ITA IT Infrastructure Support

The Department of the Interior - Acquisition Services Directorate has issued a sole source award to the vendor The MIL Corporation under the authority of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) while a protest is being disputed.  This task order award was made against their GSA Schedule GS35F443GA under task order number 140D0418F0118.  A copy of the limited sources justification has been posted to GSA eBuy under the GSA eBuy RFQ ID number RFQ1266120.  This notice is posted for 30 days.


LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION
AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) and 40 U.S.C 501
TASK ORDER #140D0418F0118

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the
document as a "Limited Source Justification".
This is a Limited Source Justification executed by the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior
Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), on behalf of the International
Trade Administration (ITA) under the Department of Commerce (DoC).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.
The purpose of this Limited Sources Justification is to document the rationale for establishing a
sole source award for support services for the ITA during the period of stay while the protest of
the follow-on award is resolved at the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
This document contains a limited sources justification in accordance with FAR 8.405-
6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the
level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. AQD
intends to issue a task order to provide support services for the Operation and Maintenance
(O&M) of ITA's network and cloud infrastructures. This action will result in a firm fixed price
task order under the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Service (FSS) 70
Special Identification Number (SIN) 132 51. The Vendor considered for this effort is the
previous awardee, the MIL Corporation (MIL).

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including
the estimated value).
The requirement is for support services for the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the ITA's
network and cloud infrastructures. Future implementation of major ITA initiatives may include
the design, project plan, and testing and implementation of additional capabilities in Amazon
Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Office365, Microsoft Azure, Software Defined Networks
(SDN), and the cloud implementation of future initiatives identified by the organization. The
Systems Operations (SO) group requires a Contractor team that can continue to sustain and
enhance the current level of service provided to the ITA, and be responsive to ITA business and
organizational needs. The Contractor team shall provide SO with expert knowledge of ITA
Information Management (IM)/Information Technology (IT) enterprise infrastructure and technologies. IT support will also be required for the Office of the Chief Information Officer
(OCIO) to maintain the continuous operation of network and desktop operations including Tier 2
and 3 help desk support to CONUS and OCONUS facilities for the International Trade
Administration.
The Period of Performance (PoP) will be six months consisting of a Base Period of 2 (two)
months and four Option Periods of 1 (one) month each. The estimated value for the entire task
order is $2,700,000.00.

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if
applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor's unique qualifications to
provide the required supply or service.
AQD awarded a task order for IT Infrastructure Services to DV United, LLC on January 19,
2018. A bid protest was filed to GAO on January 30, 2018 by Ekagra Software Technologies,
Ltd. and the Contracting Officer (CO) issued a stop work notice. In order to provide critical ITA
network and cloud infrastructure support a sole source award to the previous awardee, the MIL
Corporation, will be issued in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B). The previous task order
held by MIL had a period of performance from July 26, 2016 to January 25, 2018.
This support is critical, according to the ITA, the cessation of contract support services would
have a deeply detrimental effect upon the functioning of IT services at the ITA, affecting both
business functions and the safety and welfare of ITA staff operating in many places throughout
the world. ITA is a worldwide organization operating in over 200 domestic and international
sites that require the network, systems and resources be up and running on a 24-hour basis. The
vast majority of ITA's IT operations are conducted by contractor staff, so the cessation of
contract support places all of these functions in jeopardy. Some of the areas of functionality the
ITA identified would be harmed by a break in service are outlined below:
Mobile Device Management: ITA is a highly mobile distributed workforce and, as such, is
heavily invested in mobile communications technology. In the international field the Senior
Commercial Office is required to maintain communications with the State Department Regional
Security Office for any emergency alerts and/or Terrorist activity. This system must be
maintained for the health and safety of ITA's overseas personnel. The mobile device support
systems are also critical to ITA's Continuity of Operations (COOP) plan and provides critical
information in the event ITA must activate the COOP.
Firewalls: The edge firewalls that protect ITA's virtualized datacenter in Amazon Web Services
(AWS) is operated and maintained by the contractor's Infrastructure team. These systems are
constantly upgraded and maintained to guard against cyber threats. The failure to operate and
maintain the edge firewall devices could lead to a loss of data integrity or confidentiality which
could be catastrophic for ITA operations.
Office 365: ITA uses Microsoft Office 365 for directory, e-mail, and file services. This SaaS
environment is managed by the contractor's Infrastructure staff. An outage would result in ITA
effectively losing its entire network infrastructure. The result being users would be unable to log
into any resources requiring Active Directory authentication, unable to use e-mail services, and
unable to access file services. This loss of service would result in complete work stoppage for the
entire agency at all locations.
This sole source award provides the Government substantial benefits as it ensures that support to
ITA is able to continue with a minimal gap in service. MIL is uniquely qualified to support the
ITA as it is currently in place with current system knowledge, access, and proper security
clearances and has the capability to support this task with minimal interruption or schedule
impact. A new contractor would need time to hire incumbent staff and familiarize themselves
with the requirement. MIL can avoid the unacceptable delays that bringing in a new contractor
would require and is the only vendor with the capability and experience needed to meet the
government requirements on this tight schedule.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents
the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).
Per FAR 8.404(d), General Services Administration (GSA) has previously determined that the
prices of supplies and services under GSA's Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts to be fair
and reasonable. However, the AQD CO will seek further price discounts and make a separate
determination as to the reasonableness of the vendor's pricing quotations. The CO will use the
proposal analysis technique described at FAR 15.404-1 to determine whether prices are fair and
reasonable. The CO will compare pricing against historical prices paid for the same or similar
services (including with the previous task order with MIL) and against Government cost
estimates.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results
or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.
AQD did not conduct market research in addition to that conducted prior to the protested task
order award. AQD determined that it would not be feasible to compete this requirement since
this would result in unacceptable delays. No other vendor is capable of being able to fulfill the
requirement immediately and MIL provides capabilities and resources that are not available from
any other contractor in the timeframe needed.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.
There are no other facts supporting this justification.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any
barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for
supplies and services is made.
AQD anticipates to only utilize this limited sources award to provide critical support to the ITA
during the protest period (the due date for GAO's decision is May 10, 2018). Future option
periods will only be exercised as necessary to continue support.

9. The ordering activity contracting officer's certification that the justification is
accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer's knowledge and
belief.

I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and
belief.
______________________________________ ________________
Alan Rumney Date
Contracting Officer
10. 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 limited sources) and which form a basis for the
justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or
requirements personnel.
I certify the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and
meet the Government's minimum needs.
______________________________________ ________________
Arthur Harris, Jr. Date
Program Office/COR
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
The International Trade Administration (ITA)
The Department of Commerce (DOC)
11. For justifications under 8.405-6(a)(1), a written determination by the approving official
identifying the circumstance that applies.
FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)B - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services
required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or
highly specialized.
TASK ORDER #140D0418F0118
Page 5 of 5
12. Reviews and Approvals
Concur
_____________________________________ ________________
Shelita Saint-Louis Date
Chief, Acquisition Management Branch 3, Division 1
Concur
____________________________________ ________________
Brendon Johnson Date
Chief, Acquisition Management Division 1
Approve
_______________________________________ ________________
Glen Savory Date
Chief, Acquisition Policy and Oversight Division
Bureau Competition Advocate