Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity (Use of 52.217-8 Option)

TSA utilized the Option to Extend Services clause, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8, for the TSA Information System Security Officer (ISSO) Services Task Order HHSN316201200166W / 70T03020F6NPIE008 that shall restrict the number of sources provided a fair opportunity to be considered (FAR 16.505(b)(2)). This Exception to Fair Opportunity supports the execution of this option.

Use of the FAR 52.217-8 Option clause to modify the contract is necessary to avoid an interruption in required ISSO services and to allow the competitive follow on procurement’s successful contractor an appropriate Transition-In period. The Transition-In period is necessary to sustain the critical operations that support TSA’s network infrastructure.

It would be impractical based on the highly specialized nature of the services, policy requirements mandating ISSO services, and the security requirements to onboard contractor personnel to transition to a new contractor before an award has been made.

(Note: The PSC Code for this action is actually D306 - IT AND TELECOM - SYSTEMS ANALYSIS. Due to a system issue this PSC is not available to select at the time of posting. The CO has alternately selected the most closely associated PSC for this notification. )