Redacted Limited Source Justificaiton 693JK418F900022 MOD P00003.pdf

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE REQUIRING ACTIVITY AND CONTRACTING

ACTIVITY:

AGENCY (REQUIRING ACTIVITY):

Surface Transportation Board 395 E. Street, SW Washington, DC 20423

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

U.S. Department of Transportation/OST Acquisition Services Division, M-63 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590

II. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED:

The contracting activity proposes to increase the hours and overall cost for contract 693JK418F900022 with Avineon, Inc. This will enable the continuity necessary and prevent issues with the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB or Board) tech refresh and infrastructure upgrades being conducted in Fiscal Year (FY)’s 2021-2022.

III. A DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS (including the estimated value):

The proposed modification will add 1,920 hours to the Systems Administrator CLIN for work to be performed by another system administrator and increases the cost by $180,748.80. The Option Year 3 increases from $1,013,337.60 to $1,194,086.40. The total would increase from $4,835,185.32 to $5,015,934.12. Avineon Inc currently has the staff performing the necessary activities to support the STB in the following areas:

• Be responsible for effective provisioning, installation, configuration, operation, and maintenance of the Board’s server and system hardware and software.

• Plan, implement and maintain system configuration and manage installation and integration of systems fixes, updates, and enhancements in accordance with established configuration management procedures.

• Perform daily backup operations, ensuring all required file systems and system data are successfully backed up to the appropriate media and locations.

• Support the STB’s efforts to migrate servers to AWS.

• Create new laptop, desktop images as needed

• Prepare technical specifications and documentation as necessary to support the

Board’s cybersecurity efforts.

• Recommend technical standards and policies and solutions as needed.

• Coordinate with technical personnel of vendors for troubleshooting, maintaining, and implementing software and hardware components in the STB’s infrastructure.

• Analyze system performance statistics and make changes to attain maximum system performance.

• Provide Tier 2 and 3 support for users when necessary.

• Serves as a technical expert in the area of system administration for complex operating systems.

• Responsible for the installation and configuration of new software, hardware, appliances and servers.

• Is responsible for monitoring system performance, IT system operations and storage utilization.

• Plans ahead for necessary hardware or software upgrades to support system growth.

IV. THE AUTHORITY AND SUPPROTING RATIONALE:

FAR 8.405-6(c).

V. A DETERMINATION BY THE ORDERING ACTIVITY CONTRACTING

OFFICER THAT THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE

The current vendor has the staff available and performing the duties required by the STB to support its information technology (IT) efforts. It would take considerable time and resources to prepare other vendor to perform at an acceptable level to satisfy the needs of the STB without delays to system integrations and the added needs of a hybrid environment (tech refresh of laptops, servers, and other tools).

The lack of the additional hours for the systems administrator CLIN will negatively impact the Board’s ability to perform the planned IT efforts in an efficient and effective manner.

VI. A DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG

SCHEDULE HOLDERS OR A STATEMENT OF REASON MARKET

RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED:

The STB initially contacted Leigh Armistead at Peregrine (Task Order #DTOS5917F10131) and they recommended CP Marine. The STB reviewed requirements in its current award (Task Order # 693JK418F900022) and looked on Acquisition Gateway and CALC to determine prices and potential sources. Market research also included reviewing the capabilities and services provided on current contracts and comparing those services with recommendations resulting from the Board’s data maturity assessment as well as services provided on similar contracts on the GSA schedule 70, CALC / Contract-Awarded Labor Category (gsa.gov) and in the Acquisition Gateway.

Incumbent contract rate of $94.14 per hour vs GSA average $93 per hour (CALC below) and $120.57 per hour for System Administrator II based on GSA schedule below.

ajmal.khan.ctr Highlight ajmal.khan.ctr Highlight ajmal.khan.ctr Highlight

GSA schedule 70: From GSA Contract Number: GS-35F-0619X

CALC / Contract-Awarded Labor Category (gsa.gov):

VII. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST:

The anticipated costs of this increase have been deemed fair and reasonable based on historical data obtained from almost 3 years of contract service, as well as verification of current, applicable labor rates and indirect costs for anticipated deliverables within the contract that was competed. All costs for services will be evaluated to ensure a fair and reasonable cost to the Government.

VIII. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION:

These labor hours will support the STB’s efforts to address several IT and Cybersecurity requirements identified by the administration, Office of Management and Budget, and Congress.

IX. ACTIONS TAKEN TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO COMPETITION:

The STB has also issued a sole source award to CP Marine LLC via Contract No.

693JK421C900003 under the 8(a) program to provide additional IT Support Services. .

However, this contract is under legal review and will be awarded sometimes in the last week of September 2021. Also, it will take time by CP Marine LLC to hire and bring up to speed the contractors to meet the current needs of the STB.

X. CERTIFICATIONS:

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance and which are included in this justification are complete and accurate.

Adil Gulamali Date Chief Financial Officer

CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief (FAR 8.405-6(d)(1)).

Robin D. Gates Date Contracting Officer