract vehicles, and greatly improve collaboration between the EPA campuses. This consolidated task order, written against a GSA (General Services Administration) contract, should provide a more seamless support experience for customers.

Market Research has been performed for the follow-on, combined requirement and a 1900-37 was approved for an 8(a) competitive set-aside on June 12, 2022. This 8(a) set-aside strategy marks a departure from the Small Business set-aside strategy of the previous procurement. Inasmuch as the incumbent contractor, Indigo IT, does not currently qualify as an 8(a) vendor, responsibility for this new combined requirement will transition to a new contractor. Contractor transition for a requirement with the size, scope, and complexity of this combined PWS places critical Government technology infrastructure systems at increased risk as the incoming contractor becomes fully capable to perform the support functions required.

Continuity of services is essential in supporting EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. The Government will potentially enter a transitional period between contractors for this requirement in May 2023. A lapse in service will seriously impair agency operations. The contemplated modification of GS-35F-241CA / Task Order EP-G17C-00740 for the two (2) month period of performance as supported by this Limited Source Justification, provides the lowest risk option for allowing continuation of critical information technology infrastructure services with the current contractor, Indigo IT, as well as the transitioning of infrastructure requirements to a new contractor.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d):

The total Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) for this two (2) month extension is $193,437.42. This figure was calculated using the current GSA Supply Schedule rates (approved under GS-35F-241CA) for each of the labor categories proposed and utilized by Ardent Technologies under the current Option period of the TO

Contract. This average discount was also applied to the IGCE for this extension period.

Ardent Technologies requested on March 9, 2023, an escalation rate of 3.0% for their hourly rates to begin on April 1, 2023. The Contracting Officer has granted their request and will incorporate the 3.0% escalation rate of their fixed hourly rates for the two (2) month extension period via modification to the contract.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated price of $193,437.42 is fair and reasonable for this two (2) month extension of TO Contract GS-35F-241CA / EP- G17C-00740.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

A Notice of Intent to issue a Sole Source award to Ardent Technologies Inc. and will be posted to Sam.gov within 15 days of award. No additional market research was conducted for this two (2) month bridge extension request for the reasons stated in section 4 above. Based on the information found in section 4 of this document, it is not reasonable to believe that a contractor could take over and provide the IT Support Services of this size, scope and complexity without reducing essential services, increasing the Government’s risk, and incurring unnecessary costs on a short-term basis.

Therefore, a sole source extension to the current contractor is the only responsible way to meet this critical EPA requirement.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification:

Once the decision was made by OMS to consolidate all three separate existing requirements into a single PWS, collaboration efforts ensued among multiple teams from OMS including, but not limited to, IRMD, IT Architecture, IT Governance, Office of Customer Advocacy Policy and Portfolio Management (OCAPPM), and the Office of Information Technology Operations (OITO). Significant time was required for these collaboration efforts to produce a combined PWS and obtain the proper FITARA approvals.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

The Government believes that there are no significant barriers to the fair opportunity to compete the follow-on acquisition based on previous historical information which indicates that placing an RFQ on GSA authorized Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) will result in multiple contractor submissions of quotations.

Requiring Agency Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Randy Sergent Date Technical Representative

Contracting Officer Certification:

The undersigned hereby certifies that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Digitally signed by DARREN

GANN

Date: 2023.03.24 15:20:36 -04'00'

Darren J. Gann Date Team Lead/Contracting Officer IT Equipment and Maintenance Team

Review:

Digitally signed by RODNEY JONES Date: 2023.03.24 15:34:36 -04'00'

Rodney-Daryl Jones Date Division Director OAS, Information Technology Acquisition Division

DARREN GANN

RODNEY JONES

RANDY

SERGENT

Digitally signed by

RANDY SERGENT

Date: 2023.03.24