redacted_SSJ_SecureRelease_final_oamp.pdf

Sole Source Justification (SSJ) FAR 8.401 & GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b)(1)(ii))

1. Acquisition Title: SecureRelease Platform Software Licensing and Support

Division: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

National Institute of Health (NIH) Center for Information Technology (CIT) Business Application Services (BAS)

Contracting Activity: Health and Human Services (HHS)

National Institute of Health (NIH) Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management

(OALM)

Author: D’Angelo Perrier, Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved:

NIH requests approval to award an order to Deloitte Financial Services under General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contract 47QSMA19D08PL. This order is needed to allow for data migration to the SecureRelease platform to maintain continuity of case management software in support of the NIH Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program during the mandated HHS consolidation of FOIA functions.

This acquisition is conducted under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Program using the ordering procedures established by the General Services Administration found in the General Services Acquisition Manual/Regulation (GSAM/R) at subpart 538.71. The Government projects award for September 2026 using fiscal year 2026 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Appropriations funding.

The Government estimate for this acquisition is for a 12-month base period and one (1) 12-month option period, with required and optional items. At time of award, only the required Line will be funded in the amount of $919,280.00. A breakdown of each Required/Optional Line items is identified in the attached

IGCE.

Contractor: Deloitte Financial Services 1919 N Lynn St.

Arlington, VA 22209 703-251—1143

SAM UEI – XGEYUR1V3F75

usdeloittegsacontracts@deloitte.com Schedule Contract Number: 47QSMA19D08PL, SIN 541611LIT, Litigation Support Services Period Required Items Optional Items Total Costs

[Last updated 4/7/2026.] https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-8 https://www.acquisition.gov/fss-ordering-procedures https://www.acquisition.gov/fss-ordering-procedures https://www.acquisition.gov/fss-ordering-procedures mailto:usdeloittegsacontracts@deloitte.com

Base Period 9/21/2026 – 9/20/2027 $ 919,280.00 $2,036,800.00 $2,956,080.00 Option Period 1 9/21/2027 – 9/20/2028 $ 996,000.00 $1,987,740.00 $2,983,740.00 Total $5,939,820.00

3. Description of Supplies and/or Services:

NIH is requesting SecureRelease Platform Software Licensing and Support to support the review, analysis, and production of documents responsive to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, congressional subpoenas, and congressional oversight investigations. The SecureRelease Platform supports NIH’s ability to process and produce responsive records within the mandated response time of 20 days and helps manage ongoing and iterative document productions associated with congressional oversight matters.

This requirement includes within Base Period (9/21/2026 – 9/20/2027):

• One-time platform implementation of the SecureRelease FOIA case management platform for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• One-time platform implementation of SecureRelease FOIA case management platform for the Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis (OLPA)

• 70 SecureRelease user licenses

• Data ingestion/hosting

• Public facing FOIA Requester Portal and Collaboration Portal

• Annual operations & maintenance

Option Period 1 (9/21/27 – 9/20/28) will consist of the continued operations, maintenance and platform hosting.

Options for increased quantity will be included in the order to provide the Government with the unilateral right, established at award, to buy additional quantities should the need arise. This includes:

• Room for growth for the program as new FOIA coordinators are added.

• Room for growth for the program as new audio/video reviews are required.

• Data migration project to extract data out of legacy platform, FOIAXpress, and ingest into SecureRelease. One-time option.

• Starting option year 1, the additional hosting option is to ensure storage space for data after data migration.

• In FY27, the NIH Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis will need professional litigation support for congressional subpoena duties.

• In FY27, the NIH Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis will need additional storage space for work to be performed.

4. Authority Cited and Rationale: Authority of the GSA MAS Program, Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251, et seq.); Title 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented at FAR 8.401,FAR 8.405-6(g)(1), and GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b)(1).

GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b)(1)(ii)- Only one source is capable of providing the products, services, or solution required at the level of quality required because the products, services, or solutions are unique or highly specialized.

The HHS FOIA Chief has directed all FOIA offices across the department to migrate to the Deloitte SecureRelease Platform to support the HHS FOIA consolidation initiative.

This consolidation will centralize several Division FOIA service centers with a single, unified data processing and case management platform to standardize performance metrics, enhance transparency, and reporting consistency, and improve the department's ability to manage FOIA workload efficiently across the HHS FOIA enterprise.

NIH FOIA has utilized the SecureRelease platform over the last six years spanning two contracts; the initial base year order and the current order with a total five year period of performance. NIH FOIA has six years of FOIA case files and documents that FOIA coordinators rely on for existing and new FOIA requests. Existing user access licenses, FOIA case work in progress within the SecureRelease platform, and congressional subpoena document review (completed and in-progress) by the NIH Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis, saved in cloud storage, are within the proprietary Deloitte SecureRelease system. In current usage, SecureRelease for NIH FOIA is used as a supplemental tool. This 2026 contract renewal will enhance the SecureRelease platform to be the sole FOIA case management solution for NIH FOIA while supporting the HHS FOIA consolidation directive; limiting fragmentation and increasing collaboration across

HHS.

The NIH SecureRelease environment received an Authority to Operate (ATO) for FOIA systems in October 2024, as part of the NIH’s authorized FOIA systems environment, which includes Deloitte SecureRelease.

It has been determined that only one source is capable, Deloitte Financial Services, for the following reasons:

a. Purpose -built for FOIA compliance: SecureRelease is specifically designed with numerous features to support federal FOIA workflows.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-8 https://www.acquisition.gov/fss-ordering-procedures

b. Integrated data protection features: The platform enhances NIH’s data protection posture by providing secure intake, review, and redaction capabilities, minimizing the risk of unauthorized disclosure of protected information.

c. Workflow transparency and efficiency: The Task Tracker and dashboard features enable real-time task assignment, tracking, and management, improving internal accountability and responsiveness.

d. Simplified data migration: The contractor must have the capability to directly migrate existing FOIA data into SecureRelease, reducing the burden on NIH staff and minimizing the risk of data loss or misalignment during transition.

Deloitte Financial Services is the only FSS contractor authorized and capable of providing the required SecureRelease software licenses and associated proprietary support services. The proprietary software and services are not available through another FSS contract holder, reseller, or other authorized source.

As a result of the HHS FOIA consolidation directive, NIH's requirement is not merely for a commercially available FOIA case-management or document-review capability.

The requirement is for a solution that enables NIH to operate within, exchange and maintain information with, and remain compatible with the HHS-designated SecureRelease environment. This common platform is necessary to support the Department's consolidation of FOIA operations by providing a standardized environment for case management, workflow, performance metrics, reporting, and collaboration across participating HHS Divisions.

Although other FSS contractors may provide FOIA processing, document review, redaction, or similar software capabilities, use of a separate platform would not satisfy NIH's requirement for compatibility and commonality with the HHS SecureRelease environment. A separate product would create an independent FOIA environment rather than support the Department-directed consolidation, would require separate interfaces and/or data exchanges to maintain interoperability with the HHS environment, and would perpetuate the fragmentation the consolidation initiative is intended to eliminate. Accordingly, the essential requirement is not simply the availability of comparable FOIA functionality, but compatibility with and participation in the Department's designated SecureRelease environment.

SecureRelease is proprietary to Deloitte. Deloitte Financial Services is the only FSS contractor authorized to provide the required SecureRelease software licenses and associated proprietary support services; the licenses and proprietary support are not available through another FSS contract holder, reseller, or other authorized source.

Therefore, another contractor cannot provide NIH access to, and support for, the HHS-designated SecureRelease environment, even though other contractors may offer products with similar individual FOIA-processing capabilities.

Accordingly, Deloitte is uniquely capable of satisfying the requirement at the level of quality required because NIH requires both (1) the functional capability necessary to perform its FOIA and related document-production activities and (2) compatibility and commonality with the HHS-designated SecureRelease environment necessary to implement the Department's FOIA consolidation initiative. Because the required SecureRelease licenses and proprietary support are available only from Deloitte, other FSS Schedule holders offering functionally similar FOIA products cannot satisfy the Government's complete requirement.

5. Market Research:

Market research, pursuant to FAR Part 10.001, determined that the Government needs can only be met by Deloitte Financial Services, under their GSA MAS Schedule Contract No. 47QSMA19D08PL, SIN 541611LIT, Litigation Support Solutions, to provide the SecureRelease platform software licenses and support as the software is proprietary to Deloitte. The techniques used in conducting the market research included (1) program office knowledgeable sources regarding existing capabilities in the marketplace to meet the Government’s needs; (2) verifying with Deloitte directly whether resellers are available; and (3) reviewing a list of alternative sources that provide SecureRelease Software and Support to determine if other sources were available. No NITAAC, or NASA SEWP vehicles were available to meet the Government’s needs. Deloitte Financial Services has been identified as having the capability to provide this requirement

It was determined that Deloitte Financial Services is the sole provider for platform software licenses and support through the SecureRelease FOIA case management environment to meet the Government’s needs and FOIA consolidation directive, through GSA Multiple Award Schedules.

6. Procurement history:

The SecureRelease Platform Software Licensing and Support is currently being provided by Deloitte Consulting, LLP, Contract No. 75N97021P00138. Period of Performance – 9/21/2021 – 9/20/2026.

Previous contract:

- 75N97020P00234 – PoP 9/21/2020 - 9/20/2021 - Base Year only

7. Actions to Foster Competition for Future, Similar Requirements:

For the reasons stated above, currently, only the product listed, and no other products/services, will satisfy agency requirements for commonality, interchangeability, and interoperability. Prior to any subsequent acquisition of SecureRelease, NIH will conduct market research to determine whether circumstances affecting competition have changed. The research will include determining whether the HHS FOIA consolidation requirements continue to necessitate use of the SecureRelease Platform. If SecureRelease Platform remains proprietary to Deloitte and the HHS continues to mandate usage, NIH will document the results of the updated market research and continuing basis for restriction.

8. Additional Information or Other Facts:

There are no other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition than has been discussed above.

9. Technical or Requirements Program Management Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

D'ANGELO E.

PERRIER -S

D’Angelo Perrier

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

NATHANIEL R.

WILVERT -S

Ryan Wilvert

Program Manager, CIT, BAS

10. Best Value Determination: As the contracting officer, I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action represents the best value for the Government.

The Contracting Officer will make a determination that the anticipated costs will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison of proposed prices, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for the same or similar items.

11. Contracting Officer (CO) Certification and Approval: I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.

LUNDGREN -S

Shirley Ruiz-Lundgren

Section Chief, Specialized & Scientific Information Technology Division National Institutes of Health Office of Acquisition and Logistics

12. Contracting Officer (CO) Certification and Approval: SSIT Director (required for requirements sent to DAPE for HCA/Competition Advocate approval)

JEREMY D.

WHITE -S

Jeremy White, Director

Specialized & Scientific Information Technology Division

SHIRLEY RUIZ-

National Institutes of Health Office of Acquisition and Logistics

FINAL APPROVAL

13. NIH Office of Acquisition and Management Policy (OAMP) Concurrence: I reviewed this justification and find that it adequately supports a sole source acquisition.

TIFFANY D.

CHADWICK -S

Tiffany Chadwick OAMP Associate Director OALM, Office of the Director, NIH

14. Advocate for Competition Review and Approval: I reviewed this justification and find that it adequately supports a sole source acquisition.

KATHRYN M.

PARTIN -S

Dr. Kathryn Partin

Director of Research Integrity, National Institutes of Health