Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF JUNE 02, 2012 FBO #3843
SOLICITATION NOTICE

D -- HUD Office of Inspector General - Contract Extension

Notice Date

5/31/2012
 

Notice Type

Fair Opportunity / Limited Sources Justification
 

NAICS

541511 — Custom Computer Programming Services
 

Contracting Office

General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Acquisition Operations Division (1QZA), 10 Causeway Street, Room 1085, Boston, Massachusetts, 02222, United States
 

ZIP Code

02222
 

Solicitation Number

ID01120023
 

Archive Date

6/30/2012
 

Point of Contact

Anthony W. Pellegrino, Phone: 617-565-5750
 

E-Mail Address

anthony.pellegrino@gsa.gov
(anthony.pellegrino@gsa.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

GS35F4951H
 

Award Date

5/31/2012
 

Description

Limited-Sources Justification General Services Administration - Federal Acquisition Service 10 Causeway Street - Room 1085 Boston, MA 02222 This justification is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program. Pursuant to and in accordance with FAR Subpart 8.405-6 Limiting Sources, the General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service, Boston, MA 02222, states as follows: (i) IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY, AND SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENT AS A "LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION." The General Services Administration (GSA) - Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, (HUD OIG) entered into an Interagency Agreement (IA) dated May 17, 2012. The IA authorizes the GSA to provide the HUD OIG with acquisition services necessary to fulfill HUD OIG requirements via acquisitions conducted in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and laws, regulations, and policies relevant to a particular acquisition. This Limited-Sources Justification is a requirement of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and necessary to fulfill a requirement of the HUD OIG commonly referred to as the Distributed Computing Environment. (ii) NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED. This Justification approves issuing a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) order to STG, Inc. ("STG") under the authority of FAR 8.405-6 Limiting Sources. STG holds FSS number GS-35F-4951H. (iii) A DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY'S NEEDS (INCLUDING THE ESTIMATED VALUE) The supplies and services required to meet the HUD OIG's needs are described as professional information technology support services required to operate and maintain the wide area network, all local office networks (LANs) at HUD OIG locations throughout the United States, the central server facility and the disaster recovery facilities, all user hardware (desktops, computers, laptops, printers, and scanners), infrastructure and applications; and to provide end-user support across the HUD OIG infrastructure (the "Distributed Computing Environment" or "DCE"). The estimated value of a four (4) month Federal Supply Schedule 70 order is $1,452,000.00. (iv) 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. This Justification and the resulting FSS order are made under the authority of 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 The HUD OIG DCE is currently operated and maintained by STG pursuant to a contract (the "STG Contract". The STG Contract expires by its natural terms on May 31, 2012. Well in advance of the expiration of the STG Contract, the HUD OIG planned for and solicited a follow-on contract. In December 2011, a solicitation issued against the Alliant GWAC for award of a task order to be awarded not later than May 1, 2012. The May 1, 2012 award date ensured sufficient time for transiting the STG Contract to the contract resulting from the Alliant GWAC solicitation. On or about April 12, 2012, the Alliant GWAC acquisition team briefed the HUD OIG on the results of the competitive Alliant GWAC procurement and offered its award recommendation. At the briefing was Mr. Eddie Saffarinia. The Obama Administration appointed Mr. Eddie Saffarinia as the Assistant Inspector General for Information Technology in February 2012. Mr. Saffarinia was therefore not involved in drafting or approving the Alliant GWAC procurement. Mr. Saffarinia asked a number of questions concerning the scope of the Alliant GWAC contract and found that the performance work statement did not reflect the direction of the HUD OIG's information technology requirements over the near or long term. Accordingly, Mr. Saffarinia requested the solicitation be cancelled citing a significant change in agency requirements since the issuance of the solicitation. The solicitation was cancelled on April 27, 2012. The cancelled solicitation was intended to provide for continuity of the services currently provided by the STG Contract. The Federal Supply Schedule 70 Order to be issued to STG and resulting from this justification, ensures continuity of the existing DCE at the HUD OIG. The continuity of services provides the HUD OIG with the necessary operations and maintenance of its DCE while the HUD OIG and GSA conduct necessary acquisition planning and complete the requirements and solicitation documents for the long-term solution. It is expected that all pre-solicitation and solicitation documentation will be completed within the next 90-120 days. STG is the only source capable of providing the required services directly after expiration of its contract on May 31, 2012. Inadequate time exists to conduct a meaningful competitive acquisition and given the current constraints of time and resources and the unique nationwide equipment and connectivity involved, only STG is capable of providing the required services - at any level of quality - during the pendency of a competitive acquisition. In light of the constraints and to foster meaningful competition, the written Acquisition Plan for this acquisition details a two-part strategy: (1) awarding a short-term "bridge" contract to STG; and (2) competing a long-term solution for the newly established information technology requirements for the HUD OIG. (v) A DETERMINATION BY THE ORDERING ACTIVITY CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE CONSISTENT WITH 8.404(d) STG offers the required services on Federal Supply Schedule GS-35F-4951H by labor categories and hourly rates for performance of the labor categories. GSA has already determined the rates for services offered under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable, see FAR 8.404(d). Accordingly, STG offers fair and reasonable pricing on its FSS and therefore for the order resulting from this Justification. Although STG's rates are determined by regulation to be fair and reasonable, discounts from those rates will be requested and negotiated during the procurement. (vi) A DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG SCHEDULE HOLDERS AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED Market research conducted among the Federal Supply Schedule holders was undertaken to meet the requirements and policies extant in FAR Part 10 - Market Research. As stated in said FAR section, the results of market research are used to - (i) Determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist; (ii) Determine if commercial items or, to the extent commercial items suitable to meet the agency's needs are not available, nondevelopmental items are available that- (A) Meet the agency's requirements; (B) Could be modified to meet the agency's requirements; or (C) Could meet the agency's requirements if those requirements were modified to a reasonable extent; (iii) Determine the extent to which commercial items or nondevelopmental items could be incorporated at the component level; (iv) Determine the practices of firms engaged in producing, distributing, and supporting commercial items, such as type of contract, terms for warranties, buyer financing, maintenance and packaging, and marking; (v) Ensure maximum practicable use of recovered materials (see Subpart 23.4) and promote energy conservation and efficiency; and (vi) Determine whether bundling is necessary and justified (see 7.107) (15 U.S.C. 644(e)(2)(A)). (vii) Assess the availability of electronic and information technology that meets all or part of the applicable accessibility standards issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board at 36 CFR Part 1194 (see Subpart 39.2). Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 70 reveals several sources capable of satisfying the agency's (HUD OIG's) requirements and the Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) offer only commercial item services (See, FAR 8.402). It must be noted that no FSS 70 contractor offers the required services as a "package". There is no definitive solution available from the Federal Supply Schedules (or any existing Government contract) for operating and maintaining the HUD OIG DCE. Rather, FSS 70 contractors offer labor categories and labor rates for those categories. After reviewing of a statement of work, performance work statement, or statement of objectives, FSS 70 contractors propose a technical solution and a price comprised of the labor categories offered on their respective FSS. FSS contractors do not necessarily offer the same solution nor do sources necessarily propose using the same level of effort. Furthermore, operations and maintenance of the HUD OIG's DCE is not sold as a commercial-off-the-shelf item. The FSS 70 catalog does not include an item called "Operations and Maintenance" or fixed-prices for operations and maintenance. Rather, operations and maintenance are offered on FSS 70 on a labor hour basis. FSS 70 contractors offer to perform operations and maintenance on an hourly basis using discreet labor categories and a mix of different labor categories depending on the specific requirements of the Government. Moreover, because there is not one (1) method to operate and maintain the HUD OIG DCE, each FSS 70 contractor would propose its own, unique solution using the solicitation as guidance. A solicitation designed to promote meaningful competition and a best value award decision among competing offers, requires a significant investment of time and resources. Likewise, contractors competing for award of the contract contemplated by a solicitation expend considerable time, resources, and money deciding whether to compete for the award. If the decision is made to compete for award, submit a quote or bid, contractors expend an even greater amount of resources in anticipation of winning the competition. A meaningful competitive acquisition could not be conducted before May 31, 2012. The solicitation would require compliance with FAR 8.405-2 Ordering Procedures for Services Requiring a Statement of Work. Such ordering procedures require significant data be included in the Request for Quote, a reasonable response period, and assurances all quotes are fairly considered for award. The evaluation necessary to determine a best value solution from competing offers is time consuming and a considerable expenditure of Government time and resources. As set forth above, there is not a commercial item solution to provide for the operation and maintenance of the DCE. The requirement is completed by the performance of specific and unique commercially available labor hours, developed by contractors following review of a statement of work (FAR 8.405-2). Given the amount of time required to conduct a meaningful competitive acquisition in compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and the uniqueness of the services required to operate and maintain the DCE, only STG is capable of operating and maintaining the HUD OIG DCE at the level of quality required. Finally, this acquisition does not purchase items that may contain recovered materials or result in the use of energy neither does it use information technology that would implicate or involve the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. (vii) ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION All facts supporting this Justification are set forth in the preceding paragraphs. (viii) 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 THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IS MADE No actions are necessary to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the services is made. No such actions are required because no barriers to competition exist and GSA is competing a long-term solution to meeting the requirement fulfilled by this acquisition. (ix) 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 The undersigned contracting officer, Anthony W. Pellegrino, certifies that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of his knowledge and belief. I have personal knowledge of the expiring Order, serving as the contracting officer for the Order from solicitation to date. Furthermore, I worked with requirements personnel at the HUD OIG in formulating and completing this Justification. (x) 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 HUD OIG technical and requirements personnel, by signing below, verify that the task order resulting from this Justification satisfies the HUD OIG's minimum need over the next four (4) months for the services provided by the expiring contract. (xi) FOR JUSTIFICATIONS UNDER 8.405-6(a)(1), A WRITTEN DETERMINATION BY THE APPROVING OFFICIAL IDENTIFYING THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT APPLIES The task order resulting from this Justification has an estimated value greater than $650,000.00 but less than $12.5 million. Accordingly and pursuant to FAR Subpart 8.405-6(d)(2), the undersigned Approving Official of the activity placing the order (GSA, Federal Acquisition Service) Region 1, approves this Justification. In accordance with FAR Subpart 8.405-6(d), this Justification serves as the written determination by the Approving Official that the circumstances described in this Justification apply to and justify limiting sources in accordance with FAR Subpart 8.405-6(a)(1)(B).
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/2e1782f65c7432811ff1c2488f1b1ac0)
 

Place of Performance

Address: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Washington, District of Columbia, 20024, United States

Zip Code: 20024
 

Record

SN02762983-W 20120602/120601000224-2e1782f65c7432811ff1c2488f1b1ac0 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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