Cloud Onboarding, Migration, Engineering, and Training (COMET)

The Cloud Onboarding, Migration, Engineering, and Training (COMET) contract is a sole-source, time and materials agreement under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule, awarded to Samtek, Inc. by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services to support the modernization of CMS’s hybrid cloud environment. The current contract period runs from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2026, with a proposed 12-month extension broken into two phases: June 1 to August 31, 2026, and September 1, 2026, to May 31, 2027. The total estimated value of the extended contract is $30,746,596. The work involves migrating and onboarding applications across multiple cloud platforms including AWS Outpost, Azure Commercial, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, while providing engineering support and training to internal CMS teams to ensure operational continuity and workforce competency. The justification for a limited-source award cites urgent need, unique expertise of the incumbent contractor in CMS’s specific hybrid cloud infrastructure, and significant economies of efficiency, invoking GSAM 538.7104-3 as the legal authority. Performance is centered in St. James, Maryland, with the contractor based in Aldie, Virginia, and administrative oversight handled by the Office of Acquisition and Grants Management in Baltimore, Maryland. The contractor’s specialized knowledge of CMS’s secure cloud ecosystem, including compliance with federal healthcare standards such as HIPAA, FISMA, and NIST, is critical to mission success, and the agency has determined that continuity with Samtek is essential to avoid disruption, retraining delays, and increased risk. No formal evaluation factors with weights or scoring criteria were documented, but the award decision prioritizes best value over cost, emphasizing technical excellence and risk mitigation. While the contract does not include detailed line-item pricing, inspection and acceptance criteria, packaging specifications, or contractor representations and certifications, it relies on the incumbent’s proven performance and deep institutional knowledge. Key special requirements include seamless integration of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, retention of incumbent personnel with established familiarity of CMS systems, and strict adherence to federal data security protocols. Payment, invoicing, accounting codes, and contract administration personnel details are unspecified in the available documentation, and no formal solicitation or competitive process was conducted due to the non-competitive nature of this follow-on action under the Federal Supply Schedule.