VA118-16-D-1004-003.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Procurement Acquisition and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for award of a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Task Order (TO) to provide continued operations and maintenance and help desk support of the VA Time and Attendance System (VATAS) system for the Financial Services Center (FSC) which were received under Transformation Twenty One Total Technology (T4) Task Order VA118-11-D-1000 VA118-1000-0040.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The VA FSC has a requirement for continued operations and maintenance and help desk support for VATAS. Specifically, under this proposed effort, the Contractor shall continue to provide operations and maintenance services and help desk support for the ongoing sustainment of VATAS for approximately 370,000 employee timecards per payroll period. The current T4 Task Order is set to expire on July 14, 2019, and cannot be extended as the T4 Contract Ordering Period has expired. The period of performance for this proposed Task Order shall be 17 days for continued service.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized”.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source is Systems Made Simple, Inc., One Northern Concourse, Syracuse, New York 13212- 4057. The original TO was competed and Systems Made Simple was the successful awardee. No other source, other than Systems Made Simple, is able to meet the Government’s technical and timeliness requirements as documented below.

The VA FSC provides a wide range of accounting, financial, and administrative services to VA and other government agencies. Enterprise-wide time and attendance reporting that supports payroll and personnel benefits for approximately 370,000 Title 5 and Title 38 VA employees is among the primary financial services managed by the FSC. Under the existing T4 TO, Systems Made Simple provides a hosting environment for the VATAS system and a web environment for user access to VATAS training modules.

Systems Made Simple provides services to complete the successful deployment of VATAS to include software development, VA station deployment, and operations and maintenance to support ongoing sustainment of VATAS for an initial 35,000 employee timecards ramping up to approximately 370,000 employee timecards per payroll period by the end of the TO.

VA Time and Attendance System Support Bridge

The existing TO is set to expire on July 14, 2019. An acquisition package was submitted on November 20, 2018 to recompete the effort and establish a new TO in time to ensure no breaks in service. Due to a change in the Office of Information Technology’s cloud policy, there was a significant delay in the release of the solicitation as the FSC needed to revise its requirements. The estimated award date was subsequently pushed to no later than August 1, 2019, which will cause a gap in services. No other Contractors have the ability to onboard, commence, and accomplish these services during the 17-day performance period between the expiration of the existing T4 TO and the award of the new T4NG TO no later than August 1, 2019. VA cannot afford any breaks in service for this support as it would cause significant harm to the Agency and the Agency employees.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this specific acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) and the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government has released a competitive solicitation under T4NG to provide the required services. VA anticipates award of the competitive TO on July 31, 2019. All future requirements for these services will be transitioned to that TO.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research in December 2018 by reviewing and examining various companies’ capabilities that provide the same or similar services. These companies included: B&A, Inc., Lentech, Inc., Halfaker and Associates, LLC, and NITOR Technologies. While all of these companies have general capabilities to provide O&M services, none have the ability to onboard, commence, and accomplish these services during the 17-day performance period between the expiration of the existing T4 TO and the award of the new T4NG TO no later than August 1, 2019.

9. Other Facts: None.

VA Time and Attendance System Support Bridge

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on comparison of the proposed price with the historical prices paid, whether by the Government or other than the Government, for the same or similar items. Additionally, the proposed price will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1) serves as approval.