AWARD
70 -- WAN Router IRP Refresh, New Delivery Order (VA-20-00052453)
- Notice Date
- 9/11/2020 11:55:13 AM
- 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
- 36C10B20Q0477
- Archive Date
- 10/11/2020
- Point of Contact
- Joseph.Pignataro@va.gov, Kathryn.Pantages@va.gov, Phone: 732-795-1115
- E-Mail Address
-
joseph.pignataro@va.gov
(joseph.pignataro@va.gov)
- Award Number
- NNG15SD22B36C10B20F0360
- Award Date
- 09/11/2020
- Awardee
- FOUR POINTS TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C. CHANTILLY 20151
- Award Amount
- 15773491.98000000
- Description
- JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, New Jersey 07724 Description of Action: This proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order to be awarded under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), for brand name Cisco Systems, Inc. (Cisco) Wide Area Network (WAN) routing hardware and modules as well as installation services. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action is for the refresh and installation of brand name Cisco WAN Router Equipment in support of 141 VA facilities and associated remote sites for VA, Office of Information & Technology (OI&T), Information Technology Operations and Service (ITOPS). The refresh includes replacement of existing Cisco routers, replacement of modules (sub-components) in existing routers, addition of ancillary components of equipment into existing routers and basic router and router hardware installation services. The refresh will occur at VA sites and associated remote offices throughout the country, providing WAN routers to refresh VA s network infrastructure. Delivery of the hardware is due 45 days after receipt of order. Additionally, this procurement includes optional tasks for additional brand name Cisco WAN routers and modules as well as installation services which may be necessary to fully refresh the 141 VA facilities and associated remote sites for OI&T ITOPS. The optional tasks may be exercised anytime within the contract ordering period of 36 months from date of award. The total estimated value of the portion of the proposed action related to brand name Cisco WAN routing hardware (routers and modules) is $. Installation services are not required to be brand name Cisco. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $, which is inclusive of all optional tasks. 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. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on extensive market research, as described in Section 8, it was determined that only brand name Cisco WAN router hardware will meet the Government s requirements. The infrastructure in place requires augmentation that ensures compatibility and interoperability with the existing Cisco equipment. This effort will replace end of support Cisco hardware currently in production. Cisco WAN routers allow VA to provide data encryption security for all VA s data in transit over the VA WAN. Interoperability with VA s existing WAN data encryption system, which is robust and scalable, is a critical requirement and hereafter referred to as Group Domain of Interpretation (GDOI) and also as Group Encrypted Transport Virtual Private Network (GETVPN). GETVPN, VA s WAN encryption system, is the Cisco branded implementation of GDOI. To ensure the security and integrity of all VA WAN traffic, especially traffic that may include Veteran Personal Identifiable Information and Veteran Protected Health Information, all VA WAN data traffic must be encrypted before transmission into the service providers network. Every VA WAN router must fully participate in VA s WAN encryption system or enterprise wide data transport failures will occur. The following is a list of critical and essential GDOI capabilities that must be fully supported by all VA WAN routers for VA s enterprise WAN encryption system to be functional: GDOI group key-push exchange, Anti-replay, protocol, and port support in the policies sent to WAN routers by the GDOI server, and Private Key IPsec support for authentication of WAN routers that are authorized to participate in VA s GETVPN WAN encryption system. Only Cisco s implementation of GDOI supports these critical features and enables VA to procure a complete solution. Additionally, only brand name Cisco WAN routers are compatible with VA s GDOI WAN encryption system which is integral to the functioning of VA s WAN. If non-Cisco routers are installed the sites where they are installed will go down due to incompatibility with the features described above. Brand name Cisco WAN routers are required to interoperate with VA s GETVPN system because no other manufacturers produce WAN routers that support the above critical features. There are no other known alternatives. Included with this procurement, but separate from the GDOI issue, are Cisco interface modules which will be required to be installed into existing Cisco router chassis. Due to Cisco proprietary hardware and intellectual property policies, no other vendors are authorized by Cisco to manufacture hardware interface modules for Cisco router chassis. Only Cisco brand name router interface modules will operate in Cisco router chassis. There are no other known alternatives. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition amongst Cisco authorized resellers is available for this brand name acquisition. In accordance with FAR 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 Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the Government will continue to perform market research to determine if there are any new products or installation services available in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be fully competed. Market Research: The Government s technical experts conducted market research during June 2020 for non-Cisco WAN routers and WAN router hardware to ascertain if any other manufacturer s router products would satisfy VA s requirements. Specifically, VA technical experts conducted web-based research using Google search, vendor website searches and review of non-Cisco router vendor specifications, datasheets and white papers looking for WAN routing hardware capable of supporting the GDOI features. Vendors research included Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. It was determined that no other manufacturer s hardware meets any of VA s functional and interoperability requirements as described in section 5 of this document for VA s GDOI WAN encryption system or for interface modules for installation into existing Cisco WAN routers. Only Cisco can provide WAN routers capable of meeting the requirements for VA s GDOI WAN encryption system and only Cisco manufactures compatible interface module hardware capable of operating in existing Cisco WAN routers. Additionally, the Contract Specialist released a Request for Information (RFI) on the NASA SEWP V GWAC on June 8, 2020, to all four groups of contract holders. Five responses were received, two of which were Small Businesses identified within Group C, Small Businesses. After evaluating the responses, the Program Office revised the Product Description to provide further definition of requirements and the Contract Specialist released a second RFI on July 23, 2020, this time on the NASA SEWP V GWAC and the Contract Opportunities webpage. Seven responses were received in total, five of which were from NASA SEWP V including one Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), one Small Business, and three Large Businesses. The SDVOSB, Small Business, and two Large Businesses were found capable of meeting the requirements. One Large Business did not provide sufficient information in its response to determine its capability since it only provided marketing material. The two respondents from the Contract Opportunities webpage were identified as an SDVOSB and a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), however, neither provided sufficient information in their response to determine their capabilities of meeting the requirements of offering a viable solution. The SDVOSB only provided a statement expressing interest, however, did not address any requirements in the Product Description. The VOSB only provided marketing material and did not address the requirements in the Product Description. As such, the Contract Specialist released a statement on the Contract Opportunities webpage informing respondents that based on the market research results, the subject requirement would be issued for consideration of quotes from all GWAC holders in Groups B(1) Historically Underutilized Business Zone, B(2) SDVOSB, and Group C Small Business, under the Value Added Reseller North American Industry Classification System code 541519 on NASA SEWP V. No feedback was received after the closing announcement informing respondents of the direction VA has taken. Lastly, the two respondents, an SDVOSB and a VOSB were not contract holders on NASA SEWP V. Other Facts: None. 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. Gary Branch Date: __________________________ Enterprise Network Engineer Signature: ______________________ Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. Contracts awarded on NASA SEWP V contract have already been determined to be fair and reasonable. As there are multiple authorized resellers on the NASA SEWP V GWAC capable providing brand name Cisco WAN routing hardware described herein, price competition is anticipated. Finally, price analysis shall be conducted by comparing the successful quote will be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate. Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________ Legal Sufficiency Certification: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity and deem it legally sufficient. Date: ______________________ Legal Counsel Signature: ______________________ Approval In my role as Head of the Contracting Activity, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Cisco WAN routing hardware and modules 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 herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition. Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________ Head of the Contracting Activity Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics
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