Combined System Support

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY ATAAPS, ICPS, Independent Testing 1. Identification of the Requiring and Contracting Activity: (a)Requiring Activity: a. Requesting Activity DFAS-ZTA, ZTB 8899 East 56th Street Indianapolis, IN 46249-4300 DoDAAC: HQ0383 (b) Contracting Activity DFAS Columbus Contract Services Directorate Building 21, Room 2B218 3990 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43213-1152 2. Nature or Description of the action being approved: The purpose of this document is to obtain approval for an exception of the fair opportunity acquisition in accordance with: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), this order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. The procurement strategy is to issue a request for quote (RFQ) on the Army CHESS ITES-2S Government Wide Agency Contract (GWAC). The award of a logical follow-on task order (TO) is requested for the continuation of support for the Automated Time Attendance and Production System (ATAAPS), the International Civilian Pay and Windows Automated Portuguese Pay Systems (ICPS/WinAPPS or ICPS), and Independent Testing. Therefore, the below justification and approval will be included with the RFQ, which will be submitted to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HPES). 3. A Description of supplies/services required to meet the agency needs (including the estimated value) DFAS is seeking a logical follow-on, six month task order (TO) with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HP) to continue ongoing contractor support for DFAS Information and Technology (I&T) with Automated Time Attendance and Production System (ATAAPS), the International Civilian Pay and Windows Automated Portuguese Pay Systems (ICPS/WinAPPS or ICPS) and Independent Testing Support. Support is needed for software design, development, maintenance and testing, and functional and customer support. This follow-on TO is to cover a period of performance from October 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016. This will be a labor hour (LH) type TO. The continuation of the services without interruption is imperative to ensure these systems support DFAS's ability to deliver mission essential support to multiple Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, military members, Defense Contract Management Activity and the Department of Energy. The impact will affect the timely and accurate delivery of payroll services, which entails the capturing of time and attendance and personnel actions, generation of payroll and subsequent payment to the 400,000 civilians who are employed by the aforementioned departments and agencies. The period of performance is from October 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016. 4. Identification of the exception to fair opportunity (see FAR 16.505(b)(2): General Exception used as DFAS for the fair opportunity process: (a) FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) - The order must be issued on a sole source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. (a) Reason that this is sole source procurement (i.e., proposed contractor's unique qualifications, etc.): System support for ATAAPS, ICPS and Independent Testing is currently being provided by HPES under TO W91QUZ-06-D-0013-9R01. This TO was awarded on April 1, 2013 and it was due to expire on March 31, 2015. It was extended for six months, to September 30, 2015, under the extension of services clause. The current TO was solicited using the Army CHESS ITES-2S GWAC, which included 16 vendors. A new competitive solicitation for these services is currently being prepared. This logical follow-on of the current TO will ensure continued operational support without any break in service beyond October 1, 2015. HPES's performance has been deemed as more than acceptable by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The required support during the next 6 months will require immediate knowledge and specialized expertise to ensure DFAS's ability to affect the timely and accurate delivery of payroll services, which entails the capturing of time and attendance and personnel actions, generation of payroll and subsequent payment to the 400,000 civilians and military members who are employed by multiple Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, the Defense Contract Management Activity (DCMA) and the Department of Energy (DoE). DFAS has encountered problems with contractors providing the necessary skill sets required for supporting the above referenced systems. It would not be cost effective to bring in another contractor for 6 months to perform such critical support required. If DFAS had to switch to a new contractor, there would be a negative impact in our ability to maintain continuity and updates for the above referenced systems. . 5. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The estimated cost of this short term follow-on TO is the same as is currently being paid to HPES under a TO that was awarded on a competitive basis. Based on market research done for the current TO and for the re-compete, it is anticipated that the CHESS ITES-2S GWAC pricing will be lower than open market pricing. 6. Any other facts supporting the justification: DFAS will be seriously harmed if not permitted to award this follow-on order to HPES. If these services are left to expire, DFAS will not be able to ensure continuation of the tasks mentioned in item 3 above. 7. A Statement of actions, if any, the agency may take or remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made: The required services have previously been procured on a competitive basis and DFAS will continue to procure these services competitively on the re-compete of the current TO. A new competitive solicitation for these services is currently being prepared and market research was conducted for the re-compete of the current TO.