**MEMORANDUM FOR:** National Institutes of Health Information Technology
Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), Chief Information Officer --
Solutions and Partners 2 *Innovations* (CIO-SP2*i*), 6011 Executive
Blvd., Suite 503 L, Rockville, Maryland, 20892

**SUBJECT**: Justification and Approval for Use of a non-DoD Contract

In accordance with Defense Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS)
Subpart 217.7800 and DFARS 237.170‑2, this memorandum presents the
justification and approval for issuing the task order \[*insert task
title*\] through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information
Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), Chief Information
Officer -- Solutions and Partners 2 *Innovations* (CIO-SP2*i*) contract.

237.170-2 Approval Requirements

(a) Acquisition of services/commodities through a contract or task order
that is not performance based.

For acquisitions at or below \$50,000,000, obtain the approval of the
official designated by the department or agency.

**OR**

For acquisitions exceeding \$50,000,000, obtain the approval of the
senior procurement executive.

(b) *Acquisition of services/commodities through use of a contract or
task order issued by a non-DoD agency.* Comply with the review and
approval requirements established in accordance with Subpart 217.7800
when acquiring services through use of a contract or task order issued
by a non-DoD agency.

Evaluation as to whether using a non-DoD contract for the acquisition\
is in the best interest of the DoD (DFARS 217.7802 (a))

\[*You will need to justify and provide a rationale of DoD agency's
decision for selecting the CIO-SP2i contract over internal DoD Contracts
(e.g., better cost, broader scope, pool of vendors, best value
determination, etc.). Please expand upon each of the numbered items
below, which are from DFARS 217.7802 (a).* \]

The following DoD contracts \[*list contracts here*\] have been reviewed
and a determination was made to select the NIH CIO-SP2*i* contract based
on:

\(1\) Satisfying customer requirements;

\(2\) Schedule;

\(3\) Cost effectiveness (taking into account discounts and fees); and

\(4\) Contract administration (including oversight).

Determination as to whether the tasks to be accomplished or supplies to
be provided\
are within the scope of the contract to be used (DFARS 217.7802 (b))

[All]{.underline} proposed task order tasks are within the scope of the
CIO-SP2*i* contract.\
\[*You may review the scope of the CIO-SP2i contract by reading contract
Section C.1, Scope (see
<http://nitaac.nih.gov/downloads/ciosp2/CIOSP2i_Original_Contract.pdf>,
page 35).*\]

Reviewing funding to ensure that it is used in accordance with
appropriation\
limitations (DFARS 217.7802 (c))

Appropriate \[*identify funding type*\] funding is being utilized for
this requirement.

Unique terms, conditions, and requirements to comply with all applicable
DoD-unique\
statutes, regulations, directives, and other requirements (DFARS
217.7802 (d))

DoD-unique compliance terms, conditions, and requirements will be
specified in the task order Statement of Work, Section 15, Other
Pertinent Information or Special Considerations.\
\[*The CIO-SP2i task order Statement of Work Template is available at
http://nitaac.nih.gov/downloads/ciosp2/ciosp2_SOW_forms.doc*\]

Approval

In accordance with DFARS 217.7800 and DFARS 237.1702, I, \[*insert full
name*\], \[*insert signatory title*\], grant authority to the National
Institutes of Health to procure Information Technology Services on our
behalf under the following project:

\[*insert task title*\]

Please consider this authority to be applicable for the life of the
task, to include any and all option periods. I hereby certify that the
requirements set forth in DFARS 217.7802 and DFARS 237.1702 have been
met. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me at \[*insert signatory telephone number*\].

Signature and Title

**MEMORANDUM FOR:** National Institutes of Health Information Technology
Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), Chief Information Officer --
Solutions and Partners 2 *Innovations* (CIO-SP2*i*), 6011 Executive
Blvd., Suite 503 L, Rockville, Maryland, 20892

**SUBJECT**: Justification and Approval for Use of a non-DoD Contract

In accordance with Defense Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS)
Subpart 217.7800 and DFARS 237.170‑2, this memorandum presents the
justification and approval for issuing the task order *Software
Engineering Center-DoD (SEC-D), IT Engineering Efforts* through the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition
and Assessment Center (NITAAC), Chief Information Officer -- Solutions
and Partners 2 *Innovations* (CIO-SP2*i*) contract.

237.170-2 Approval Requirements

(a) Acquisition of services/commodities through a contract or task order
that is not performance based.

For acquisitions at or below \$50,000,000, obtain the approval of the
official designated by the department or agency.

**OR**

For acquisitions exceeding \$50,000,000, obtain the approval of the
senior procurement executive.

(b) *Acquisition of services/commodities through use of a contract or
task order issued by a non-DoD agency.* Comply with the review and
approval requirements established in accordance with Subpart 217.7800
when acquiring services through use of a contract or task order issued
by a non-DoD agency.

Evaluation as to whether using a non-DoD contract for the acquisition\
is in the best interest of the DoD (DFARS 217.7802 (a))

The following DoD contracts: the Software Support Contract (SSC) and IT
Response Contract (ITRC) have been reviewed and a determination was made
to select the NIH CIO-SP2*i* contract based on the following:

1)  The Software Engineering Center-DoD (SEC-D) currently has several
    customers that rely on the organization to provide Systems
    Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA). The contract must
    provide the SEC-D with the necessary options to satisfy our current
    customers as well as grow to meet future needs to provide Enterprise
    Resource Planning and Service-Oriented Architectures. The CIO-SP2*i*
    task order will satisfy these needs without obligating SEC‑D to
    purchase any of the services until they became necessary to meet our
    customer needs. The scope of the other contracts fell short in a few
    of these areas that were vital to future growth expectations. In
    addition, one of our primary customers had set forth limitations on
    potential contractors to prevent a conflict of interest from
    occurring within their organization. Using the other contracts would
    have severely limited the government's options on vendors.

2)  To meet the needs of one of our immediate customers, SEC-D needed a
    contract that would be able to immediately provide personnel and
    resources to support our customer. CIO-SP2*i* was able to streamline
    the proposal process, providing a rapid and compliant contract. This
    would allow SEC-D to post, without delay, the task order, receive
    proposals, review proposals, and award the contract, allowing us to
    satisfy an immediate customer need. Should we need to provide our
    customers with more resources to accomplish tasks on schedule, we
    can easily reach back to the contract for those further assets
    allowing us to ensure customer satisfaction.

3)  Based on an Independent Government Cost Estimate done prior to
    submission of the task order, the CIO-SP2*i* provided 45
    highly-qualified contractors, several of which would have met our
    requirements for labor rates. In addition, the contract provides
    fixed labor rate ceilings, fixed labor rate increases, and fixed
    contracting fees that allow SEC-D to easily predict the cost of
    information technology engineering services we will provide with
    contractor support. Both the SSC and ITRC contract ceilings were
    below the expected task order ceiling. Lastly, the CIO-SP2*i*
    contract, which is operated under authority granted by the Office of
    Management and Budget, includes 21 small businesses among its 45
    highly-qualified prime contractors; in combination, the large and
    small primes team with over 600 subcontractors. This extensive
    collection of qualified contractors provides a high degree of
    competition, which better enables us to achieve value in our
    acquisition.

4)  Due to the nature of our organization, we will be providing
    oversight of contractor duties while they are deployed into other
    organizations that the SEC-D supports. The CIO-SP2*i* provides our
    organization with the ability to evaluate the contractor and make
    changes to service or discontinue use of the contract based on our
    level of satisfaction.

Determination as to whether the tasks to be accomplished or supplies to
be provided\
are within the scope of the contract to be used (DFARS 217.7802 (b))

The CIO-SP2*i* contract has been reviewed and all project tasks to be
accomplished are within the scope of CIO-SP2*i*.

Reviewing funding to ensure that it is used in accordance with
appropriation\
limitations (DFARS 217.7802 (c))

Appropriate DoD Operations and Maintenance Army funding is being
utilized for this project.

Unique terms, conditions, and requirements to comply with all applicable
DoD-unique\
statutes, regulations, directives, and other requirements (DFARS
217.7802 (d))

DoD-unique compliance terms, conditions, and requirements will be
specified in the task order Statement of Work, Section 15, Other
Pertinent Information or Special Considerations.

Approval

In accordance with DFARS 217.7800, I, COL John Jones, SEC-D Commanding,
grant authority to the National Institutes of Health to procure
Information Technology Services on our behalf under the following
project:

> *Software Engineering Center-DoD (SEC-D), IT Engineering Efforts*

Please consider this authority to be applicable for the life of the
task, to include any and all option periods. I hereby certify that the
requirements set forth in DFARS 217.7800 have been met. If you have
additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at
123-456-7890.

JOHN JONES

COL, AC

Commanding