US COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Three Lafayette Center

1155 21st St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20581

February 17, 2017

CFTC Service Contract Inventory: FY2015 Analysis Report 

Pursuant to Section 743 of Division C of the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, P.L. 

111-117, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has completed the analysis and 

review of the agency Fiscal Year 2015 Service Contract Inventory to determine if the mix of 

Federal employees and contractors is effective or if rebalancing may be required.

As required, the agency focused the analysis on the following two (2) special interest functions 

that we identified to OMB by Product Service Code (PSC): 

PSC PSC Description Amt. Obligated 

D302 IT AND TELECOM- SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT $19,397,093.61 

D307 IT AND TELECOM- IT STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURE $9,969,107.83 

The analysis, review and the write-up herein were completed and prepared in consultation with the 

agency's Chief Information Officer and reflect interviews and input from agency Contracting 

Officers and Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs). In conducting our analysis we carefully 

reviewed and considered OMB Memorandum M-09-26, dated July 29, 2009, Office of Federal 

Procurement Policy (OFPP) proposed policy letter "Work Reserved for Performance by Federal 

Government Employees" (75 Fed. Reg. 16188; March 31, 2010), the insourcing guidelines 

required under section 736 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 

2009 (Public Law 111-8, division D) and all applicable internal agency guidance pertaining to this 

subject matter.

The analysis and review revealed that the support activities provided under the outlined special

interest functions are neither inherently Governmental, nor are they personal services contracts as 

defined in FAR 37.104. Current safeguards in place for monitoring contractor services provide 

reasonable assurance that work does not become inherently governmental during contract 

performance.

In addition, the analysis and review revealed that the CFTC is not utilizing contractor services to 

perform agency critical functions in such a way that could affect the ability of the agency to 

maintain control of its mission and operations. Lastly, the analysis revealed that the agency is 

increasingly relying on contract resources to support its expanded mission as a result of the Dodd–

Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Pub.L. 111-203, H.R. 4173) which was 

enacted in July 2010. The agency faces a number of challenges to effectively manage and oversee 

contract performance to ensure we remain in compliance with all guidelines and laws regarding 

the subject matter. 
Following is a summary of our review by PSC: 

For both PSCs D302 and D307, Office of Data Technology (ODT) contractor employees are used 

to provide Information Technology (IT) systems development and services support based on 

specialized technical skills that are not performed by ODT staff; but instead, monitored by agency 

staff project managers. CFTC awarded approximately $9.97m under PSC D307. CFTC reviewed 

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) CFODT-12-BP-0114 which accounts for approximately 

43.5% ($4.34m) of the obligated dollars under PSC D307. The BPA is for information technology

services required to enhance, operate and maintain existing systems and develop new systems to 

meet requirements of the Dodd-Frank initiatives. 

Of the approximately $19.4m obligated under PSC D302, 52% of the dollars (approximately 

$12.8m) was awarded under BPA CFIT-08-BP-0080 and its follow-on (CFODT-15-BP-0214). 

The BPA provides CFTC the ability to adjust to surges in workload required to enhance existing 

infrastructure requirements as it relates to security, telecommunications, and equipment that are 

needed as a part of the implementation of new initiatives as well as perform operations and 

maintenance (O&M) of the network, telecommunications and customer services center. 

 

For all the awards issued under PSC D302 and D307, ODT project managers track contractor 

performance via project milestones, project reviews and performance monitoring. All contract 

support is assigned an ODT IT program manager to manage and oversee various tasks within a 

contract, which ensures that ODT is maintaining control of missions and operations. ODT was 

able to hire one (1) IT program manager to serve as a dedicated Contracting Officer’s 

Representative (COR) in FY2014 to assist in managing and overseeing the Performance Work 

Statement for BPA associated with PSC D302. 

In summary, the CFTC continued to use contractor resources, in particular services provided under 

the special interest functions noted in our FY2015 Service Contract Inventory, to support agency 

staff. CFTC can provide reasonable assurance that it complies with laws and regulations governing 

contract resource use and is committed to undertaking the action necessary to reduce risks in 

delivery of contract services.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the CFTC personnel listed below if you have any 

questions about the FY2015 Service Contract Inventory and analysis. 

The following contact information is provided: 

(1) The CFTC senior agency management official accountable for the development of agency 

policies, procedures, and training associated with OFPP Policy Letter 11-01 and

addressing the performance of inherently governmental and critical functions is Alice 

Macklin, Human Capital Analyst, amacklin@cftc.gov, 202-418-5860. 

(2) Mrs. Macklin is also the official responsible for ensuring appropriate internal management 

attention is given to the development and analysis of service contract inventories. 
(3) The CFTC individual who has been designated to serve on the working group responsible 

for sharing best practices and lessons learned in the use of inventories as a management 

tool is: 

• Kathryn Rison, Contracting Officer, krison@cftc.gov, 202-418-5419.