SIGNED Interim ITSS - Justification_for_Other_Than_Full_and_Open_Competition_Redacted.pdf

March 2023

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory

Information Technology Support Services

Task Order TBD, Contract HHSN316201200117W

I recommend that negotiations be conducted only with Maximus Federal Consulting, LLC (formerly known as Attain, LLC) for the supplies or services described herein:

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) 3610 Collins Ferry Road Morgantown, WV 26505

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

Pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) - The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays, the Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to solicit and award a Task Order under the National Institute of Health’s (NIH), Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3), Government -Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) HHSN316201200117W to Maximus Federal Consulting. LLC (formerly known as Attain, LLC) for interim Information Technology Support Services (ITSS) consisting of a base period of nine (9) months of services, with a single option for three (3) months of services, during which time the Government will complete actions for conducting a competitive action to award a new five-year Task Order under the NIH CIO-SP4 GWAC.

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

The mission of NETL is to help provide clean, safe, affordable, and reliable energy to the American people. All NETL activities support the DOE mission to promote the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. NETL is the only national laboratory owned and operated by DOE and conducts and manages research activities at its sites in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Morgantown, West Virginia, and Albany, Oregon. It also maintains a satellite office in Anchorage, Alaska and Houston, Texas to address energy issues specific to those regions.

NETL has a critical requirement for continued information technology support services which will enable the laboratory to fulfill its role in supporting the DOE’s mission. These services are necessary to provide NETL with access to a cadre of requisite experience, skills, and personnel to maintain, operate and integrate information technology (IT) solutions.

The subject action will result in the continuation of services currently being provided by Maximus Federal Consulting, LLC under Task Order DE-DT0013924 to include: Infrastructure Operations Services; Cyber Security; Enterprise Application and Engineering; High Performance Computing; Research Application Engineering and Support; and to provide the Government with access to specialized IT support to include the development of feasibility studies; systems analysis; system design; enterprise architecture; software development; project management; preparation of technical specifications; and solutions engineering and design.

The services required must align IT resource expenditures with business goals and objectives and facilitate an IT environment which is responsive to organizational requirements. The personnel who support NETL through this Task

Order are required to be both professional and knowledgeable, with the necessary experience and skills to maintain and operate the NETL IT environment and integrate future upgrades, enhancements, and developments.

The estimated cost for this action is for a base period of performance of nine (9) months, for one (1) option period consisting of three (3) months of services for a total cost of .

4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see 16.505(b)(2)) and the supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

This sole source action is being conducted pursuant to 41 USC 3304(a)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) - The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

Task Order DE-DT0013924 was competitively solicited under the NIH CIO-SP3 GWAC as a small business set aside and was awarded on September 13, 2017 after evaluation of six (6) proposals. The period of performance under the subject Task Order was to end on January 31, 2023, and the Government elected to exercise the option under FAR 52.217-8 to extend this period of performance until July 31, 2023.

The approved acquisition strategy for NETL’s follow-on ITSS2 requirement is to utilize the Best-In-Class (BIC) NIH CIO GWAC to competitively solicit a new, competitive Request for Proposals (RFP), with a significantly different Performance Work Statement (PWS) from the current ITSS Task Order. The NIH was originally expected to award the NIH CIO-SP4 GWAC late in Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) or in the first quarter of FY23. Due to numerous amendments to the solicitation and the receipt of multiple protests, the NIH has incrementally pushed back the expected announcement of the award for CIO-SP4 until March 15, 2023 and has extended the ordering period for CIO-SP3 GWAC until April 29, 2023 with Periods of Performance (POP) allowable through April 29, 2028. As of the date of this document the NIH has not announced when the ordering period for CIO-SP4 will begin.

Due to issues noted above, the issuance of the RFP for ITSS2 has been unavoidably delayed until the third quarter of FY23, the anticipated timeframe CIO-SP4 GWAC will be available, and the updated procurement schedule shows the award date of the follow-on ITSS2 Task Order is not expected to occur until the third quarter of FY24. This sole source action is considered to be necessary to avoid any break in critical ITSS services provided to NETL. The proposed sole-source task order under the CIO-SP3 GWAC will consist of base period of nine (9) months of services, with a single option for three (3) additional months of services, during which time the Government will complete conducting a competitive action under to award a new five-year Task Order for ITSS2 under the CIO-SP4 GWAC. The Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the subject sole-source action will remain unchanged from that of the current CIO-SP3 ITSS Task Order, DE-DT0013924.

At this time, the incumbent contractor, Maximus Federal Consulting, LLC is the only contractor capable of providing the necessary services without interruption, at the level of quality required, to allow the NIH to fully award CIO-SP4 GWAC and for NETL sufficient time to conduct a competitive procurement for a follow-on award. The Government’s ability to successfully compete this requirement is further constrained due to the NIH only extending the ordering period for the current CIO-SP3 GWAC until April 29, 2023. To ensure an effective transition without interruption to critical IT systems, both the current Task Order, DE-DT0013924, and the eventual follow-on ITSS2 award contain a transition period of 90 days. While efforts to procure a new ITSS2 Task Order have been initiated, it is anticipated that the procurement process and the transition period combined will require more time than the additional six (6) month extension to the current ITSS Task Order and will exceed the time allotted to completely solicit and award a new Task order under the CIO-SP3 GWAC.

Given the rationale stated above, there is no other source that will be able to provide the required services without an interruption in critical services. Maximus Federal Consulting, LLC, as the incumbent contractor on the CIO-SP3 Task Order DE-DT0013924, has the required knowledge, personnel, necessary resources, tools, and procedures in place to ensure the continuity of services and mitigate the risk to the Government.

5. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

All labor rates for the subject action have previously established on the CIO-SP3 GWAC, no new labor categories will be added to those already found on current ITSS Task Order, and the level of effort will be established based on the Government’s cost estimate. Based on the information presented in this document, the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The current Task Order DE-DT0013924 was competitively solicited under the NIH CIO-SP3 GWAC as a small business set aside and was awarded after evaluation of the six (6) proposals received. The subject sole source action will contain an identical PWS as that found in Task Order DE-DT0013924 and can be considered to be a logical follow-on to an order already awarded under the CIO-SP3 GWAC in which all offerors were provided fair opportunity to be considered for award. The incumbent contractor’s performance on Task Order DE-DT0013924 since performance began in 2017.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

None. However, following the successful award of the NIH CIO-SP4 GWAC, the Government intends to issue competitive, small business set-aside solicitation for the ITTS2 requirements via the NIH Electronic Government Ordering System (e-GOS) in the third quarter of FY23, the anticipated timeframe CIO-SP4 will be available.