Description
Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) (modified to reflect an acquisition under the authority of the Test Program for Commercial items) Modification 0001 to Purchase Order D14PX00002 Title: Voice Systems Operation and Maintenance (VSOM) 1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity, and the identification of this document as a "Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition" (modified to reflect an acquisition under the authority of the Test Program for Commercial items) Requiring Agency: Executive Office of the President Office of Administration 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW EEOB, Room 019/LL Washington, D.C. 20503 Contracting Activity: Department of the Interior Interior Business Center/Acquisition Services Directorate 381 Elden Street, Suite 4000 Herndon, VA 20170 This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) under the Test Program for certain Commercial items is for approval to modify the AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc. (AT&T-TSCO) a sole-source Purchase Order to add a Travel Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) and to increase the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) ceiling of this Purchase Order by $24,000. This Purchase Order provides the Executive Office of the President (EOP) continued support services for Voice Systems Operations and Maintenance (VSOM) telecommunications. Examples of the services provided under VSOM include all switches, switch software, voice mail, associated administrative systems, primary port network, expansion port network, and all voice terminals. 2. Nature and Description of the Action Being Approved: This sole-source action will result in modifying the hybrid Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)/Time and Materials (T&M) Purchase Order to AT&T-TSCO under FAR Part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.5 - Test Program for Certain Commercial Items. This sole-source Purchase Order was a temporary solution to bridge the gap in service from the expiration of the previous ten (10) year Contract on November 23, 2013. The period of performance for the Base Period of this Purchase Order is November 24, 2013 to May 23, 2014. This Purchase Order also includes two (2) six(6) month Option Periods. 3. A Description of the Services Required to Meet the Agency's Need (including the estimated value): The scope of this Purchase Order includes Contractor support of EOP's Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)/Disaster Recovery planning. Under this Purchase Order, AT&T-TSCO provides technical expertise regarding the development and maintenance of EOP's COOP/Disaster Recovery plan, which includes all sites currently operated and maintained as well as any future sites added to the network. When this Purchase Order was awarded, it was not anticipated that travel would be required for the performance of COOP/Disaster Recovery planning under this Purchase Order. However, under Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) 83, EOP plans to establish a COOP site, which is 65 miles from the original place of performance. Therefore, it was determined that some travel would be required for the performance of this in-scope work. As a result, a new Travel CLIN needs to be added to this Purchase Order and the NTE ceiling needs to be increased to cover these new expenses. The NTE ceiling will be increased by $24,000 as a NTE ceiling of $8,000 for Travel will be included in this Purchase Order for the Base and Option Periods 1 and 2. While the total price for travel in ECP 83 is not anticipated to exceed $2,500.00, the Government determined that additional travel may be required in future ECPs, so it is in the Government's best interest to provide a NTE ceiling of $8,000 for Travel in the Base and for each Option Period if exercised, for a total NTE ceiling increase of $24,000, should additional travel be required. 4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: This is a modification to a sole-source commercial acquisition Purchase Order, which utilized Simplified Acquisition Procedures for the Government's continuing need for VSOM support for EOP. The acquisition was conducted under FAR Subpart 13.5 - Test Program for Certain Commercial Items, in conjunction with FAR 12. This justification for the addition of a Travel CLIN and an increase to the NTE ceiling for this Purchase Order is prepared using the format at FAR 6.303-2 modified to reflect an acquisition under the authority of the Test Program for Commercial Items. Thus, the statutory authority for this JOFOC is FAR 13.501(a) sole source acquisitions. As this Purchase Order modification will not exceed $650,000, the Contracting Officer's certification required by 6.303-2(b)(12) will serve as approval unless a higher approving level is established in agency procedures. Per AQD Policy, only the Contracting Officer's certification will be required as this modification will not increase the value of this Purchase Order over $25,000.00. 5. Demonstration that the proposed contractors unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited: AT&T-TSCO is uniquely qualified in having the necessary knowledge and in-depth experience for this highly extensive and complex requirement as they have been providing the VSOM support to the EOP over the last ten (10) years. This expertise is needed in the continuity of services under this temporary bridge Purchase Order until a new acquisition is competitively awarded by the EOP Office of Procurement. The unique qualifications of AT&T-TSCO of having the necessary knowledge and in-depth experience is supported by the examples listed below which further support this temporary sole-source bridge Purchase Order: o The existing voice network and existing interconnectivity to other Government networks; o Classified projects involving voice communications and their relationship to the EOP voice network; o The existing multi-agency cable infrastructure including fiber, copper, voice, data, riser, and station cabling; o Access requirements for all secure areas; o Phone locations/routes/security levels/EOP phone policies; o Extensive experience with performance under extreme circumstances with the EOP and associated entities; o Extensive knowledge of disaster recovery plans and processes; o Experts in the specially developed Presidential call handling features of the voice system and the integration into the day-to-day business of the EOP; o Experts in the specially developed Presidential voice mail features and modifications and the integration into the day-to-day business of the EOP; o Specialized call routing for EOP and its entities; o Unique Presidential Central Office trunking and Direct Inward Dialing matrix knowledge; o Unique knowledge of complex call routing through vectors across the hybrid network; o Unique ability to modify the existing system to perform tasks not originally programmed or designed; o Performance under the unique service level urgency required for Presidential service; o Knowledgeable resources immediately available in addition to the on-site personnel; o Unique skill sets with cross functional training; o Existing clearances at the Classified/TSCI and Yankee White levels; o Active BICSI RCDD, BICSI Installer, PMP, PMI, Cisco's CCNA and CCNA Voice, Avaya, Comp TIA's Net + and Security + certifications; o Existing specially developed telecommunications management system; and o Unique and extensive knowledge and understanding of the various secure locations within the complex and their associate infrastructure. In addition, in order to perform the current requirement a detailed working knowledge of the VSOM System in the areas of programmatic structure, interfaces with other equipment, hardware designs, and interactions of these designs is required. Not only is the complexity of this acquisition derived from the requirement itself, but also the secure, closed environments where the services are performed and the equipment is located at the EOP and occasionally at other secure sites, which necessitates the addition of travel to this requirement. The security measures taken must be utmost extensive as this equipment is supporting the Executive Office of the President inclusive of the White House Office, the Office of the Vice President to the White House Situation Support Staff as well as the Office of Management and Budget, National Security Staff and many other entities under the Executive Office of the President. Thus, even to compete the original acquisition which established the 10-year original contract, interested parties were required to submit names and clearances to the EOP Security Office to be able to review background information supporting the requirement in a reading room at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Hence, with the extensive historical technical knowledge, skills, and abilities of the VSOM requirement as evidenced above, AT&T-TSCO remains uniquely qualified to provide the services in the short-term until the new competitive Contract to VoIP is awarded by the EOP Office of Procurement. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the Government to modify this sole-source Purchase Order with AT&T-TSCO to add the required Travel CLIN and increase the NTE ceiling. 6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies: This sole-source Purchase Order, which is being modified to add a Travel CLIN and to increase the NTE ceiling, is a temporary solution to continue services from the expiration of the past Contract until a new competition has been conducted by the EOP Office of Procurement. Due to the extensive security requirements, unique nature of the requirement, specialized knowledge needed, a sole-source Purchase Order to AT&T-TSCO was in the best interest of the Government as it was not practicable to solicit other vendors to provide this service. In accordance with Subpart 5.2 - Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, a notice of intent to modify this Purchase Order was posted on Federal Business Opportunities. Additionally, In accordance with 13.501(a)(1)(iii), the approved justification will be made publically available as required by 6.305(a) within 14 days after award. 7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: All Travel expenses billed to the Government will be in accordance with FAR 31.205-46 Travel Costs. Additionally, all relevant clauses, terms and conditions related to travel will be added to the Purchase Order in this modification. Only expenses that are reasonable, allowable and allocable will be paid. The Contractor shall ensure all travel is approved in advance and the AQD Contracting Officer will review all Travel expenses invoiced to the Government prior to payment to ensure all Federal Travel Regulations are followed. 8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted: This sole source Purchase Order, which is being modified to add a Travel CLIN and increase the NTE ceiling total by $24,000, is a temporary solution to bridge the gap in service from the expiration of the previous Contract until the EOP Office of Procurement has awarded the new Contract. Through work under the past Contract, AT&T-TSCO gained a working knowledge of the VSOM requirement and continues to bring the necessary combination of expertise, relevant experience, tools and key personnel that makes AT&T-TSCO distinctively and uniquely qualified to meeting the particular needs of the EOP. Awarding to a Contractor other than AT&T-TSCO would result in a high risk to the Government and substantial learning curve for a new contractor, thus increasing costs to the Government and potentially causing unacceptable delays to EOP. Any potential break in service would directly affect the Office of the President. These costs would not expect to be recovered through competition. The Government is minimizing the risk of a break in service by utilizing this temporary solution to bridge the gap until the new competition has been completed. However, in accordance with Subpart 5.2 - Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, a notice of intent was posted on Federal Business Opportunities. Thus, the "market" is aware of this action and no responses were received. Hence, extensive Market Research was not completed as this is a sole source Purchase Order. 9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: There are no other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition. 10. Listing of Sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition: No sources have currently expressed interest in this modification. However, in accordance with Subpart 5.2 - Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, a notice of intent regarding this modification was posted on Federal Business Opportunities with no responses challenging the intent. 11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: This sole-source Purchase Order, which is currently being modified to add a Travel CLIN and to increase the total NTE ceiling by $24,000, is only a temporary solution until the EOP Office of Procurement has awarded the new competitive Contract. It is anticipated that the EOP Office of Procurement will compete the requirement on the open market to maximize competition.