Sole Source JA_Web Support_FINAL_redacted.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b)(iii) Logical Follow-On

National Archives and Records Administration

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

Web Support Operations and Maintenance (O&M)

Technical or Requirements Personnel Certification:

I hereby certify that this sole source justification is made in good faith, that the supporting data and information are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that I would not be making this request if it were feasible to fully compete this requirement. I further certify this request is not the result of a desire to expend funds while those funds are still available.

Contracting Officer Concurrence:

I have reviewed this justification and conclude that it is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

General Counsel Concurrence:

I have reviewed this justification and consider it legally sufficient.

NARA Competition Advocate Approval:

I have reviewed this justification and hereby certify that it is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. In accordance with GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b) and NARA 501, I approve this justification.

I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY, AND

SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENT AS A “SOLE SOURCE

JUSTIFICATION”.

See page 1.

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

The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price task order to be issued under the General Services

Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) on a sole source basis to Agileana

Digital Services, Inc. for the procurement of continuous website operations, maintenance, development, and infrastructure support for NARA’s portfolio of public and internal websites.

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

AGENCY’S NEEDS (INCLUDING THE ESTIMATED VALUE).

NARA operates and maintains a portfolio of public and internal websites supporting the

National Archives, the Presidential Libraries, and NARA program offices. The portfolio currently comprises fifty-eight (58) websites, including Archives.gov, Presidential Library websites, former White House “frozen” sites, WordPress blogs, and internal sites. NARA maintains an in-house web team but requires sustained, dedicated contractor support to meet growing demand, to work down a standing backlog of needed enhancements to existing websites including Archives.gov, and to support the migration of existing websites into Drupal.

The proposed task order will provide for two (2) dedicated full-time equivalent (FTE) positions performing continuous website operations, maintenance, development, and infrastructure support against a jointly prioritized backlog of work.

The period of performance for this task order will include a 12-month base period from

September 27, 2026 to September 26, 2027, along with two (2) 12-month option periods.

IV. IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY EXCEPTION AND SUPPORTING

RATIONALE

In accordance with General Services Acquisition Manual / Regulation (GSAM/R) 538.7104-

3(b)(iii), this task order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) order already issued on a competitive basis. The proposed source for this task order is Agileana Digital

Services, Inc., a small business schedule holder under GSA MAS. The services required under this proposed action were originally competed as an initial order under a GSA MAS Blanket

Purchase Agreement (BPA) for which fair opportunity was provided among all GSA MAS holders resulting in the issuance of a multiple award BPA consisting of five (5) vendors.

Agileana won the initial BPA order for Web Support O&M, and was awarded BPA order

88310321F00228 on September 25, 2021. The BPA order included a 12-month base period and four (4) 12-month option periods, all of which were exercised.

Agileana is currently providing O&M support for 20 active Drupal sites, 23 WordPress blogs, and 15 Historical Website Copies. In addition to providing support for this evolving suite of website platforms for the past five (5) years, Agileana was competitively awarded several website redesign and migration task orders under the multiple award BPA. Two (2) of these redesign orders are still in active performance including one that was recently awarded on

September 16, 2026 to redesign the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Website. Further, another redesign effort for Archives.gov is in its final stages of development with a targeted launch date of September 28, 2026. While this redesign effort is being performed by another vendor, Agileana has been providing O&M support for this critical agency website for the past five (5) years, and is uniquely positioned to take over support for this website following a short, 60-day post launch support period from the development vendor.

Due to the nature of support required across this large portfolio of websites, coupled with these ongoing website redesign activities, any attempt to transition this support to a new vendor at this time would introduce unacceptable technical, operational and schedule risks. In the interest of economy and efficiency, web support duties for these critical agency websites must remain with Agileana until which time it is deemed feasible for another vendor to take over support without unacceptable technical and operational risks to the agency.

Furthermore, NARA is currently formulating a long-term acquisition strategy to consolidate web redesign, development, and O&M under a future competitive contract vehicle. A full vendor competition and transition for O&M services at this interim juncture would require the

Government to absorb substantial transition costs and dual-vendor overhead twice: first for an interim bridge vendor, and again when the consolidated single-award contract is competitively awarded. Maintaining Agileana during this interim period eliminates the need for two, potential back-to-back, high-risk vendor handoffs across NARA’s 58 digital assets. This ensures seamless baseline operations and protects ongoing critical launches—including the post-launch support phase for Archives.gov—while NARA finalizes and executes its long-term competitive procurement.

V. A DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE

ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND

REASONABLE.

Agileana has been performing these O&M support services for the past five (5) years. During that time, both NARA and the vendor have gained an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the level of effort required to effectively execute this work. Based on this historical knowledge and understanding, NARA’s technical experts have developed an Independent Government

Cost Estimate (IGCE) for the continuation of the O&M services. The IGCE will be utilized to evaluate the appropriateness and reasonableness of the vendors quoted labor mix for the required services. Additionally, given this task order will be issued under the vendor’s established GSA MAS contract, the vendor’s quoted labor rates must be at or below its GSA

MAS contract rates which were determined fair and reasonable by GSA.

VI. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION.

Agileana brings five years of deep, irreplaceable institutional knowledge and technical stewardship over NARA's digital ecosystem. Agileana has architected, built, and maintained

NARA's government-owned library of custom, reusable Drupal modules—including Interactive

Timeline, Dynamic Finding Aids, Virtual Exhibits, Audio-Visual Galleries, and Nara Digital

Research Room—as well as over a dozen custom Gutenberg blocks. Any vendor transition while actively developing and deploying these reusable assets across ongoing site migrations

(such as the FDR Presidential Library redesign) would introduce unacceptable technical risk, data loss potential, and costly duplicate effort for the Government.

VII. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO

REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE SOLE SOURCE

JUSTIFICATION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IS MADE.

NARA is currently evaluating its long-term agency-wide acquisition strategy for web design, development, and digital media support requirements. The existing Multiple Award Blanket

Purchase Agreement (BPA) is approaching expiration, and NARA program leadership is actively defining a unified strategy for future web support needs.

The agency's preliminary strategy anticipates competing a single-award, multi-year BPA (or similar competitive contract vehicle) that will consolidate both web redesign projects and ongoing O&M under a single vendor to streamline management and accountability.

Until NARA finalizes this overarching acquisition strategy and executes the competitive procurement, executing this follow-on task order ensures uninterrupted O&M support and mitigates severe technical risk during major ongoing site launches (including Archives.gov and the FDR Presidential Library). Once the long-term competitive contract vehicle is awarded, O&M responsibilities for NARA’s digital assets will be fully transitioned to the winning contractor.

Prior to exercising any option periods under this task order, NARA will re-evaluate the status of the agency-wide acquisition strategy to determine if the requirements can be transitioned to the new competitive vehicle earlier than anticipated.

VIII. THE CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION THAT THE JUSTIFICATION

IS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF THE CONTRACTING

OFFICER’S KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.

IX. EVIDENCE THAT ANY SUPPORTING DATA THAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF

TECHNICAL OR REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL (e.g., VERIFYING THE

GOVERNMENT’S MINIMUM NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR OTHER

RATIONALE FOR A SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION) AND WHICH FORM A

BASIS FOR THE JUSTIFICATION HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED AS COMPLETE AND

ACCURATE BY THE TECHNICAL OR REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL.

X. A WRITTEN DETERMINATION BY THE APPROVING OFFICIAL THAT ONE OF

THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b) APPLIES TO THE ORDER.