A02_-_Redacted_JandA.pdf

Control No:

Contractor: Veranox Corporation

Supply/Service: Development, operation, support, and maintenance of a Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED)

FAR PART 6 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Programs/Equipment:

Continued development, operation, support, and maintenance of a Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) tactical edge processing system.

Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

Amount:

gineer 1/2019

Amey Officer 1/2019 mail.mil gineer 9

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Program Manager:

X Program Manager

Legal Counsel:

Legal Counsel

FAR Part 6 Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Adelphi Division (CCAP-SCA), 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-

2. Description of Action: The

U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) requests a follow-on non-commercial, Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) service contract with Veranox Corporation, 4560 King Edward Ct Annandale, VA, 22003-5710, USA. The Government projects award for July 2019 and

The anticipated period of performance (PoP) includes an initial six (6) week period, immediately followed by a one (1) year base period, and two (2) subsequent one (1) year option periods.

_X_ An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement either does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i), or is an R&D acquisition and does not meet the definition of services in 10 U.S.C. 2330(c)(2).

This action is a follow-on to contract W911QX-18-C-0034 which was not competed, and utilized authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

The Government has an ongoing need for operation, maintenance, and further development of the Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) tactical edge processing system. The Government also requires continued support for the Contested Urban Environment (CUE) exercise in July 2019 as well as continued support for future CUE exercises in FY20, FY21, and FY22.

(Attached is a copy of the previous approved justification. Reference A02 – JandA Previously Approved (W911QX-18-C-0034) in the contract file.)

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

ARL’s objective for the RORO

The RORO system is based on a VMware vSphere environment supporting numerous Windows and Linux operating systems running a customized mixture of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and Government Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) applications. These collective systems are used to provide analyst workstation environments; dynamic, on-demand system configuration and changes; back end processing; sensor support; data collection, storage and retrieval; networking and shared resource management; and similar functions during technology demonstration events and exercises. The RORO system was developed by Veranox Corporation as a result of a previous Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) contract (see Section 10). The Government retains unlimited data rights for the RORO system, however under that BAA, a Technical Data Package (TDP) was not included in the requirements and therefore was not delivered by the Contractor. The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) was not able to provide a reasoning as to why a TDP was not required by the Government at the time.

and support the RORO system at Major Events in the United States and abroad. Additionally, continuous system operation and maintenance is required for hardware and software updates and upgrades, including vendor firmware updates, and software and operating system patches. System security, including Cybersecurity support, is also required.

Support for Major Events is highly concentrated at specific times of the year, and includes pre-event preparation, event support, and post-event support activities. These activities can be as simple as conducting field testing for a particular sensor in a specific environment or as complex as participating in a coalition exercise with multiple sensor packages and multiple system interfaces with coalition partners. ARL personnel have outlined the goals and schedule required for the RORO system to support its obligation to The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP), specifically the CUE events.

The Operation, Development and Major Event Support will be procured as a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract type and the anticipated CLIN structure is as follows:

Contract Line Item Number

(CLIN)

CLIN Descriptions Period of Performance (PoP)

Total Ceiling

CLIN 0001 (Base Year)

CUE Major Event Support (FY 19)

07 July 2019 to 19 August

CLIN 0002 (Base Year)

RORO System Development, Operation, Support, and Maintenance Services

20 July 2019 to 19 July

CLIN 0003

(Option within Base Year)

CUE Major Event Support

(FY20)

Two (2) months upon execution of modification

CLIN 0004

(Option Year 1)

RORO System Development, Operation, Support, and Maintenance Services

20 July 2020 to 19 July 2021 upon execution of modification

CLIN 0005

(Option Year 1)

CUE Major Event Support

(FY21)

CLIN 0006

(Option Year 2)

RORO System Development, Operation, Support, and Maintenance Services

20 July 2021 to 19 July

CLIN 0007

(Option Year 2)

CUE Major Event Support

(FY22)

Total

The Government has determined that there is an ongoing and future need for further development, operation and maintenance of the RORO PED tactical edge processing system, and CUE exercise support which justifies the inclusion of option periods on the proposed contract. Specifically, it is anticipated that the

As a part of this transition, the RORO system will be expected to support the missions of which currently include

Ongoing maintenance is necessary to keep the system up-to-date on hardware firmware and software patches for Information Assurance requirements.

Further information is provided in section 5 below.

Additionally, CUE exercise support is required with the above continuation of R&D support services, as they are closely related.

Control No: JA-19-Adel-304

CUE is conducted as an annual, international exercise, with future exercises already planned for , and at a location yet to be determined. These events have shown the opportunity for improvements to the RORO PED system which are described in section 5 below.

While continuous market research will be performed in an effort to increase competition, it is currently in the best interest of the Government to include the proposed option periods as only one responsible source is currently known, and procuring the required services from a different source would lead to a duplication of effort which will result in additional expenditure of Government funds, time, and manpower that would be required in order for a new vendor to become familiarized with the specific sensor systems, Government Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) applications, protocols, and networks. Additionally, the inclusion of option periods reduces administrative costs of executing a new annual contract for a known future requirement in the out-years. Further detail is provided in section 5 below.

4. Authority Cited:

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

In order to ensure experimental continuity of the RORO mission, the institutional knowledge and technical expertise that Veranox Corporation has gained is vital to the success of the mission associated with this system. The proposed vendor has developed the required knowledge and expertise through performance on previous Government funded contracts, including the predecessor to the current requirement, W911QX-18-C- 0034. This expertise relates to the three (3) current, interrelated requirements which are continued operation and maintenance, further development, and CUE event support.

Continued Operation and Maintenance

In addition to the COTS software listed in section 3 above, Veranox Corporation has gained extensive expertise with the GOTS, ARL analyst environment toolset, including:

Veranox Corporation has provided technical support in terms of system configurations as well as end user support directly to analysts. The ability to work with these aforementioned GOTS software in collaboration with the COTS software and the ability to provide the required technical support is vital to the success of the RORO mission and experimental continuity.

Further Development

RORO virtual resource management and configuration are needed for optimization to maximize the benefits that the system provides its users.

CUE Event Support

Veranox Corporation has also acquired significant experience in supporting the structure, operations tempo, methodologies, processes and priorities of CUE event(s). Although the events are not the underlying reason for the institutional knowledge and expertise Veranox has gained; the development, operation and maintenance of the system is required to ensure the success of the CUE events. The results of the CUE events are utilized to aid the Government in determining what specific developments of the RORO system are required to support Coalition Partners and future CUE events.

During the BAA contract W911QX16C0165, Veranox Corporation supported the CUE exercise in 2017 with our coalition partners, This support involved integration with specific sensor systems, applications, protocols, and networks. Specific sensor systems include the Australian Wide Area Surveillance Activity Based Intelligence (WASBI), Evolutionary Layered ISR Integration Exemplar Architecture (ELIXAR), Canadian Compact Unattended Persistent Surveillance System (CUPSS), and Network Enabled Soldier (NES).

Veranox further supported the CUE 2018 exercise during performance of prior contract W911QX18C0034 through continued maintenance, development, and operation of the RORO PED system, effectively supporting nine (9) concurrent experiments and environments. The CUE 2018 event took place in September 2018 in Montreal, Canada and consisted of multiple experiments and environments including the following:

Federation, User Defined Operating Picture (UDOP);

Open Source Unattended Sensor (OSUS) Gateway infrastructure;

Cloud Analytics Collaboration Environment/Advanced Video Activity Analytics

(CACE/AVAA);

CACE/AVAA version 2;

New Zealand Image Processing;

UK SAPIENT OSUS integration;

ARL Analyst Environment;

Defense Common Ground Station (DCGS) Analyst Environment; and Enabling connectivity to and integration with the coalition assets and resources for the supported experimental programs.

In order for ARL to maximize success and accomplish all objectives for the capstone

ARL requires continuous operations, experimentation, and support for the current RORO PED. The CUE 2019 event will take place in . The technical and operational requirements as stated in the Performance Work Statement for CUE 2019 and the cost to the Government to award to another source, necessitates that only Veranox Corporation is capable of satisfying the Government’s needs and is the sole source for this action.

Through this previous experience, Veranox Corporation has gained unique knowledge and expertise in the RORO system (including development, operation and maintenance of the system), major event support , and the programs the RORO system and CUE events support. Specifically, Veranox Corporation holds an intimate familiarity with the hardware and software that the RORO PED will physically and virtually mount and host for these Coalition partners at international events such as the upcoming CUE 2019.

Veranox Corporation employs key personnel that possess the knowledge and skillsets needed in these experiments and environments. Any prospective Contractor must have a high level of knowledge in all programs to understand the dependencies that affect system stability and all the inter-relationships for required changes.

No other source holds this mix of technical expertise, RORO system-specific operation experience, and CUE event support experience. Furthermore, providing training to another source for the aforementioned specific sensor systems, GOTS applications, protocols, and networks that Veranox Corporation already wields, would cost the Government time, manpower, and duplicated costs outlined below.

Based on the following table, it is estimated that it would cost the Government an additional and a minimum of for a Principal Engineer and Senior Engineer from another Contractor to obtain the minimal level of knowledge of ‘only’ the basic methodology of ARL’s RORO system for supporting ARL partners’ technical programs. Furthermore, it is estimated it would cost the Government an additional and a minimum of for the aforementioned for a Principal Engineer and Senior Engineer from another Contractor to develop knowledge equivalent to Veranox and perform the same aforementioned tasks. The estimated costs are based on the wage rates from the current contract and calculated average hours per task using previous contract and historical data.

This table reflects an objective estimate of the duplication of cost to the Government, but does not consider the detrimental impact of delays in meeting mission requirements and other intangible costs associated with obtaining the level of experience and knowledge required to meet mission requirements. There are substantial costs associated with the time and effort of Government and other contractor personnel required to educate the new contractor personnel in system development, operation, maintenance, program design, and interrelationships.

Based on the aforementioned, it is determined that

Veranox Corporation, is the sole vendor that can provide the Government’s minimum requirements.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Actively over the past year ARL has pursued RORO (PED) discussions with other vendors and contractors regarding taking on the maintenance, operation, and development of the RORO PED system. During previous events such as the Contested Urban Environment (CUE) 2018 and Operation Convergent Response (OCR) 2018 ARL personnel have outlined the goals and schedule required for the RORO system to support its obligation to The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP), specifically the CUE events. While there was aptitude and interest, each vendor did not have the requisite knowledge base and technical skills that Veranox has. Therefore, effective competition is not anticipated for this procurement based on the market research performed (see section 8). Based on the results of the market research performed, there are currently no other sources capable of meeting the Government’s aforementioned requirements. In addition, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source, which included a Synopsis – Request for Information (RFI) under Solicitation number W911QX19R0036 was posted on FedBizOpps.gov on 29 May 2019, with a closing date of 13 June 2019. No responses were received by the posted closing date for that RFI.

The Government has considered subcontracting possibilities for this requirement but no subcontracting possibilities exist. Additionally, the proposed vendor is a small business under the NAICS code for this effort (541715), and is therefore exempt from the requirement for subcontracts IAW FAR19.702(b)(1).

7. Actions to Increase Competition: ARL will continue to survey the marketplace to increase competition by attending conferences and exhibitions and also conducting searches on the internet. ARL will further continue to interact with other Government researchers through open discussions with industry experts. However, the specialized knowledge obtained through performing work in the specific programs referenced earlier inhibit other vendors due to the increase in anticipated costs as well as schedule risks associated with a new contractor being awarded this effort as the work to be performed is a continuation and progression of work which initially started under contract BAA W911QX-13-C-0165 in 2013. As the sole developer of the system, Veranox is the only source with the necessary technical knowledge to support the Government’s requirements without any delays as stated in Section 5. It is anticipated that as current program concludes and new programs emerge, the pool of potential vendors will increase due to the development of new requirements which will support a possible competitive award in the future. To date, no other vendor has been identified that has the ability to provide the required research and development services for the RORO system.

The Government holds Unlimited Rights to all information generated by the previous contracts. This information will be used to evaluate proposed strategies and processes for future RORO PED system procurement actions.

ARL has continued to monitor developments with PED systems, but as of yet has not located any which are substantially comparable to the system currently in use. This is evidenced by the fact that ARL currently leads at the above mentioned CUE events, as hosts use ARL’s RORO PED system. The Government is also continuously reviewing scientific journals, articles, and websites to find alternatives and look for better value.

Future advancements with other PED systems are expected, however currently none have been located which will meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, other possible vendors (described in section 8 below) were researched to determine if they were capable of meeting the Government’s requirements.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted between January 2019 and March 2019 by

. The market research techniques used consisted of consulting with various subject matter experts in the field of portable PED systems along with Information Assurance personnel at ARL. , at ARL, were both consulted to gain more information on industry and possible sources. Both have over fifteen (15) years of experience in the . Two

(2) companies, Calnet, Inc. and Booz Allen, were reviewed and found to not be able to meet the requirements.

Neither company has the personnel with the knowledge and technical expertise required to support the Technology Pre-Event and Event support and C.3.2.2.2 Virtual Machine creation in relation to the current RORO architecture. Specifically, Booze Allan Hamilton does not currently possess the knowledge and technical expertise for the aforementioned specific sensor systems, GOTS applications, protocols, and networks that Veranox Corporation already wields. This skill development would require the same labor categories and time stated in the table in Section 5 and would cost the Government to reach a minimum threshold knowledge base and for support of the critical tasks specified in the

PWS. Furthermore, spoke to management of Booz Allen Hamilton and Calnet, Inc. and was informed that in order to provide the aforementioned skillsets (VM WARE, Linux Support, Risk Management Framework, etc.), four (4) to five (5) employees at a minimum would need to be provided, not including the ramp up resources and training. Veranox is currently providing two (2) employees with these required knowledge and technical expertise which reduces the local and travel costs and more importantly allows attendance to offsite events, such as CUE 19, which limit attendance. In addition to lacking the technical expertise in the technologies utilized on the RORO system, the risk of delays in development or production would have a direct negative impact on mission-critical systems needed by military users in on-going operations.

Based on the aforementioned, it was determined that Veranox Corporation is the only sole source capable of providing research and development services for continued development, support, maintenance, and operation of the RORO system.

9. Interested Sources: In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.201, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) on 29 May 2019 and closed on 13 June 2019. To date, no responses to challenge the intent to sole source were received and no other sources have written to express interest.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history.

(1) Contract numbers and dates of the last several contracts for these same requirements:

Contract Number W911QX-13-C-0165 (Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) contract awarded in response to Competitive Solicitation #ARL

BAA W911NF-12-R-0011)

Contractor: Veranox Corporation (Small Business) Award Date: 8/28/2013 Period of Performance: 8/28/2013 to 8/31/2018 Dollar Value: $611,646.26

Contract Number W911QX-18-C-0034 awarded following success of BAA contract W911QX-13-C-0165.

Contractor: Veranox Corporation (Small Business) Award Date: 07/20/2018 Period of Performance: 07/20/2018 to 07/19/2019 Dollar Value: $295,976.84

(2) The competitive status of these actions.

W911QX-13-C-0165 full and open competition.

W911QX-18-C-0034 sole-source.

(3) Authority previously cited if less than full and open competition was used.

W911QX-18-C-0034 – 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR Part 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

(4) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, a summary of the contents of paragraph 7 of the justification for that procurement and an explanation of the results.

W911QX-18-C-0034 – ARL anticipated further developments and breakthroughs for comparable services performed on similar RORO systems designed for use in contested and austere environments. Any known sources that can provide the necessary development, support, operation, and maintenance were sought after for competitive interest.

To date, no other vendor has been identified that has the ability to provide the required research and development services for the RORO system.

(5) If any prior contract for this requirement was accomplished using full and open competition, include a detailed explanation of the changed circumstances causing this action to now limit the sources.

Original procurement was ordered under contract W911QX-13-C-0165.

The objective of this contract was to design, configure, and test a prototype hardware infrastructure in support of a virtualization layer upon which any number of research programs can deploy individualized systems and configurations in a rapid and repeatable manner, while preserving the core configuration of the PED testbed. This will enable ARL to quickly switch back and forth between research programs in the testbed, while preserving individual program environments and minimizing the time and labor required to move between program-specific configurations. The contractor, Veranox Corporation, was successful in the developing the Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) tactical edge processing system.

This preceding contract was a BAA contract effort.

(6) An explanation of any unusual patterns that may be revealed by the history, e.g., several consecutive, urgent buys.

Not applicable – No unusual patterns.

(7) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, briefly describe the circumstances justifying the procurement and whether there have been any significant changes.

The justification for the previous procurement was predicated on lack of any alternative sources that could provide these specialized services without incurring a substantial duplication of cost of

Additionally the technical requirements and operational requirements for CUE 2018 and the cost to award to another source necessitated that only Veranox is capable of satisfying the Government’s need and is the sole source for this action.

There have not been any significant changes aside of the continuing need for further development, support/maintenance and event support.

11. Technical 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.

Signer’s Title:

Technical Certifier (Tech)

12. Requirements 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.

Signer’s Ti

Requirements Certifier

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

This determination will be made using the following:

_X_ Cost analysis __ Price analysis __ Should cost

_X_ IGCE

__ Audit:

__ Other:

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data:

__ Will be required.

_X_ Will not be required and the following exception applies (FAR 15.403):

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on adequate price competition.

__ Prices that will be agreed upon are based on prices set by law or regulation.

__ A commercial item is being acquired.

__ A waiver has been granted by the head of the contracting activity (HCA) in accordance with DFARS PGI 215.403-1.

__ The contract action is a modification to a contract or subcontract for commercial item(s).

_X_ The estimated cost of the contract action is less than the threshold for certified cost or pricing data.

Contracting Officer (KO)

14. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer (KO)

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Continued development, support, maintenance, and operation of the Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED)Tactical Edge Processing System for an estimated total contract value of on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1) subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Special Competition Advocate (SCA)

(End of J&A)