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FBO DAILY ISSUE OF OCTOBER 17, 2010 FBO #3249
DOCUMENT

D -- TAC# 0186 FOCAS Conversion & Enhancements - Justification and Approval (J&A)

Notice Date

10/15/2010
 

Notice Type

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

NAICS

541512 — Computer Systems Design Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;260 Industrial Way West;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11810RP0629
 

Archive Date

11/21/2010
 

Point of Contact

Peter T Lewandowski
 

E-Mail Address

ct
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

VA118-10-P-0114
 

Award Date

9/22/2010
 

Description

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1.Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Acquisition and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 260 Industrial Way West Eatontown, NJ 07724 2.Description of Action: The proposed action is for a Firm-Fixed-Price contract for a 12-month base period, with three (3) 12-month options, for software engineering services to support the Flight, On-the-Job Training, Correspondence, and Apprenticeship System (FOCAS). 3.Description of Supplies or Services: FOCAS is an application that supports out of system benefits. Each of the four (4) Education Regional offices owned and operated a copy of the Visual Dbase single-user, stand-alone FOCAS application. The FOCAS application is being rehosted from a visual database single-user, stand-alone system to a multi-user, web-based Java Release 2 Enterprise Environment (J2EE) enterprise architecture application that performs the same functions as the legacy system. This is a time sensitive development effort in conjunction with the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill Program, one of Secretary Eric K. Shinseki's top 13 initiatives. The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. The specific software engineering services needed to support the FOCAS are as follows: "Complete data testing and migration of the FOCAS data existing in the current four (4) FOCAS applications. "Release FOCAS into production. "Implement key functional enhancements to the application to allow processing of claims for veterans and their beneficiaries related to the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill program. "Enhance and modernize the application as required from missing functionality identified in User Acceptance Testing. "Optional maintenance period, optional knowledge transfer, and optional end user training. The total estimated price of the proposed action is 4.Statutory Authority: The statutory exception permitting other than full and open competition for this acquisition is 38 U.S.C. 8127(c), Veterans First Contracting Program. Contracts awarded using this authority shall be supported by written justification as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-5, "Authorized or required by statute". 5.Reason for Authority Cited: The proposed source for this action is Veterans Enterprise Technology Solutions, Inc. (VETS Inc.), 2057 Woodford Road, Suite 20 Vienna, VA 22182, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). FOCAS is being enhanced to pay benefits to veterans and beneficiaries under the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill program. VETS Inc. developed a similar system called, Work-Study Management System (WSMS), and assisted in the original development period of the FOCAS project, writing some of the source code which they shared with the FOCAS application developers. VETS Inc. already has the needed technical knowledge required to meet the Government's requirements. The FOCAS application is built using the same platform and similar coding to the WSMS. This eliminates the learning curve required for other developers to become current on the development effort. Additionally, the VETS Inc. team and subcontractors are already on site and working at the Veterans Administration Central Office (VACO) and will not be required to undergo the lengthy process of security clearances and on-boarding. FOCAS development will also have to be compatible with the existing VA Corporate Database and Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) development processes, as the original development for FOCAS was done. VETS Inc. is already familiar with the VA Corporate Database development procedures and OIT processes as they built the WSMS system within the same confines, and built part of the code for the VA Corporate Database that was used by the original FOCAS contractors. 6.Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted and the details are contained in the market research section below. Consistent with the guidelines of the Veterans First Contracting Program, the proposed action described herein will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR Part 5. 7.Actions to Increase Competition: All future requirements for the procurement of software engineering services for the FOCAS will be handled on a case-by-case basis. 8.Market Research: Market research was conducted by searching the VetBiz.gov database on February 26, 2010 to determine if VETS Inc. was a SDVOSB. This search concluded that VETS Inc. is registered and certified in the VetBiz.gov database and qualifies as a SDVOSB in accordance with the federal small business size standards for the applicable North American Industry Classification System code 541512. Additionally, a search in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) performed on June 15, 2010 showed that VETS Inc. is registered in CCR. Based on this market research and assessment of their capabilities, the Government's technical experts have determined that VETS Inc. is a SDVOSB and can meet the Government's requirements. 9.Other Facts: The Procuring Contracting Officer has determined that this proposed action meets all the requirements of 38 U.S.C 8127(c); this procurement is below the $5,000,000 threshold, VETS, Inc. is a responsible SDVOSB, and the Contracting Officer will be able to obtain a fair and reasonable price offering a best value to the Government. 10.Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Freda PerryDate: ______________________ Project Manager FOCASSignature: ______________________ 11.Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on the Independent Government Cost Estimate and price analysis. David NostrantDate: ______________________ Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature: ______________________ 12.Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. David NostrantDate: ______________________ Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature: ______________________ 13.Legal Sufficiency Certification: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition and deem it legally sufficient. Frank DiNicola Date: ______________________ Legal CounselSignature: ______________________ Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve a Firm-Fixed-Price contract for a 12-month base period, with three (3) 12-month options for software engineering services to support the Flight, On-the-Job Training, Correspondence, and Apprenticeship System, on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 38 U.S.C. 8127(c), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition. Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________ Iris B. Cooper Contracting Activity Competition Advocate
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/4807b446e77b5de4095e9e25412cc071)
 

Document(s)

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

File Name: VA118-10-P-0114 VA118-10-P-0114_1.doc (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=160123&FileName=VA118-10-P-0114-000.doc)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=160123&FileName=VA118-10-P-0114-000.doc

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN02312172-W 20101017/101015234138-4807b446e77b5de4095e9e25412cc071 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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