Redacted- Limited Source- Archiving.pdf

Limited Sources Justification United States Department of Agriculture

FAR 8.405 Federal Supply Schedules Multiple Award Schedule Program

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

United States Department of Agriculture, Departmental Administration, Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations Division, 301 S. Howes Street, Suite 321, Fort Collins, CO 80521.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer, National Finance Center (NFC), Government Employees Services Division (GESD) requests the purchase of services to support our need of data archiving and retrieval of documents related to our various business lines.

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

Provide full-service data archival storage and retrieval services; including automated receipt and intake of line data feed reports; scanning and indexing of paper documents, and conversion of legacy microfiche and microfilm. All digital images shall be stored in a secure, online repository viewable via a web interface 24x7x365/366 until the prescribed retention period expiration date is reached.

4. The authority and supporting rationale.

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source capable due to the unique or specialized nature of work.

The order was competed in previous years (AG-7245-C-15-0004). The reasons why only the original source can provide the necessary supplies or services, are because of substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Currently the vendor stores 502 GB of data consisting of approximately 1.3 million records. Estimated cost to transfer the data would be $120,000. Which is more than 1 year of services under the contract.

5. A determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer (CO) that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

I have made the determination, after considering the level of effort and the mix of skills available for the tasks needed, that the proposed GSA Federal Supply Schdule (GS-03F049GA) respresents a reasonable total price and will be the best value for the Government, price and other factors considered. Negotiations in price for further discounts from the pricing on their schedule will be requested.

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.

The results of the market research conducted amongst schedule holders was found through a GSA RFI #RFQ1420311 (that was later cancelled). While there were vendors that had interested (some I was unable to make determination if capable based off what they submitted) but they couldn’t negate the substantial costs for setup and transfer. This is the point in the market research that we came to the realization of- there would be a substantial cost the Government that would not be expected to be recovered through competition. Also the Government requested informal pricing from incumbet to determine what it would cost from their side to have the data transferred if it came to that. This is where the cost of $120,000 came from. This does not include setup costs for the new vendor.

7. Any facts supporting the justification.

There are risks associated with transferring data to another vendor such as:

Access to Systems:

o Access to the USDA's IT environment for the incoming team to perform transition o Availability of a working system during transition o System downtime will increase backlog

Process Development:

o Internal work processes were developed with the existing system and these will need to change with the new system o Dedicated process transition is critical for processes to be ready in time for the new transitioned environment

Cultural Gaps:

o Existing team/people need to learn a new system, new interfaces, and new processes o Formal training to get team ready for new system

Schedule Slippage:

Challenges with new systems will cause delays in installation/implementation, which will cause more system downtime a great backlog

Security Requirements:

o Getting new personnel cleared o Getting new system FISMA compliant/ATO

Potential of data corruption while in transit Potential of data loss between systems

Currently the vendor stores 502 GB of data consisting of approximately 1.3 million records. Estimated cost to transfer the data would be $120,000.

8. A statement of actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

The NFC has utilized this vendor for the last 10 years. NFC stores a large volume of data which must be securely maintained and remain accessible for our use. Prior to subsequent requirements for the same or similar services, the agency will conduct market research to determine the availability and capabilities of other possible sources to meet the requirement.