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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF APRIL 30, 2016 FBO #5272
DOCUMENT

D -- SW Renewal - Redhat - Justification and Approval (J&A)

Notice Date

4/28/2016
 

Notice Type

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

NAICS

541519 — Other Computer Related Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;23 Christopher Way;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Archive Date

8/5/2016
 

Point of Contact

Den-el Opuszynski, Contract Specialist
 

E-Mail Address

arrell,
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG15SD21B VA118-16-F-1005
 

Award Date

4/28/2016
 

Description

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1.Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 2.Description of Action: This proposed action is for a firm-fixed price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). 3.Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Service Delivery and Engineering, Enterprise Operations (EO) has a requirement for software maintenance and associated support for 10 units of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) software for the Austin Information Technology Center (AITC). AITC upgraded its capacity last year of its Enterprise Class 12 Service Center and utilized RHEL software in order to provide the additional capacity it required to create additional virtual servers and to support the growth of existing virtual servers. This acquisition is to continue the software maintenance of the RHEL software. The period of performance is 12 months for software maintenance and associated support, plus one, 12-month option to continue the maintenance and associated support. The total price of the proposed action is $xxxxx, inclusive of the option. 4.Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting this exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C 4106(c)(2) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) entitled, "Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized." 5.Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited: Based on extensive market research, as described in section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for the RHEL software maintenance and associated support. RHEL is the only software maintenance and associated support that meets VA's requirements for maintenance of the software utilized in creating virtual servers, which consolidated hundreds of servers on to one server, conserved computer room space, electricity, cables, and complexity and helped prevent server sprawl. Acquisition of different software maintenance and associated support, even if another existed with qualifications that met VA's stated functional requirements, would require a completely separate software infrastructure to support the existing application due to RHEL proprietary database structures, protocols and software application programming interfaces. This would multiply the support costs for the implementation of virtual servers. No other software maintenance and associated support is compatible or interoperable with the existing RHEL software infrastructure due to RHEL's proprietary software interfaces. This lack of interoperability, such as the ability of a different vendor's software maintenance to be used on another vendor's software, is standard throughout the industry. No other brand name is compatible with the software maintenance and associated support required to meet the Government's requirements. 6.Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. It was determined, however, that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for the required RHEL software maintenance. This justification will be posted to the NASA SEWP V GWAC site with the solicitation. 7.Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there is new software introduced into the marketplace that meets the Government's requirements to virtualize and consolidate hundreds of servers onto one server, conserve computer room space, electricity, cables, and complexity and help prevent server sprawl. In the event software is introduced and meets the Government's requirements, future actions will be fully competed. 8.Market Research: When conducting market research in February of 2016, the Government's technical experts reviewed similar platforms to ascertain if these items could meet EO's requirements. Specifically, the Government's technical experts reviewed similar companies/organizations, such as VMware, Sun, Oracle, and Kernal Virtual Machine (KVM) in the virtual server area. In addition, the Government's technical experts researched Forrester Research, Gartner Research, and conducted research on virtual server websites and web-based forums related to virtual server requirements/needs stated in section 5 to identify potential virtual server solutions that could meet the Government's requirements. All of the platforms researched (VMware, Sun, Oracle, and KVM plus other research firm cited products) were unable to meet the unique functional requirements running on an RHEL software infrastructure and therefore cannot provide the required maintenance and associated support. All of the other software researched could not virtualize and consolidate hundreds of servers on to one server, conserve computer room space, electricity, cables, and complexity and help prevent server sprawl, all of which are mandatory requirements for this acquisition. No product other than RHEL was able to meet these unique, mandatory requirements. Therefore, no other software maintenance and associated support is compatible with or interoperable with the existing RHEL software infrastructure due to RHEL proprietary database structures, protocols and software application programming interfaces. This lack of interoperability, such as the ability of a different vendor's agent to communicate with another vendor's source code, is standard throughout the performance software maintenance industry. Additionally, RHEL is the only brand of Linux that is approved by VA's Technical Reference Model. Other brands of Linux are not approved to run on VA hardware. Based on the above, only RHEL software maintenance and associated support meets all of the Government's requirements. Additional market research was performed in February 2016 utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup tool which found numerous resellers on the NASA SEWP V GWAC who could provide all of the RHEL software maintenance. 9.Other Facts: None. ? 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. David Juarez Date: -__________________ Project ManagerSignature: _________________ 11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this action will be fair and reasonable based on adequate price competition. Additional price analysis will be conducted consisting of a comparison of the successful quote with the Independent Government Cost Estimate, published commercial pricing, and the awardee's NASA SEWP V GWAC catalog pricing. Iris FarrellDate: ______________________ 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. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000.00, the certification below, in accordance with VA Acquisition Regulation 806.304(a), serves as approval. Iris FarrellDate: ______________________ Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature: ______________________
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/444e8e3fc1bc9d03b85a6830c0534469)
 

Document(s)

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

File Name: NNG15SD21B VA118-16-F-1005 NNG15SD21B VA118-16-F-1005_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2702296&FileName=NNG15SD21B-012.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2702296&FileName=NNG15SD21B-012.docx

 

File Name: NNG15SD21B VA118-16-F-1005 Justification Red Hat redacted.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2702297&FileName=NNG15SD21B-013.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2702297&FileName=NNG15SD21B-013.docx

 

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

Record

SN04098449-W 20160430/160428234634-444e8e3fc1bc9d03b85a6830c0534469 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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