Redacted FINALJA.pdf

Attachment 1 U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Justification and Approval For Other Than Full and Open Competition For contracts or orders above the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Border Patrol (USBP), Law Enforcement Operations Directorate (LEOD), Intelligence Division (INTEL) located in Washington, DC is seeking to mitigate a critical gap in its Digital Forensic / Document and Media Exploitation (DF/DOMEX) program requirement for an Enterprise Collection, Storage, and Case Management and Analysis software capability by awarding a contract on a basis other than full and open competition.

Contracting Office: CBP, Office of Acquisition, Procurement Directorate, Border Enforcement Contracting Division, Eastern Branch.

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

CBP anticipates awarding a sole source PO contract to install, license, and maintain proprietary software at an estimated total procurement for one (1) year to LTD, 5944 Vandervoort Dr., Lincoln, Nebraska 68516.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

LTD’s PLX provides an enterprise grade software and user licensing solution to manage the collection and analysis of meta data from digital forensic examination as well as support the collection of case-related telecommunications information received from such providers pursuant to a subpoena or search warrant. LTD has developed industry relationships with telecommunications and network providers to read, process, and store digital data with the capability to rapidly develop and integrate solutions into its proprietary software to address collection of data from new products or applications developed by telecommunications/software companies. The solution package will consist of software, network user licenses, database support, maintenance and systems engineering services, and training for end-users.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open

Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

253(c)(1) (for other Components) implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Demonstration That the Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited.

This requirement is to expand and provide an enterprise grade solution to supplement existing standalone software used by USBP Sectors during DF/DOMEX operations to mitigate critical gaps. The existing software utilized by USBP is proprietary to LTD and is the only solution on the market capable of interfacing and parsing data from a multitude of sources (over 640) to include multiple manufacturers of forensic extraction equipment and direct ingest from legal process requests through numerous telecommunications providers. General updates and software patches to adapt to changes in the marketplace can only be provided by and keep USBP at the cutting edge of analytical and investigative capabilities through adding additional functionality and exploitation of a variety of areas to include mobile applications.

Additionally, the software solution meets requirements for timeline and geospatial analysis and allows for direct overlay of connected cell tower database when conducting location ping warrant requests PLX also allows USBP to deconflict with external agencies through established agreements to identify case overlaps and potential sources for additional investigative leads.

Furthermore, through USBP’s focus on investigative initiatives, efforts and countless hours have already been spent coordinating and establishing connections with telecommunication providers which would be lost if transferring to another software solution. These established connections streamline the process of receiving and loading data from providers into a system of record.

The market research revealed that only PLX solution meets all the functionality requirements examined. In addition to functionality above, PLX is designed to be deployed as a cloud solution which will enable additional interfacing and query functionality from internal CBP systems as they complete current migration initiatives to the cloud environment.

During the market research some vendors were compared with capabilities against USBP DF/DOMEX requirements. PLX met all requirements. Other vendors did not meet the needs of the organization.

Should USBP be unable to secure PLX database and license renewals, continuity of operations across USBP and including other components of CBP, will be disrupted and personnel will have to identify alternatives in supporting law enforcement and investigative activities.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

This purchase will not be solicited and falls under the exemption outlined in FAR 5.202 (a)(8):

(8) The proposed contract action results from the acceptance of an unsolicited research proposal that demonstrates a unique and innovative concept (see 2.101) and publication of any notice complying with 5.207 would improperly disclose the originality of thought or innovativeness of the proposed research or would disclose proprietary information associated with the proposal. This exception does not apply if the proposed contract action results from an unsolicited research proposal and acceptance is based solely upon the unique capability of the source to perform the particular research services proposed (see 6.302-1(a)(2)(i));

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The contracting officer has determined that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on prior acquisition history of the software purchased previously by CBP.

An IGCE was prepared by the Program Office with assistance from the Office of Acquisition, and pricing will be compared to the IGCE.

8. Description of Market Research.

Open-source market research was conducted to identify a list of vendors/sources that could provide the software and tools that offered data analytics solutions suited to USBP DF/DOMEX program’s operational requirements. Researcher also assessed all current CBP IT systems in the inventory, and none in the current CBP inventory could be identified to meet all of USBP DF/DOMEX requirements.

In summary, the market research revealed that only PLX application can support this requirement.

9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

This requirement is intended to maintain and enhance existing proprietary software designed by LTD that is currently in use nationwide. If LTD does not provide the enterprise solution needed, a new contractor would have to duplicate the same capabilities of the existing software to complete the task. The estimated cost for custom development work is estimated at $5 - $20 million a year, over a 2–3-year period of performance to stand-up any new system.

This capability not only provides USBP with the ability to detect and identify criminal networks, but also provides the ability to identify terrorist and foreign CDR selectors.

A CBP customized development solution equal to all of the functionality and adaptability of PLX is unsustainable and highly cost prohibitive.

10. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the

Acquisition.

None.

11. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome

Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required.

As CBP develops new requirements for additional or replacement Digital Forensic (DF) enterprise software solutions, CBP intends to conduct appropriate market research to ensure competition is fostered to the maximum extent possible.

USBP is in support of removing barriers to completion for this type of service, but only one source is currently available that can meet the requirement.

12. Planning and Funding Statement.

This requirement has been long standing. Funding was identified that will meet the requirement.

13. Posting Requirement. CBP will post this requirement on FedBizOpps pursuant to FAR

6.305. A notice of intent to sole source will also be posted to the GPE in accordance with FAR 5.101(a)(1).