IIF01 W9124D35CA021 JandA Redacted 22May2025.pdf

Control Number:

APR2025

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity.

Acquisition Manager:

Phone:

Date: See electronic signature

MICC Legal Counsel:

DSN:

1. Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command

(MICC) � Fort Knox, .

2. Description of Action: AEMO requests a firm-fixed-price contract for Marketing Analytical Support Services. The Government projects award for May 2025 and fiscal year 2025 Operations and Maintenance, Army funds will be used. This is a follow-on contract to Contract W15QKN19D0054, Task Order W15QKN20F0189 that was not renewed, and the period of performance will expire on 27 May 2025.

An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/ Services: AEMO requires Marketing Analytical Support to provide comprehensive data engineering and analytics support to meet its organizational mission. The support encompasses the design and maintenance of data repositories, datasets, data extracts, analysis, synchronization with relevant Army systems (e.g., Enterprise Marketing Management System (EMMS), Data Warehouse (DHW), Leads and Mission Awards (LEMA) databases, Army Recruiting Information Support System (ARISS), and Vantage) and multiple third-party systems to support marketing analytics (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Experience Manager, Sprinklr, and Datorama). The functionality and integration of these systems enables AEMO�s Data & Performance team to provide recruiters with clear, actionable, understandable, and agile marketing intelligence, to provide Accessions Commanders & Staffs with a persistent set of marketing capabilities, and to provide Army Senior Leaders with detailed marketing analysis on demand. AEMO�s dashboard solutions rely on real-time data, updated multiple times each day, to provide immediate feedback and insights for Army leaders throughout the Accessions Enterprise.

To ensure continuity of these critical knowledge-based support services and corporate knowledge gained from the previous contract, the government projects the following positions will fulfil this requirement:

Marketing Analyst (Data Engineer) 1 Each Marketing Analyst (Operations Researcher) 1 Each

Period of Performance:

Base POP: May 28, 2025, through May 27, 2026 52.217-8Option to Extend Services.

IGR:

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C.3204(a)(1) or 41U.S.C.3304(a)(1) as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) �For DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in (A) Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.�

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

a. As a result, and with consideration of the above, continuing services with the incumbent is in the best interest of the Government. is the incumbent contractor under contract , Task Order

. Presently, is considered a large business for the NAICS being utilized. has performed the required services with a qualified and experienced staff, which has resulted in no performance issues to date. Though there are other contractors with the capabilities to perform the requested services, it is in the best interest of the Government to secure this contract with as outlined herein.

b. This requirement is for highly specialized services, which are a part of the performance on the prior task order. has developed, implemented, and now maintains critical features and products upon which the requiring activity depends and for a subsequent contractor to come in and redesign and implement these features would result in substantial duplication of the cost previously expended. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the government to secure this contract with to ensure the continuity of services.

c. Maintaining persistent and reliable access to data and integrating the multiple Army and third-party systems is not inherently governmental but it is critical for AEMO to fulfill its mission as a best-in-class, data-driven organization.

d. AEMO requires an experienced and knowledgeable subject matter expert to maintain interoperability between the EMMS, Vantage, HRC LEMA, and USAREC ARISS databases. The connections between these systems remain complex with few individuals who understand the entirety of the data architecture. The Contractor envisioned, developed, built, and maintained many of these connections from the initial stand-up of Army Marketing.

e. The required capabilities to fill this requirement, which was unknown at the beginning of the contract period of performance and establishment of AEMO, are neither resident within the functional area 58 (Enterprise Marketing and Behavioral Economics) career field nor allocated on the AEMO Table of Distribution and Allowances (TDA). The Army cannot fulfill this requirement internally under the current structure.

f. Because the requirement to conduct data engineering and provide professional data visualization products that are leveraged throughout the Accessions Enterprise was unknown at the time of inception, the Contractor developed, implemented, and now maintains critical features and products that Commanders, Staffs, and Recruiters rely on daily.

The accuracy, availability, and clarity of these tools and the underlying data directly impacts the enterprise�s ability to conduct recruiting operations and meet the Accessions mission.

g. Given the limited size of the contracted team (two professionals), the current organizational workload, and lack of availability of staff and resources to properly transition all knowledge and experience to a new team, it is unreasonable to expect a different contractor to be able to maintain pace with AEMO�s current organizational tempo at a comparable and reasonable price. The current team built five (5) years of organizational knowledge and expertise that is instrumental for AEMO to continue to deliver as expected without an intentional solution to provide data engineering. A problem that AEMO is unable to develop and execute within the remaining period of performance without a significant investment of resources on an accelerated timeline.

h. Additionally, AEMO recently lost one of two assigned Data Scientists as part of the federal government�s focus on governmental efficiency with an uncertainty surrounding the ability to re-hire into that position. The resulting capability gap has already degraded Army Marketing capabilities and created an event where a significant amount of organizational knowledge departed

AEMO.

i. Failure to retain the current Contractor will jeopardize the overall AEMO�s mission to support the Accessions Enterprise and USAREC�s marketing mission will be at risk of failure. There are no alternatives available to the government other than the proposed contracted solution.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Because this is a sole source action, effective competition is not applicable.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: AEMO will continue to research all possible avenues available to determine if another solution can provide similar capabilities / solutions. Currently, there is no other contractor available which provides the same services or results while maintaining the continuity of the required services with the existing corporate knowledge and without a substantial duplication of costs.

8. Market Research:

a. Market research was conducted by analyzing the labor costs associated with the current solution and analyzing the amount of effort required to retain an equivalent level of production to the organization.

b. The estimated salary for a full-time, experienced Data Engineer and an Operations research analyst aligns with expectations. It�s unlikely that the AEMO would be able to identify an alternate solution with equivalent or better qualifications for less.

Additionally, AEMO would require additional support while the new team established working knowledge and experience to maintain the same level of output within the

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of this sole source contract for Marketing Analytics support services for Army Enterprise Marketing Office, on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 United States Code Section 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No other Supplies or Servies Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The estimated value of the contract is for a 12-month base period from May 2025 through May 2026, and includes an additional six-month option if FAR 52.217-8 is exercised. This approval is subject to the availability of funds, and provided that the serviced or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Barbara J. Jeffries Contracting Officer