Redacted_JA.pdf

Application Management

JUSTIFICATION & APPROVAL (J&A) FOR FEDERAL ACQUISITION

REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 16.5 ACQUISITIONS

EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)/ Multiple Award Contract (MAC)

Orders under MAC/ Fair Opportunity – FAR 16.505, Department of Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) 216.505-70, Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 216.505-70

Purchase Request Number: TBD Contract Number: HC1047-13-D-4004

Task/Delivery Order Number: 0002 Procurement Title: Application Management

Contracting Office: Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) Estimated Value: $137,472.32 Authority: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)

(I.) JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Number: N/A

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve this exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

Requiring Agency:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Development and Business Center

Strategic Communication Office Communications Branch (BDC4)

P.O. Box 549 Fort Meade, MD 20755

Contracting Activity:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)

Procurement Services Directorate (PSD) DITCO-National Capital Region (NCR), PL62 P.O. Box 549

Fort Meade, MD 20755

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S): The purpose of this modification is to increase the level of effort on Contract HC1047-13-D-4004 Task Order 0002 in support of the DISA’s

Strategic Communications Office (BDC4) in its mission to provide DISA.MIL Website Support.

The additional level of effort will be funded with Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Operations and

Maintenance (O&M) funds.

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3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: Contract HC1047-13-D-4004 Task Order 0002 was solicited as a 8(a) competitve order under fair opportunity procedures and was awarded to

NOVA Corporation of Chambersburg, PA on 28 April 2014 for DISA Chief Information Officer

(CIO).

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Strategic Communications Office (BDC4) is responsible for the planning, execution, and sustainment of communication activities and customer engagements that support the agency’s mission. The office accomplishes this task through a variety of channels, including media relations; communications planning, development, and execution; web-based communications; social media; multimedia production;

foreign affairs; and knowledge management.

BDC is responsible for DISA’s Agency web communications, with management authority over DISA’s primary public, controlled-access, and internal web sites. The services currently provided under Contract HC1047-13-D-4004 Task Order 0002 focuses on maintaining and optimizing the content management system (CMS) for DISA’s primary public web site, DISA.MIL. The site serves as the Agency’s virtual front door, delivering a wide range of critical information to our customers, industry partners, and members of the public. The current DISA.MIL architecture uses the Sitecore CMS to enable dynamic and efficient content management operations and provides a functional tool set to enhance online communication efforts.

The current total awarded dollar value of the contract is $7,382,746.32 for the base year and option year. The period of performance for the proposed modification is six (6) months. The contract is currently in its Option Year 1 period of performance of 29 April 2015 through 28 April 2016. The estimated cost for the increased level of effort is $137,472.32.

4. SUPPORTING RATIONALE, INCLUDING A DEMONSTRATION THAT THE

PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE

ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY:

(a) Exception to Fair Opportunity. FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) - The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

(b) Description of the Justification. Contract HC1028-12-F-0263 was awarded to Inserso

Corporation on 30 March 2012. Contract HC1028-12-F-0263 is in its final option period with a period of performance ending on 30 September 2015. The contract provides for the maintenance, development, and integration support for the DISA.MIL content management software. On 15 April 2013, DISA executed a contract with NOVA Corporation to provide enterprise IT service support. A subsequent task order (0002) to that contract was established that provided DISA with application management services.

Within that task order, resources were included to manage the DISA.MIL web instance and server. As a result, management of the DISA.MIL site included resources from BDC and SE/CIO, as well as contracted resources from Inserso Corporation and NOVA

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Corporation.

With the expiration of Contract HC1028-012-F-0263, BDC is seeking to use this opportunity to consolidate the DISA.MIL support activities under the DISA IT Enterprise

Support Services contract/Application Management task order, Contract HC1047-13-D- 4004 Task Order 0002.

DISA is pursuing this proposed modification as a logical extension of the work currently being completed under the DISA IT Enterprise Support Services (DESS) contract. By doing so, DISA will gain economy and efficiency by expediting the application of resources, minimizing the on-boarding and ramp-up process, and leveraging the knowledge and experience gained by the contractor within DISA’s IT domain.

This proposed modification will add level of effort on to tasks currently being performed under this task order. The current task order includes support for the DISA.MIL infrastructure. The effort supported by this proposed modification will build upon those activities and culminate in the centralized management of the server and application by a single contractor, NOVA Corporation.

In addition, the proposed modification will enable a cost-effective and efficient expansion of those activities. DISA will gain efficiencies by minimizing ramp-up time and leveraging the contractor’s knowledge and experience. NOVA Corporation has established 2+ years of experience managing and supporting DISA’s IT systems.

Furthermore, DISA will gain efficiencies and a more effective support structure. In terms of the efficiencies gained, DISA will reduce contract management overhead by combining two (2) separate, but similar contracts. In addition, application maintenance requires close coordination among application and server administrators. By aligning application and server support resources under one contractor, a more centralized and effective support structure will be established.

(c) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements. The Government requires additional labor to provide Sitecore Content Management Software/Application development and maintenance support for the DISA.MIL development and maintenance requirements.

Proposed sole source contractor. NOVA Corporation is the current contractor for the DISA IT Enterprise Support Services contract/Application Management task order.

NOVA has successfully fulfilled their contractual requirements. Furthermore, the contractor has established experience and expertise working within DISA’s IT domain. This proposed modification will leverage NOVA’s knowledge and expertise and consolidate DISA.MIL IT support under one contract.

(2) Discussion regarding cause of the sole source situation. This proposed modification will offer DISA the best value by consolidating the management of DISA.MIL support services. The proposed modification will save money as well as produce a more effective support solution.

(3) Demonstration of unique source. NOVA Corporation is a unique source based upon the knowledge and experience they have gained managing web applications within

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DISA’s hosting environment. Management of DISA’s CMS is a logical extension of that work. DISA will gain efficiencies by minimizing ramp-up time and leveraging the vendor’s knowledge and experience. It is anticipated that by consolidating the contract, DISA will save approximately two (2) months of start-up time. Furthermore, DISA will gain efficiencies and a more effective support structure. In terms of the efficiencies gained, DISA will reduce contract management overhead by combining two (2) separate, but similar contracts.

(4) Procurement discussion. The current DISA.MIL support contract (HC1028-12-F- 0263) will expire on 30 September 2015. The services provided by this contract are critical to the operations and availability of DISA.MIL. If a follow-on contract is not awarded and an application-based issue causes an outage on DISA.MIL, the website would be unavailable until a new contract is awarded.

(5) Impact. If another contractor is selected to support DISA.MIL development and maintenance requirements, DISA will have established a new contract that is redundant with the scope and activities of an existing contract. That action would lead to an increase in resources dedicated to managing an additional contract and it would contribute to an unnecessary and inefficient multi-vendor support solution. DISA will gain efficiencies by minimizing ramp-up time and leveraging the vendor’s knowledge and experience. It is anticipated that by consolidating the contract, DISA will save approximately two (2) months of start-up time. Furthermore, DISA will gain efficiencies and a more effective support structure. In terms of the efficiencies gained, DISA will reduce contract management overhead by combining two (2) separate, but similar contracts. In addition, application maintenance requires close coordination among application and server administrators. By aligning application and server support resources under one (1) contractor, a more centralized and effective support structure will be established.

5. COST/PRICE FAIR AND REASONABLE DETERMINATION: The Contracting Officer will determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable when compared to current or recent prices for the same or similar services purchased under comparable terms and conditions.

6. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research was conducted in August 2015 by reviewing company literature, industry publications, and pricing. Three (3) information technology (IT) service firms were identified and included Inserso Corporation, NOVA Corporation, and

WebHead Technologies. The research concluded that all three (3) contractors offered comparable capabilities and pricing. However, due to NOVA’s experience within DISA’s application development and maintenance environment and the work already being performed on

DISA.MIL, they were determined to offer the most value to DISA.

7. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS: None.

8. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS

THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY:

Procurement History. HC1047-13-D-4004 was initially competed under fair opportunity and awarded to NOVA Corporation on 28 April 2014. Contract HC1028-12-F-0263 was

Page 5 of 6 Pages awarded to Inserso Corporation on 30 March 2012. Contract HC1028-12-F-0263 is in its final option period with a period of performance ending on 30 September 2015. In future acquisitions for the support covered in this proposed modification, SE and BDC will consider any source that can provide the services for this requirement.

9. REFERENCE TO THE APPROVED ACQUISITION PLAN (AP): An acquisition plan is not required for this action.

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Jason Schiavoni

SIGNATURE: see pdf signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Chief, Communications Branch

PHONE: (301) 225-8429 DATE: 9/10/2015

NAME: Jason Schiavoni

SIGNATURE: see pdf signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Chief, Communications Branch

PHONE: (301) 225-8429 DATE: 9/10/2015

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CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this effort exceeds $150K but does not exceed $650K, this certification serves as APPROVAL.

NAME: KANE E. LEEDY SIGNATURE: see pdf signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: DITCO-NCR/PL62

PHONE: (301) 225-4153 DATE: 17 Sep 2015

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO the Contract Specialist, Christina Murray at (301) 225-4114 or christina.y.murray.civ@mail.mil.