D--Intent to Award - eMail and Enterprise Records and Document Management System (

The Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division 1, Branch 1 on behalf of the DOI, Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), awarded a noncompetitive procurement to The IQ Business Group, Inc. of 1751 Pinnacle Dr., STE 600, McLean, VA 22102 as specified in the Limited-Source Justification information below. The noncompetitive action is a sole source bridge extension modification to the existing eMail and Enterprise Records and Document Management System (eERDMS) Task Order 140D0421F0002 pursuant to the procedures and authority under Federal Acquisition Regulations (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, to have the incumbent contractor, IQ Business Group, Inc, continue existing eERDMS Support Services for the period of, May 16, 2025, through May 15, 2026, to include one (1) six (6)-month option period, and four (4) three (3)-month option periods, that could carry efforts through November 15, 2027, if all options are exercised in their entirety. The NAICS code is 518210 ¿ Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services. Questions or concerns may be addressed to the Contracting Officer, Julie Englehart at [email protected]. LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6 and 40 U.S.C 501 1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "Limited-Sources Justification." This is a Limited-Source Justification for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division 1, Branch 1, on behalf of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), as DOI plans to contract by means other than full and open competition. This document sets forth the justification and approval to award a sole source bridge extension modification to the existing eMail and Enterprise Records and Document Management System (eERDMS) Task Order 140D0421F0002. 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. The action is for the issuance of a modification to existing Task Order 140D0421F0002 to execute a short-term sole source bridge extension pursuant to the procedures under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) to have the incumbent contractor, The IQ Business Group, Inc., continue existing eERDMS efforts for the 12-month base period of May 16, 2025, through May 15, 2026. This bridge extension will include one (1) six (6)-month option period and four (4) three (3)-month option periods, which could potentially carry services through November 15, 2027, where all efforts under the extension will be executed within the Task Order¿s existing ceiling limitation. The IQ Business Group, Inc. is the only vendor to be considered for this procurement action as they are the only vendor capable of continuing the eERDMS efforts without disruption or a lapse in services, support, and data storage until the new five (5)-year competitive follow-on procurement effort is awarded and the transition and migration of data is complete. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs. The DOI OCIO requires continued services and support, currently being provided under Task Order 140D0421F0002, for the eERDMS program which is a records management solution for DOI email and electronic documents within an existing Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)-moderate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. It includes services to transition, deploy, operate, maintain, safeguard, and manage an enterprise-wide electronic records management environment. The eERDMS records management program supports all bureaus and offices within DOI. Specifically, eERDMS provides an eArchive solution with records management, content management, and workflow and process management capabilities in a single product line offering. These efforts include: -Grouping of related records into classifications according to their business purpose -Retrieval of individual records, files, or groupings of related records -The retention of records in a usable format for their required retention period as defined by a National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)-approved records schedule -Accessibility for individuals who have a business need for information in the system -The preservation of transmitted and received data specified in agency instructions -The transfer of permanent records to the NARA (pursuant to 36 CFR 1235.44 - 1235.50 and 36 CFR 1236.20) -Efficient management of emails -Electronic search capability for content that may be responsive to a subpoena, Freedom of Information Act request, eDiscovery request, or other requests. All option periods under Order 140D0421F0002, including the up-to six (6)-month extension under FAR Clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, have been exercised. This short-term bridge extension to 140D0421F0002 is needed and will prevent a lapse in mission critical services and provide uninterrupted and continuous support to the DOI eERDMS effort and will allow for the successful transition and migration of data and award of the new long-term five (5)-year competitive follow-on Task Order. 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. 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 current eERDMS Task Order, 140D0421F0002, which was a sole source bridge Order issued to The IQ Business Group, Inc. against General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract 47QSMA20D08P2 pursuant to the procedures of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), is scheduled to end May 15, 2025. A bridge extension modification to Task Order 140D0421F0002, which will include a 12-month base period, one (1) six (6)-month option period and four (4) three (3)-month option periods, is needed to ensure there is no lapse in mission critical eERDMS solution maintenance, support services, and storage until the new competitive five (5)-year follow-on Order for the continuation of existing eERDMS solution maintenance and support services can be awarded, personnel can be onboarded, and the transition and migration of data can be executed. In 2019, the DOI awarded a competitive contract for a DOI-wide Microsoft 365 (M365) email and collaboration solution which replaced the prior Google solution. The migration from Google to M365 was expected to take roughly one (1)-year, and the award of the new M365 solution coincided with DOI's acquisition planning efforts for the competitive eERDMS follow-on procurement for prior contract D12PC00403, awarded to The IQ Business Group, Inc. The new M365 solution included records management capabilities that needed to be considered as a possible means to satisfy the Government's records management needs and to avoid awarding duplicative efforts. However, to determine if the M365 solution was capable of satisfying the eERDMS requirement, post-migration M365 evaluations and testing were required. These evaluations and testing efforts were projected to be completed in May 2021. In addition to the consideration of the M365 solution, DOI found it necessary to engage with industry to seek other possible eERDMS solutions in the event M365 could not satisfy the Government's needs. An industry-wide Request for Information (RFI) was issued seeking possible eERDMS solutions. The RFI indicated that DOI should consider dividing the overall eERDMS effort into multiple and separate actions to leverage best-in-breed capabilities to meeting DOI¿s requirements. Through these market research efforts, DOI determined that Records Management and eDiscovery capabilities were significantly different, and that DOI could benefit from removing such efforts from the existing eERDMS solution and executing them as their own procurement actions. Additionally, the optional services for Section 508 support services included in the existing eERDMS contract could be performed most effectively if separated from the eERDMS core capabilities. The strategy to remove these efforts onto their own contract vehicles, and the consideration of the newly awarded M365 solution, would require additional procurement lead time and solution testing not originally anticipated. This resulted in the need for and issuance of short-term bridge Task Order 140D0421F0002 to The IQ Business Group, Inc. to prevent a lapse in the existing mission critical eERDMS services until removed efforts could be recompeted and awarded and the M365 solution could be tested. As a result of this strategy, the DOI awarded the Document Review & Production Task Order in September 2022, awarded the multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) for Section 508 support services in July of 2023, and executed the Legal Hold Solution efforts under the existing Everlaw contract vehicle in 2024. The DOI also conducted the evaluations and testing of the M365 solution's email archiving capabilities where DOI determined that a more thorough review and evaluation of the solution's capabilities (specifically related to the automated classification of email content into the appropriate records schedule) was needed. The findings of this review determined that the M365 solution would not be a viable option to automate the classification of email content due to the level of effort required to configure and maintain the solution over time. As a result, DOI then initiated an effort to compare the email-archiving capabilities of the M365 solution and those of the current eERDMS solution, to explore the possibility of using the eDiscovery capabilities of the M365 solution as an alternative to continuing to archive all DOI email into the Enterprise eArchive System component of the eERDMS program, which had significant cost impacts for DOI and the eERDMS recompete efforts. The results of this evaluation determined that the M365 solution was a viable option for DOI and that DOI could discontinue its strategy of archiving all M365 email into the Enterprise eArchive System (EES) component of the eERDMS program, which would significantly limit the ongoing increase in storage requirements for the eERDMS program. Based on this, along with the evaluation results of the M365 solution¿s capabilities to automate the classification of email content, the OCIO then pursued the implementation of the U.S. National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) Capstone approach to email classification and disposition, which would greatly reduce the storage requirements for the email archives in both M365 and eERDMS. The DOI completed the development of the NARA Capstone implementation in April of 2024, enabling DOI to significantly reduce its email storage requirements. Additionally, during calendar year 2024 and into calendar year 2025, DOI also pursued cloud hosting options of the environment based on DOI¿s ¿Cloud First¿ initiatives as well as the removal of the optional services available under the current eERDMS award for commercial records storage capacity, analog records digitization services, and records destruction services¿all which impacted the technical requirements and needs under the eERDMS follow-on competitive action. It was not until February of 2025, was the DOI OCIO able to finalize its plan for cloud hosting and optional services, and was not until April of 2025, were they able to finalize the overall requirements for the long-term eERDMS recompete action. Due to the unforeseen setbacks and the additional time needed to implement the strategy to separate prior eERDMS requirements onto their own vehicles, the evaluation and testing of the M365 solution, and the review of cloud hosting options of the eERDMS environment, as noted above, the DOI has faced programmatic delays in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy and submitting the finalized requirements documents for the long-term five (5)-year competitive follow-on eERDMS Task Order. Therefore, the DOI/AQD has been unable to execute timely award of the competitive Order for the continuation of these efforts. To prevent a lapse in mission critical eERDMS services and provide a reasonable period for the transition and migration of the substantial amount of data from the predecessor contractor to the new DOI internal hosting solution, a short-term bridge extension modification to the current eERDMS Task Order 140D0421F00002 is needed. The IQ Business Group, Inc., is the current contractor successfully providing the eERDMS support services and holds a unique qualification to ensure continuity of services and stability of the eERDMS operating environment so there is no disruption of service to DOI and agency customers and uninterrupted compliance with all applicable records management laws and regulations, as well as NARA records policies, including but not limited to: -The Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, 33), -NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, -The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), and -The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a). If the Government sought competition for this short-term bridge extension, a lapse in services would be an absolute certainty due to the time required for transition and the migration of data. Over 500 Terabytes of email records have been accumulated and need to be maintained in order to be in compliance with the Federal Records Act. Many of these emails were sourced from Lotus Notes, Google, and Microsoft Exchange environments. It is not possible to migrate this archive to the M365 solution in their native format. It is estimated that the steps required for data migration and transition to the new DOI internally hosted solution will take roughly three (3)-years from start to completion, where roughly 75% of these efforts are required to be complete by the current contractor (The IQ Business Group, Inc.) over the course of a year and half. For the remaining 25% of data migration and transition efforts required, this portion can be executed by a vendor other than The IQ Business Group, Inc. and the DOI intends to have this portion competed and executed under the competitive long-term follow-on Order, during which time this bridge extension to The IQ Business Group, Inc. will be for data storage only until the new contractor has completed the remaining data migration and transition efforts. The IQ Business Group, Inc., is maintaining the records successfully in their native formats in a manner that other records management providers could not achieve before May 15, 2025. Other providers would require a data migration period that would result in the disruption of DOI¿s ability to ensure document retention compliance in accordance with enacted statutes. Even if it was feasible to compete the bridge extension, doing so during the execution of the long-term recompete action for the follow-on eERDMS Task Order would create unnecessary duplication of efforts which would not be recovered through competition means, would not be a responsible use of tax-payer dollars, and would create unacceptable delays and risk in fulfilling the agency's requirements. Therefore, to prevent a lapse in services, and to be mindful of the use of tax-payer dollars, the Government requires the execution of a short-term bridge extension to The IQ Business Group, Inc. under Task Order 140D0421F0002 as they are the only vendor capable of providing continuity of service without a lapse. The bridge will continue the existing eERDMS solution maintenance and support services until the roughly 75% of data migration and transition is complete, and then provide only data storage thereafter until the remaining 25% of data migration and transition is executed under the more permanent competitive five (5)-year procurement action, which the Government intends to have awarded by quarter four (4) of fiscal year 2026. 5. 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 has confirmed that there are multiple small business vendors capable of providing the follow-on eERDMS Solution Maintenance and Support on the GSA multiple award schedules where the long-term five (5)-year award will be a competitive action. However, The IQ Business Group, Inc. is the only vendor capable of providing the existing eERDMS solution maintenance and support without disruption until majority of the data migration and transition can be executed and the new long-term competitive action awarded. 6. 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. There are no envisioned barriers to competition for the ongoing and follow-on recompete action for the eERDMS Task Order. The bridge extension described in this document allows adequate time for that ongoing competitive process to be completed and the migration of data. It is important to note that all option periods under the bridge extension are set up in smaller durations to avoid overcommitting the Government to any unnecessary or prolonged time periods. The total length of the bridge will be dependent on the time needed to complete the required data migration and transition efforts. It is possible not all option periods will be exercised, and the duration of this bridge shortened if migration efforts are completed ahead of schedule. Additionally, to prevent the need for a prolonged bridge extension, as the full length of all data migration and transition efforts are estimated to take roughly three (3)-years, the Government has identified, portioned out, and included, where feasible, any data migration and transition scope efforts as part of the long-term competitive procurement action where such transition efforts will be completed by the contractor under that recompete action.