Redacted_LSJ_Redacted.pdf

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION FOR MULTIPLE AWARD SCHEDULE (MAS) ORDERS

IAW FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C)

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity and specific identification of the document as a limited source justification.

This requirement is in support of GSA OGC and OAS, 1800 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005. The contracting activity is OAS Office of Internal Acquisition (OIA), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405.

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

GSA contemplates modifying its existing firm-fixed-price task order, Task Order No.

GSH1416AA0337, issued to Schedule 70 holder Aurotech, Inc. (Aurotech) under GSA Schedule Contract No. GS-35F-0244R, to provide, install, implement, configure, and enhance an e-discovery solution.

This modification would change the requirement for Aurotech to provide on-premises hosting to cloud-based hosting for the e-discovery data to be stored and managed. This modification is requested because the OCIO and OGC have agreed to host the e-discovery data in a cloud-based environment.

3. A complete description of the supplies and/or services required to meet the agency’s needs.

To satisfy its mission, in part, it is important for GSA OGC and OAS to be able to receive, store, manage, and analyze large quantities of information within GSA and received from contractors and other government agencies that meets GSA’s security protocols.

Under the original, above-referenced task order, GSA acquired from Aurotech Exterro, a COTS eDiscovery software product - Exterro; installation, implementation, configuration and enhancement services for Exterro; and training on the use of Exterro.

The task order, as awarded, requires the vendor to provide a solution that would reside on-premises on physical servers within a GSA Data Center.

However, during Aurotech’s contract performance, and after several discussions with GSA IT regarding the on-premises vs. cloud data storage, it was quickly determined that a cloud data storage is required because of the way the storage services are delivered in

GSA.

The on-premises solution would require GSA’s IT hosting and server services group to continue to build virtual machines to accommodate the changing volume of data in use, and the group cannot build these virtual machines fast enough. The group cannot keep pace with the volume of the data and the dynamic nature of the changes that are happening on a frequent basis with the e-discovery data and application. The on-premises solution simply can’t provide the responsiveness, flexibility, and scalability needed to store the large amount and ever-changing volume of data required. The building of the machines plus the GSA IT staff resources required to manage the servers and data make this an untenable solution.

After determining that the cloud hosting solution was the best approach we met with GSA IT Security to discuss security concerns. There are two cloud options: Single- Tenant and Multi-Tenant. Multi-Tenant means that multiple government agencies would be sharing the storage environment. This requires additional security measures and FedRAMP certification because of the inherent risk of more than one client agency.

Single-Tenant means that GSA will be the only agency in the storage environment, therefore a FedRAMP certification is not necessary. We have held multiple discussions with our Security team and single-tenant storage is the most secure option and will allow us to maintain our current project schedule. Although FedRAMP certification is not needed for the Single-Tenant solution, a System Security Plan (SSP) is required. The SSP can be created as part of the implementation schedule and delays will be avoided.

Since single-tenant storage is the most secure option and will not incur project delays, we need the single-tenant solution for our cloud hosting.

Total estimated value of this contract modification is which covers the base period and four one-year option periods as follows:

Base Period cost:

Option 1 Period cost:

Option 2 Period cost:

Option 3 Period cost:

Option 4 Period cost:

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

GSA has determined that the procurement requires a sole source in order to satisfy the Agency’s need. Specifically, the basis for limiting competition is the authority under which this LSJ is made is pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C), this work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order that was placed in accordance with the applicable FSS ordering procedures using full and open competition. Aurotech is the only vendor who can provide a seamless change from the original on-premise hosting to cloud hosting, in terms of both economy and efficiency. GSA is not changing the technical solution that has been competed, evaluated and accepted, we are only changing how we host this solution. GSA is further leveraging Aurotech’s expertise in this field by changing the method of Aurotech’s delivery of the software from an on-premise installation to a cloud installation, and keeping the owner of the software providing their hosting environment for a seamless result.

Aurotech has the skills, knowledge, and understanding to move the Exterro software to the cloud hosting environment. They are the only vendor providing Exterro software.

They have performed hosting services for many customers in the legal environment. Exterro is proprietary software and must be kept within the Exterro software hosting environment to avoid ongoing process and operational inefficiencies.

With another hosting provider, all system administration coordination would have to occur between this new hosting provider, as well as Aurotech and GSA. This would create another link in coordination and create inefficiencies.

Aurotech has been working with GSA for months now on the preparation of the software.

They understand how and why we are using the data, and a generic cloud provider will not provide that insight or expertise. Aurotech can move this to their cloud environment quickly. If another cloud provider were chosen, it would take them at least two months to get up to speed on the project through understanding the Exterro software, its uses, and GSA’s environment, in order to proceed with the project. As mentioned above, this additional link in coordination would create inefficiencies for all parties.

Also, Aurotech will be economical because they will save us months of time we would otherwise expend going to a competitive bid. The competitive bid process would take at least 3 months and we are paying Aurotech per month now. The time and cost to do that bid, while Aurotech remains idle, has a cost of at least to GSA IT and the legal department which would offset any potential savings.

Additionally, not having the software in place for the scheduled July timeframe will have further costs to GSA. OGC currently has cases, with a total claim value of , where orders from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals require that the parties review and exchange large volumes of documents within the next few months. Without being able to automate our e-discovery process through the Exterro software, GSA will incur unplanned human resource costs by having to manually perform these functions for upcoming cases which are scheduled in the July timeframe.

As mentioned above, GSA wants to acquire a cloud-hosting service under the current order because, to minimize risk, it is important to have the software provider fully engaged in all aspects of this e-discovery initiative. This project carries much more risk if there are separate vendors providing separate services that we try to link together, as opposed to one vendor providing the full suite of services. We need the cloud service to be seamless, with a partner who knows how and why we are using this data. They will know which critical components must be handled in the cloud and how to prioritize the data moved to the cloud so we can be functional in the fastest time possible. GSA’s switch to Aurotech’s cloud environment is only changing how we store the data - in the cloud vs. on-premises. But the need for Aurotech’s Exterro product to be the data manager is the same. Aurotech’s Exterro software will be managing the data in terms of storing, sorting, cataloging, and analyzing the data to the extent that it is presented in sorted, catalogued, and analyzed form to the legal staff needing the data.