Attachment 4 - Justification and Approval_12760426Q0213.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Justification to Restrict Competition

Identification Number:

Rev. 11/6/2025

In accordance with the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.102 (b), the following justification documents the decision to restrict competition for this acquisition.

(1) Mission Area and Contracting Activity.

Requisition Number: PR # 1177175

Requesting Activity Agency: The United States Department of Agriculture, Chief Information Office, Fire Information Technology

Contracting Activity: The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Procurement Operations, Property and Procurement Services, Information Technology Contracting Branch

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes and approves the award of a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract as a follow-on to contract 12760423F0421 for the procurement of proprietary IT software. This requirement is driven by the transition of Fire Cloud (the FireNESS.gov domain) to the Microsoft Azure VMware Solution (AVS) hosting environment. Because the current AVS subscription model mandates a Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) framework to activate essential updates and support features, and because the platform itself is a specialized, proprietary architecture co-developed by Microsoft and Broadcom to execute VMware products within the Azure cloud space, authentic, vendor-specific licenses are strictly required to ensure operational continuity and full compliance.

Manufacturer:

Broadcom 3421 Hillview Av.

Palo Alto, CA 94304

UEI: ZD5UEFJ9QL85

(3) A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

VMware license type for this effort is VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation). FireCloud requires a quantity of 1008 VCF licenses which allows FireCloud to maintain security patching and updates to our cloud-hosting infrastructure.

Estimated Value: $

(4) Identify the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is FAR 6.103-1 (d), Brand Name

Identification Number:

Rev. 11/6/2025

> FAR 12.201-1, Simplified procedures - 41 U.S.C. 1901

(5) Demonstrate that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires using the authority cited.

Broadcom is the only Manufacturer of the product needed. No other licenses would be valid in this system. The VMware products and Brand were acquired by Broadcom 2023. The underlying software that supports the instantiation and management of virtual machines is VMware ESXi. This management software provides the virtualization between hardware and operating system. In order to run / manage VMs and clusters within the AVS (Azure VMware Solutions) environment, the appropriate licenses are required, which are only available through Broadcom.

(6) Provide a description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Part 5 and, if not, which exception under Part 5 applies.

The solicitation approach will utilize a public notice posted on SAM.gov. To maximize competition and ensure equity, a fair opportunity will be afforded to all small business schedule holders. As of this date, no other sources have expressed interest in fulfilling this requirement.

(7) A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Many resellers exist to ensure that the cost will be fair and reasonable. This will be placed on SAM.gov as an open market bid. All companies who have access to SAM.gov and are licensed resellers of VMware will be given a fair opportunity.

(8) A description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

Market research for alternative licensing solutions was not conducted, as no alternative software licenses would be approved or valid for use within this operational environment, a determination substantiated by technical consultations with authorized Microsoft and Broadcom representatives between October 2025 and April 2026. These direct discussions occurred during agency-wide, large-audience coordination meetings hosted by the USDA to support the comprehensive migration and transition activities out of the closing Kansas City Digital Infrastructure Services Center (DISC) data center.

(9) Any other facts supporting use of other than full and open competition, such as:

N/A

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in the acquisition in writing.

No companies, prior to soliciting, have shown interest in providing the government with this product.

Identification Number:

Rev. 11/6/2025

(11) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition of the supplies or services required.

This procurement is supported by a Brand Name Justification; however, it does not restrict competition for the requirement itself, but rather specifies the mandatory product necessary. Comprehensive technical analysis indicates that no other alternative product exists with the capabilities required to satisfy this specific operational need.

Certifications & Approvals

Technical / Requirements Personnel Certification I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Name Date Title

Contracting Officer’s Certification I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name Date Contracting Officer