Notice ID: 36C10B18N10040007
Contract Award Number: VA118-16-D-1004
The proposed sole source modification is for a continuation of Infrastructure Operations Services Support (IOSS) services against Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG), Contract VA118-16-D-1004 Task Order 36C10B18N10040007 with Systems Made Simple, Inc. (SMS).
While the task order is a hybrid of Time-and-Materials (T&M) and Firm-Fixed Price (FFP), this Justification is for the FFP support and the extension of the T&M line items as there is sufficient ceiling for the T&M support. The period of performance is a four-month base period with two one month option periods.
The proposed source for this action is SMS, 149 Northern Concourse, Syracuse, New York 13212. Based on market research, which can be found in Section 8 of this document, it was determined that SMS remains the only responsible source capable of satisfying VA’s IOSS requirements in the required timeframe. No other source can provide the aforementioned services on day one of task order extension. The amount of time to on-board and recruit an individual resource is six to eight weeks. This timeframe includes fingerprint capturing, security clearances for badging, physical, logical, and elevated system access. Existing IOSS Contractor Staff can commence performance immediately upon award of this extension as there is no learning curve or on-boarding requirements. VA anticipates the award of a competitive TO under the T4NG contract vehicle on or about July 30, 2021 which would encompass the services detailed in Section 3. There were unanticipated delays that occurred from November 2019 to April 2021 which delayed award of this competitive TO. In this timeframe, VA migrated from Information Technology Operations and Services (ITOPS) to Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps). In addition to the continued support, VA is seeking a new requirement for modernization and innovation that had not been accomplished on previous TO efforts. Extensive market research was conducted and a Request for Information (RFI) was published on December 21, 2020 which resulted in over 300 industry questions, specifically, VA received 189 questions submitted by Industry in January 2021. VA assessed the questions and made adjustments to multiple sections within the PWS based on questions and input from Industry. In March 2021, VA, unsolicited, received an additional 146 questions specific to PWS Section 5.8, Data Center IT Facilities and Connectivity. This section was previously T&M and migrated to FFP. Based on Industry questions and input, the PWS was further revised. While this requirement is for continued services, the approach to the competitive award required an extensive amount of rewrite and update to the requirements. VA had to better assess its requirements and needed additional input due to the complexity of the requirements.
VA experienced delays in better defining requirements that transitioned from a T&M price structure to FFP. It was determined, as result of market research, the timeframe for the Request for Task Execution Plan needed to be extended.
