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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF APRIL 09, 2017 FBO #5616
DOCUMENT

D -- ORM IT Support Bridge - Attachment

Notice Date

4/7/2017
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541512 — Computer Systems Design Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;23 Christopher Way;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

T4NG0173
 

Archive Date

5/7/2017
 

Point of Contact

George Govich, george.govich@va.gov
 

E-Mail Address

george.govich@va.gov
(george.govich@va.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

VA118-16-D-1007
 

Award Date

4/7/2017
 

Description

ORM IT Support Page 2 of 3 JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a Firm Fixed Priced task order to be issued under Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG) Contract number VA118-16-D-1007 that will provide continued maintenance support for a 60-day period of performance with one (1) 30-day option period for the task requirements outlined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The current task order (TO), VA118-11-D-1008, VA118-1008-0047 ends on April 6, 2017. This action will encompass continued maintenance support from April 7, 2017 to June 6, 2017 with the option of extended performance from June 7, 2017 to July 6, 2017. 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The services acquired under this TO are to provide information technology (IT) infrastructure maintenance support services for the 16 Office of Resolution Management (ORM) Field Office locations and system engineering support for vBlock server systems in two VA data center locations. Services also include onsite technical support for the Washington, DC program office location. Services include installing software and new equipment, supporting peripheral devices such as monitors, printers, and devices connected to personal computers. Support encompasses all Virtual Machines servers, virtual server environments, and performing application maintenance for critical equal employment opportunity (EEO) custom applications. 4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (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 for this action is Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH). BAH was awarded the initial TO in April 2014 on a competitive basis under the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (T4) contract vehicle. Only BAH can provide the aforementioned services seamlessly without any disruptions. VA anticipated the award of a competitive TO under the T4NG contract vehicle in March 2017 that would encompass all of the support services outlined in Section 3 of this justification. There are unanticipated delays occurring in the package refinement stage that will delay the award of the competitive TO. VA now anticipates award of the competitive TO in late May 2017. Any other source other than BAH would require at least 60 days for onboarding and complete knowledge transition. BAH provides critical application maintenance support to ORM EEO applications and server systems that serves ORM EEO case workers, internal and external VA organizations and Central Office staff. The lack of seamless support services increases the risk of poor performance of a new contractor due to the lack of exposure to legacy proprietary applications. For example, the Complaints Automated Tracking System (CATS) is comprised of multiple integrated web-based commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) applications; consisting of SAP Business Objects, Opentext Global 360, and Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) services operating on seven separate Virtual Machines that are running Windows server 2008 with software coded interfaces, thus creating a proprietary solution for ORM EEO business workflows. ORM nor the Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) have access to technical documentation or expertise to provide a new contractor the ability to immediately provide support for these solutions. A new contractor will need to perform a reverse engineer task, which historically takes at least three months to complete. Any other source other than the existing Contractor would need at least 60 days to onboard staff and allow for complete knowledge transfer for continued maintenance support which must begin upon expiration of the current order. No other source could assume the support duties at the level required and acquire the domain knowledge necessary for meeting the deadlines of the current operational environment. It would be impossible for another source to be up and running to support 60 days of continued maintenance support by June 6, 2017 and any other Contractor would be unable to meet VA s immediate need for seamless support without a lapse in service. The existing Contractor currently has expert knowledge of the legacy system and therefore no learning curve is required to provide the continued maintenance support for the 60 day period. In addition, utilizing the current Contractor for the additional 60 days of maintenance support eliminates the costs associated with onboarding a new Contractor s personnel and transitioning to the existing level of support. Absorbing such costs would not derive any financial or technical benefit to the Government. In addition to the estimated value of the requested continued support services, the costs associated with soliciting a new requirement, evaluating the responses, creating a brand new task order, and onboarding a new contractor s personnel for a 60 day maintenance support period would result in numerous additional expenditures for the Government including administrative expenses. A bridge contract will prevent a break in support services, allow for knowledge transfer to the new contractor, reduce the risk of monetary sanctions of up to $300,000 for failure to process EEO complaints within 180 days, and will allow a new contractor an opportunity of a knowledge transfer to support of legacy tracker systems, which will mitigate additional risks of poor performance of a new contractor due to lack of exposure to legacy proprietary applications. 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 potential sources that could provide the seamless support while the competitive procurement is solicited and awarded. Due to the critical need for continuity of support, there is no competition for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2), this action will be synopsized at award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) and the justification will be made publicly available. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: There are no barriers to future competition. This action is a short term acquisition for continued maintenance support for a 60 day period of performance. VA anticipates awarding a competitive task order in May 2017 under the existing T4NG contract vehicle. 8. Market Research: In accordance with VA Procurement Policy Memorandum 2016-05, the VA Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database was performed and reviewed under North American Classification System code 541512 and keyword IT support services. This search rendered 1,422 results; therefore, market research was conducted. On February 14, 2017, the Government posted a Request for Information (RFI) on the Acquisition Task Order Management System to all T4NG contract holders, requesting technical information necessary to determine if T4NG primes were capable of providing the required services. On February 23, 2017, three responses were received consisting of two Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) (B3 Group, Inc. and HMS Technologies, LLC) and one large business (Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.) prime contract holders. In an effort to determine whether two or more SDVOSBs are capable of performing the requirements set forth in the PWS outside of the T4NG vehicle a RFI was subsequently released on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). On March 7, 2017, two responses were received consisting of two SDVOSBs (GovernmentCIO and Intelligent Waves LLC). Although the market research revealed sources capable of meeting VA s support services for a 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods, no other sources can meet the immediate need as described above. 9. Other Facts: None.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/281440e6f25e0a4f5320dc14bc21cef1)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA118-16-D-1007 VA11817F10070004 VA118-16-D-1007 VA11817F10070004_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3401718&FileName=VA118-16-D-1007-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3401718&FileName=VA118-16-D-1007-000.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN04464486-W 20170409/170407234409-281440e6f25e0a4f5320dc14bc21cef1 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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