AWARD
70 -- Cisco Network Equipment & Software for LCR & Data Center Consolidation (VA-23-00020485)
- Notice Date
- 1/17/2023 1:01:06 PM
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CENTER NJ (36C10B) EATONTOWN NJ 07724 USA
- ZIP Code
- 07724
- Solicitation Number
- 36C10B23Q0085
- Archive Date
- 03/18/2023
- Point of Contact
- Sean McAvoy, Contract Specialist, Phone: 848-377-5039
- E-Mail Address
-
sean.mcavoy1@va.gov
(sean.mcavoy1@va.gov)
- Award Number
- NNG15SE09B36C10B23F0054
- Award Date
- 01/17/2023
- Awardee
- GREENBRIER GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS INC. OCEANA 24870-5600
- Award Amount
- 376414.27000000
- Description
- Cisco Network Equipment and Software 2 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724 2. Description of Action: This proposed action is for the award of 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) for brand-name Cisco network equipment and software for direct lifecycle replacement (LCR) of the same in support of the Austin Information Technology Center (AITC) datacenter and the Philadephia Information Technology Center (PITC) datacenter consolidation/migration efforts. Cisco products are the primary networking components used for the datacenter network. 3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Financial Services Center (FSC) requires brand name Cisco network equipment and software to replace outdated networking components used for the datacenters in Waco and AITC/PITC. Specifically, VA requires brand name Cisco FirePower Firewalls, Catalyst 9300X management switches and Nexus 9508 Chassis for LCR of older network equipment and to support the move of the FSC Waco Datacenter to the PITC datacenter in Philadelphia. In addition, VA requires Short-reach transceiver modules required to connect the requested Cisco layer 3 backbone switches to Cisco Firewalls and Cisco Enterprise-Class transceiver modules required to connect the requested Cisco access switches to data center endpoint devices for LCR of older equipment and support of the AITC and PITC datacenter migration. The period of performance for all software and maintenance and support shall be 12 months from date of delivery. All hardware shall be delivered no later than 90 days after award. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $. 4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by 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 Above: Based on market research described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available among resellers for the required brand name Cisco products. Cisco products are the only products capable of meeting the Government s requirement. Cisco is the Original Equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the network infrastructure at the Austin, Waco and Philadelphia datacenters. Cisco equipment utilizes a proprietary operating system that runs Cisco Systems routers and switches and cannot be provided by another manufacturer. There is a National Security need for full interoperability and guaranteed assurance of interconnecting all devices on the network. Network equipment from manufacturers other than Cisco introduces integration and operational issues which impede the capacity to provide services to all supported locations. All required replacement network equipment and software must be compatible with current equipment on hand. Introducing a product line from another manufacturer will open security vulnerabilities as well as communications and connectivity problems that will interfere with migration completion. Continued standardization is required to ensure network defense and compatibility due to common security and vulnerability patches sent remotely through the network. The migration to products from another vendor would require a total re-configuration of the system, including installation and integration of replacement hardware which would result in additional costs to the Government. The level of effort required to integrate products from another vendor would also require no less than 10 months of lead time for hiring, professional services, training, documentation, planning, and purchasing. In addition, deployment and integration would require at least six months based on migration, routing configurations, networking, server hardware configurations, and security procedures. In total, purchase and integration of another vendor s brand equipment would require well over a year of lead time to include planning, procurement, engineering and deployment. Although market research has identified other providers of technologies with similar capabilities, attempting to replace existing critical infrastructure would compromise current technical capabilities as well as incur substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays that could not be recovered through competition. Therefore, no other brand name is acceptable for the Government s requirements. The procurement of alternate hardware rather than continuing to use the existing brand would result in substantial duplication of costs, which would not be recovered through a new competitive acquisition. 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. However, it was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for these brand name items. In accordance with 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed. 8. Market Research: Additional market research was conducted in Novemebr 2022 by the Contract Specialist by utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup tool that identified Cisco network equipment and software products that are available from multiple SEWP vendors and multiple commercial re-sellers. Specifically, it was found that there are 23 Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business authorized resellers of Cisco products who are registered and verified in the Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database; therefore, limited competition is expected for this proposed action. 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. Program Manager Signature: ____________________________ 11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on NASA SEWP V GWAC basic contract prices having previously been determined fair and reasonable. Additionally, price competition is expected among resellers for this action. Finally, price analysis will be performed by comparing the successful quote to the Independent Government Cost Estimate. Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ____________________________ 12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ____________________________ Approval In my role as Procurement Service Director, One Level Above the Contracting Officer, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Cisco network equipment and software, on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition. Date: ____________ Signature: _____________________ Procurement Service Director Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistic
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