Editor Support

Added: Sep 22, 2009 7:38 am JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION



1. Nature and/or Description of Action



The Defense Threat Reduction Agency contracting activity proposes to procure without using full and open competition the extension of the period of performance on an existing contract and increase of the contract ceiling.



2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required



The proposed action will extend the period of performance from September 30, 2009, to

January 29, 2010, under Contract HDTRA1-05-F-0049 for DTRAs Research and Development (ADRD) Support Service with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). ADRDs Plans & Program Office (RD-PPO) Support Service consists of support in providing a wide-range of professional support to include generating and reviewing documentation being released outside of ADRD. The editor is responsible for ensuring that only quality and appropriate documentation are released outside of ADRD.



This requirement is a time and materials contract expiring on September 30, 2009. The contract was awarded with a base year and three options as follows:



Period Period of Performance NTE Amount

CLIN 0001 ( Base)

CLIN 0001AA 4/1/2005 to 9/30/2005 $46,905.00

CLIN 0001AB 10/1/2005 to 3/31/2006 $55,490.00

CLIN 0002 (Option 1)

CLIN 0002AA 4/1/2006 to 9/30/2006 $57,226.00

CLIN 0002AB 10/1/2006 to 3/31/2007 $59,072.00

CLIN 0003 (Option 2)

CLIN 0003AA 4/1/2007 to 9/30/2007 $61,440.00

CLIN 0003AB 10/1/2007 to 3/31/2008 $57,380.00

CLIN 0004 (Option 3)

CLIN 0004AA 4/1/2008 to 9/30/2008 $63,636.00

CLIN 0004AB 10/1/2008 to 3/31/2008 $65,880.00

CLIN 0004AC 4/1/2009 to 9/30/2009 $68.040.00

CLIN 0004AD (proposed extension) 10/1/2009 to 1/29/2010 $45,068.80



A 6-month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8 was invoked from April 1, 2009, through September 30, 2009, along with a four month extension for this effort to continue services for a period of October 1, 2009, through January 29, 2010. The extensions were needed due to the changes in procurement strategy and inability to award the follow-on effort in a timely manner. It was initially anticipated that the follow-on procurement would be in place on or before

October 1, 2009. In an effort to sustain support until a follow-on acquisition is in place, the additional 4 months are needed to ensure the ADRD office receives continuous support. The additional time and subsequent ceiling increase is requested in order to allow for the continuation of DTRAs mission needs. The contract ceiling will increase by $45,068.80.



3. Statutory Authority



The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) 2304(c)(1) or 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source.



4. Applicability of Authority



The effort for RD-PPO Support Services is currently being performed by CSC. RD-PPO has the responsibility to provide external communication for ADRD, and is responsible for generating and reviewing documentation being released outside ADRD. In support of the corporate communication function, the contractor provides a wide range of services to the RD-PPO, including the editorial process of drafting, reviewing, editing, correcting and finalizing all types of correspondence and documentation, to include letters, memorandums, presentations, studies, assessments, and reports for release or signature by the Director of ADRD or higher. The current contractor has a well-defined knowledge of the functions and responsibilities of the editorial process with the agency, a level of expertise which would be difficult to replicate over the short term. It is a complex process, and a learning curve would be unavoidable with any other contractor. Obtaining a short term contract would cost more than the extension and would put this program at risk for failure with the steep learning curve that would be created with any other contractor.



CSC has the requisite qualified staff to continue performance without any impact or delay. It is expected that the use of any other source for this modification would result in duplication of costs and time to develop the capability within another contractors workforce that is not expected to be recovered through competition. For another contractor to progress efficiently without impact to current efforts, it would depend in part on having a working level knowledge of the ADRD program and sufficiently performing on-going day to day services without disruption. The knowledge and procedures gained within this office takes a considerable amount of time to acquire. If these services are not continued, the results will impact critical responses required by RD-PPO. In addition, the loss of critical staff continuity at this time would mean that the mission critical support to DTRA would have numerous serious impacts to include:



Loss of knowledge of requirements and procedures to support RD-PPOs tasker/action item management system, to include appropriate tasking, follow-up, and closeout of required actions.

Loss of current knowledgeable administrative support for RD-PPO during the absence of existing administrative personnel or when workload exceeds the capacity of the administrative personnel.

Loss of knowledge among contract team of operations within DTRA only replicable after significant experience within the organization.



Accordingly, CSC is the only contractor capable of providing the editorial support at the necessary skill level without an unacceptable delay.



5. Effort to Solicit Potential Sources



This effort was synopsized on August 20, 2009, in accordance with the provisions of FAR Part 5. To date, two responses have been received and are addressed below in paragraph 9.



6. Fair and Reasonable Costs



The anticipated cost/price of this contract action to the Government will be determined to be fair and reasonable based on historic cost information currently available. The contracting officer has adequate information to ensure that the cost to the Government for this acquisition will be fair and reasonable.



7. Market Research



Market research, in accordance with FAR Part 10, was conducted by synopsis of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested parties.



8. Other Facts



The additional effort required of CSC to continue to perform services is estimated at $45,068.80. A new contractor would require substantially more cost to perform the services as well as result in significant delays and duplication of effort to initiate a new procurement.



Establishing another source without the requisite experience and a combination of corporate resources with a fundamental understanding of the current editor support services would require a substantial amount of time and investment of financial resources. It would be cost prohibitive to amortize this substantial investment in the period of time for this action and duplication of costs. Also the learning curve and ramp-up time for an additional 4-month effort required for another contractor to satisfactorily provide the required services would negatively impact the ability of the ADRD office to provide the critical level of support to the DTRA leadership, employees, customers and other related constituencies.



9. Interested Sources



Two companies inquired about this acquisition. J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc which is a large business responded and stated they understand the need for a gap contract extension until a full competitive follow-on acquisition can be completed and that they would be very interested in making an offer on the follow-on action. Howevever, the follow-on requirement is being combined with an agency wide IDIQ under solicitation number HDTRA1-09-R-0015 and is 100% Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Set-Aside. Marla Handelman, a freelance editor responded by offering editor services should DTRA need extra help with this requirement, provided her resume and asked if CSCs contact info could be provided. No other sources responded to this announcement.



10. Subsequent Actions



A competitive solicitation will be issued as a 100% Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Set-Aside. The pre-solicitation HDTRA1-09-R-0015, Professional and Administrative Support Services was issued on July 31, 2009. By extending and increasing the ceiling of this contract, we will continue to provide the continuity of services that are necessary to meet current critical mission requirements until the follow-on acquisition is awarded. The follow-on procurement is anticipated to be awarded by January 29, 2010.