Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition
United States Department of Agriculture
FAR 13.5 - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items
1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.
USDA OCIO DISC EAS AGLEARN & United States Department of Agriculture, Departmental
Administration, Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations Division, 301 S.
Howes Street, Suite 321, Fort Collins, CO 80521.
2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.
USDA Proposes a Firm Fixed-Price, Limited source award to GP Strategies for continuation of
Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services for AgLearn Learning Management System (LMS)
platform.
3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the
estimated value).
This procurement is for a Limited source purchase for the FY2020 Totara / Next Gen LMS
Professional Services, required by the USDA AgLearn Learning Management System (LMS) and
offered by GP Strategies. This purchase is required in order to meet the needs and ensure the
continuation to the development of and future releases of the AgLearn Next Gen Platform.
USDA/OCIO/DISC/EAS/AgLearn requires continuation with project management and technical
services in support of the AgLearn program. These support roles provide the required assistance for
Totara / Next Gen LMS continual LMS support after Go Live. These services are a continuation of
development of the Totara AgLearn LMS platform. This requirement supports the continuation of
the development, release, and ongoing project management of the platform currently in process via
a different award (Next Gen Phase 1 & 2). FY2020 Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services
of the LMS platform development, release, and ongoing project management includes requirements
for Project Management Support & Technical Support.
USDA currently has an agreement with GP Strategies Corporation for LMS Professional Services
Support. GP Strategies is a certified partner with the Totara corporation and the LMS Professional
Services Support provided align to this Totara solution and certified partnership for the AgLearn
Next Gen Platform. Services can only be provided from the original source (GP Strategies
Corporation) as this is a follow-on requirement for the continued provision of highly specialized
hosting services that GP Strategies Corporation provides for the transition to the new LMS AgLearn
platform.
GP Strategies Corporation is currently contract in USDA (OCIO EAS) for system architecture,
design, configuration, development, and delivery with the Totara platform. They have a developed
platform already in place for USDA AgLearn and this has been in place for 12 months. The h LMS
Professional Services Support requirement is a continuation for the support services via a separate
contract awarded via. Direct award that is in place to complete the next generation LMS for USDA
with required LMS Professional Services support as the solution is released to the USDA enterprise.
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Totara system installation is already on AgLearn servers and the development tasks are now in a
critical post release phase.
Estimate cost for this requirement is $1,784,160.00 for the base support. The period of performance
for this requirement is October 1, 2019 through March 30, 2021 & April 1, 2021 through September
30, 2021.
Under the LMS Professional Services Support contract GP Strategies will provide the continuation
of services not limited to:
The continuation of services by providing the USDA with: Next Gen LMS project management,
subject matter expertise, technical services and creative services in support of the AgLearn program.
These support roles shall support required daily operational tasks, Department initiatives, as well as
Federal training requirements.
Project Management Support
􀁸 Status meeting support
􀁸 Status reports
􀁸 AgLearn Lead meeting support
􀁸 Managing project schedules, tasks, quality, and budgets
􀁸 Communicating and coordinating with AgLearn Stakeholders
􀁸 Supporting Communications with AgLearn System Administrators
􀁸 Coordinating with USDA EAS and Contracting Officers, including project finances,
proposals, estimates, and compliance issues
􀁸 Assisting USDA in Department costing and resource estimates
􀁸 Assisting AgLearn Program Management in devising and implementing technical and
business process solutions at the Department level
􀁸 Supporting LMS and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Documentation
Subject Matter Expert (SME) Support
􀁸 Provide Totara application expertise to the project team
􀁸 Serve as the Totara point of contact for USDA
􀁸 Support the ongoing configuration of the Totara application
􀁸 Manage issue creation, tracking and status within the Totara Partner site for USDA
􀁸 Provide insight and recommendations on new Totara releases
􀁸 Manage the approach and execution of any development efforts
􀁸 Support of the following Team AgLearn activities: - Internal training - Change
Management - Standard Operating Procedure development
Engineer Support
􀁸 Providing technical direction, consultation and recommendations
􀁸 Troubleshooting high level issues
􀁸 Installing upgrades, patches, and new modules
􀁸 Designing, developing and implementing customizations and reporting
􀁸 Supporting the transfer of data between environments
􀁸 Developing/Updating interfaces as needed
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􀁸 Supporting correction action and intervention via backend
􀁸 Providing courseware support, including loading and troubleshooting
􀁸 Updating and maintaining scheduled data feeds
􀁸 Providing technical support for Quality Control objectives
4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.
41 U.S.C § 1901 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures up to $7 million, as authorized by FAR
13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).
5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the
nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.
Due to the original contract type issued for this acquisition and employee attrition, this contract did
not have option years on it as originally planned. This was discovered by POD when the EAS
Program Office issued a requisition to exercise the option year for FY19 in late September of 2019.
With option years not being available to exercise, the platform would come to a stop. This platform
significant feature for all USDA employees.
The project is in the middle of its complete integration and is hinging on its future deployment of a
complete, fully functional AgLearn program. AgLearn is the final outcome of this effort and it is
where all certification, various internal required training opportunities are located, and where all
educational requirements are maintained and housed for all USDA employees. If this service and
the maintenance and support of this program is not readily available, USDA employees would not
have access to obtaining their training credentials. Based upon the need and urgency of maintaining
the AgLearn Next Gen Platform, it has been determined to issue this acquisition as a limited source
requirement because providing fair opportunity would result in an unacceptable delay.
USDA currently has an agreement with GP Strategies Corporation for LMS Professional Services
Support. GP Strategies is a certified partner with the Totara corporation and the LMS Professional
Services Support provided align to this Totara solution and certified partnership for the AgLearn
Next Gen Platform. Services can only be provided from the original source (GP Strategies
Corporation) as this is a follow-on requirement for the continued provision of highly specialized
professional services that GP Strategies Corporation provides for the transition to the new LMS
AgLearn platform. If GP Strategies is not supported for the continuation of support services, the
USDA will not be able to continual services of the LMS and harm to the government will result in a
stoppage of services and the Aglearn offerings to USDA.
USDA/OCIO/DISC/EAS/AgLearn has an urgent requirement to ensure the continuation of requires
continuation of the required services tailored to project management and technical services
(Professional Services) in support of the AgLearn program. These support services roles provide the
required assistance for Totara / Next Gen AgLearn continual support after Go Live. This
requirement supports the continuation of the development, release, and ongoing project
management of the platform currently in place.
6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources
as is practicable.
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Describe efforts used to ensure offers were/will be solicited from as many sources as practicable.
Include whether or not a Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) announcement (FAR 5.2)
was made and what response, if any, was received. Include the exception under FAR 5.202 if not
synopsized. Describe whether any additional or similar requirements are anticipated in the future.
This requirement is a continuation of initial development and deployment, there are no additional
sources to solicit from. At the time of this sole source award it is not anticipated that the
Government will have future similar requirements however if that changes, those future
requirements will be competed to the maximum extent practicable.
7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government
will be fair and reasonable.
Historical - previous contract year 10/1/18 - 9/30/19 is the same dollar amount. AG-3144-D-16-
0536. No change in pricing for FY 20.
Service rates offered on schedule have already been determined to be fair and reasonable by GSA.
The Government will seek additional discounts from contractor published rates for this requirement.
The level of support for this requirement of Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services for the
AgLearn LMS platform is compared to the support utilized under the previous contract for phase 1
& 2 and O&M to ensure comparable use of resources to ensure best value of resources to the
Government.
The features and specialized services received in support and development of the LMS platform for
USDA will result in completion of the LMS next generation platform for Government use and the
best value possible due to contractor's specialized ability to work with the Totara framework
specifically within the USDA AgLearn system.
8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the
reason Market Research was not conducted.
The Government reviewed the Totara certified partners list at the Totara website and compared the
list to the list of GSA FSS Professional Services Schedule (PSS) contract holders. At the time there
were no other Totara partners, other than GP Strategies, that are available via GSA FSS.
Totara software is open source, highly flexible, and is used in a diverse range of sectors and
organizations for Learning Management System (LMS) delivery. Totara is an open source
distribution of Moodle developed for the corporate and government market. Totara is translated into
24 languages and has over 5 million subscribers. The current version of Totara LMS is 2.9 and is
based on Moodle 2.9. Totara releases a full but unsupported version of the product publicly via
Github prior to each major release.
Totara is a licensed product (see the agreement a https://www.totaralms.com/subagreement.pdf).
Though their license is much less expensive and more flexible than commercial LMS licenses, it
still places constraints on the use of the software. One of these constraints is that Totara LMS
hosting is only delivered through Totara-partnered corporations due to the expertise required for the
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Totara solutions. No other vendor is authorized to provide this software licensing & hosting or
allowed access to their code unless partnered with Totara.
GP Strategies Corporation is a certified partner with the Totara Corporation. Based on that
certification GP Strategies holds a unique and specialized ability to be able to provide USDA with
Totara October 1, 2019 through March 30, 2021 & April 1, 20210 through September 30, 20210
October 1, 2019 through March 30, 2021 & April 1, 20210 through September 30, 2021 needed to
develop and deploy the USDA LMS platform. Market research, as stated below, shows that no
other Totara platform holds a GSA FSS contract making GP Strategies even more unique in being
able to offer this support to Government Agencies.
GP Strategies Corporation is also currently providing support for hosting at AWS, system
architecture, design, configuration, development, and delivery with the Totara platform, also known
as phase 1 & 2 of LMS development. This requirement is for continuation and finalizing of the
development, system release, and system support post go live for the final LMS system called
AgLearn. Under phase 1 & 2 they have a developed platform already in place for USDA AgLearn
LMS and the Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services is to finalize and complete as stated
above. This information, in addition to the Totara partnership and only Totara partner available via
GSA FSS, supports the fact that the support required for USDA AgLearn is unique and specialized
and can only be completed successfully for USDA by GP Strategies.
9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.
Service rates offered on schedule have already been determined to be fair and reasonable by GSA.
The Government will seek additional discounts from contractor published rates for this requirement.
The level of support for this requirement of Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services for the
AgLearn LMS platform will be compared to the support utilized under the previous contract for
phase 1 & 2 to ensure comparable use of resources to ensure best value of resources to the
Government.
The features and specialized services received in support and development of the LMS platform for
USDA will result in completion of the LMS next generation platform for Government use and the
best value possible due to contractor's specialized ability to work with the Totara framework
specifically within the USDA AgLearn system.
10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.
NA
11. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to
competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.
There are no further actions to be taken regarding contract barrier as the work being completed by
GP Strategies for Totara / Next Gen LMS Professional Services of the AgLearn LMS platform will
be finished at the completion of this award
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Certifications & Approvals
Supporting data which form the basis for and included in this justification are certified accurate and
complete.
_________________________________________________
AgLearn Program - Jerome Davin
The information contained in this Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is
certified accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Victoria E. Baca
Contracting Officer
Additional Reviews & Approvals
Signatures are required at each threshold up to the total estimated dollar value of the acquisition
Contracting Branch Chief (if not the Contracting Officer) (if over $700,000). I have reviewed
this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
_________________________________________________
Jason Kuhl
Contracting Branch Chief
POD Competition Advocate (if over $700,000). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be
accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
_________________________________________________
Danielle Knipper
Competition Advocate, Procurement Operations Division
POD Procurement Analyst (if over $1 million). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be
accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
_________________________________________________
Danielle Knipper
Procurement Analyst, Procurement Operations Division
POD Deputy Chief (if over $1 million). I have reviewed this justification and find it to be
accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
JEROME DAVIN Digitally signed by JEROME
DAVIN
Date: 2019.09.27 17:20:27 -05'00'
Page 7 Attachment 5 - AOP No. 5, J&A - Other Than Full and Open Competition, 5/28/19
_________________________________________________
Insert Name of the POD Deputy Chief
Deputy Chief, Procurement Operations Division
Procuring Activity Competition Advocate (if over $1 million). I have reviewed this justification
and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Therefore, unless
additional approvals are required as prescribed below, as advocate for competition for the procuring
activity, I hereby approve this justification.
_________________________________________________
Insert Name of the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate
Chief, Procurement Operations Division
Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition