NNG15SD35B-001.pdf

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations

Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd

Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a brand name firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC).

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action is to provide Brand Name NEC Resolve Plus software maintenance and NEC Software Assurance subscriptions in support of VISN 11 OI&T to maintain voice system updates and upgrades for multiple sites; Ann Arbor HCS, Battle Creek VAMC, Danville VAMC, Detroit VAMC, Indianapolis VAMC, Northern Indianapolis HCS, and Saginaw VAMC and all of the offsite locations with VISN 11. This program provides direct access to NEC’s National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) for engineering support plus complete software support coverage for NEC platform software and applications through NEC’s Software Assurance. Period of performance will be 12 months from date of award. The total estimated price of this proposed action is .

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the 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 Above: Based on market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available for this procurement. NEC’s brand name platform software and applications is the only software that can continue to build upon VA’s existing NEC’s infrastructure.

NEC brand software and support subscriptions are the only services capable of integrating and operating with the current NEC applications throughout VISN 11. Any other brand name software is unable to integrate with the currently fielded software and NEC’s voice systems. The current NEC infrastructure is based on NEC software and VA requires support compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. Only NEC or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary software updates, because of the propriety source code required to develop and implement software updates. In addition, a prior implementation of NEC software and support subscriptions already exists in VISN 11.

Additionally, no other brand name software will be interoperable or compatible with the currently fielded NEC’s voice system and NEC’s brand name software. Competing for

RESOLVE Plus Renewal new software would not result in savings, and the purchase of NEC brand name platfor software and NEC Software Assurance is more advantageous to the Government.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this justification. 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 resellers for these brand name items. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), this action will be synopsized and the justification will be made publicly available on the Federal Business Opportunities Page within 14 days of award of the order. The Justification will also be posted with the solicitation on the NASA SEWP website in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1).

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to learn if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: VA technical personnel conducted market research in June 2018, which consisted of a review of similar voice systems, including Cisco, Avaya, and Siemens. Without changing the actual equipment to a different voice system manufacture, there is no other comparable software or service. Based on reviews of other manufacturer’s software updates and upgrades, the Government’s technical experts determined that none of those products can meet the interoperability and compatibility requirement previously discussed in paragraph 5. Review of these products are based on actual VA’s experience. Additionally, VA telecom Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software is available. Based on the technical personnel market research efforts, it is determined that only NEC brand name software can meet all of VA’s needs.

In July 2018, the contract specialist (CS) conducted market research using web searches by searching for resellers on National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) IV Government Wide Acquisition Contract. Based on this market research, the CS found resellers under SEWP capable of meeting the full requirement.

9. Other Facts: None.