NNG15SD43B-020.pdf

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd, Suite 600

Austin, TX 78744

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 Cisco brand name security software to support the renewal of licenses currently supporting the VA network security infrastructure.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Solutions Delivery, Security Engineering, Security Engineering Design and Implementation, Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) Architecture Team currently is responsible to renew Cisco Security software licenses, Software as a Service (SaaS), and support services enterprise-wide for all Cisco systems equipment and associated software comprising the VA network security infrastructure. The enterprise license will permit access to the Cisco software and SaaS suite of security products, enterprise-wide during the term of the license, and will permit installation of the Cisco security suite of products on all devices owned or controlled by VA. The proposed action is required in order to maintain and support VA network security infrastructure as well as to provide capabilities in order to support organic network growth. The VA network is a critical data transport that connects all users located at VA Central Office (VACO), VA Medical Centers (VAMC), Regional Offices, Community-Based Out-Patient Clinics (CBOC), and external medical and financial entities that are required to maintain data integrity and reliability in supporting our veterans. The VA TIC and Wide-Area Network Backbone consists primarily of Cisco systems equipment and associated software. The proposed action includes an enterprise agreement for VA to renew existing subscription-based licenses for the deployment of Integrated/Aggregate routers, firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Identity Service Engines (ISE), and Email Security Appliances (ESA), to include software support for issues regarding licensing and software updates. The role of these devices is to protect the VA network from a wide variety of threats, some internal, but mostly external threats. Threat protection mechanisms provided by the ESA are Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Anti Malware, Data Loss Prevention, and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP). Threat protection mechanisms provided by the firewalls and IPS include basic traffic filtering capabilities, Application Visibility and Control, Botnet Traffic filters, and web security that include AMP and Uniform Resource Locator Filtering. ISE features include device administration and posture assessment which allows the VA to control and maintain Two-Factor Authentication on VA data network. Together these provide a layered approach in protecting the VA network. In addition to the enterprise license, VA requires support services consisting of upgrades and technical support for existing software and SaaS.

The license types provided by Cisco may be perpetual or subscription based depending

Cisco Enterprise Level Agreement TAC-19-53263 on the security features required. The period of performance will be one year from the date of award, including two 12-month option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 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 Subpart 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 section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available for this procurement. Market research revealed that Cisco is the only brand of software that can be added to the VA’s network security infrastructure without disruption. The existing VA infrastructure and network currently in place is based solely on a Cisco brand name platform. Currently VA utilizes over 67,000 various Cisco brand name security devices including, but not limited to, Integrated Services Routers, Aggregate Services Routers, Adaptive Security Appliances (aka firewalls), IPS, ISE, and ESA. These devices currently utilize the Cisco security software to function. Due to the proprietary nature of these devices, no other brand name software can function on the devices. Use of any other brand name software will result in having to replace all the existing Cisco devices due to the aforementioned inoperability. That would result in extensive delivery delays of 4 years and duplicated costs in excess of $120M that would not be recovered through competition. These estimates are based on similar efforts to procure the devices. The required Cisco security software is proprietary to Cisco and it is only available through Cisco authorized resellers. The VA network is a critical data transport that connects all users located at VACO, VAMCs, Regional Offices, CBOCs, and external medical and financial entities that are required to maintain data integrity and reliability in supporting our veterans. License activation and security feature keys are tied directly to the serial number of the device and cannot be generated by any other entity but Cisco. The licensing and key generation system is a unique, patented system wholly owned and maintained by Cisco. No other vendor of similar technologies can create, simulate or produce by any means these unique license activation and security feature keys. In addition, these license activation and security feature keys cannot be transferred between devices, except in the case of a hardware failure. If the VA must replace a device due to a hardware failure, and it is currently covered by Cisco, only the Cisco Licensing Team can transfer the license to a replacement device.

Therefore, only Cisco or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary software licensing. Through market research, it is not anticipated that additional savings could be achieved by competing the requirement that would offset the costs of a procuring any other software agreement.

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, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Cisco products. In accordance with FAR

Cisco Enterprise Level Agreement TAC-19-53263

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 Federal Business 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 learn if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: VA’s technical personnel conducted market research in April 2019 by reviewing similar software solutions to ascertain if other brands could meet VA’s functional and technical requirements. While other software solutions from alternative manufacturers such as Juniper and Check Point exist, they do not meet VA’s requirements because only Cisco or an authorized reseller has access to the existing proprietary database and devices currently in place within the VA. Also, VA Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software solution is available. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government’s SME’s have determined that only the aforementioned Cisco brand name software solution can meet all of the VA’s needs.

The Contract Specialist (CS) conducted market research in May 2019 by using the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup tool to determine what vendors are capable of meeting the requirement. Based on this market research, the CS found multiple service-disabled Veteran-owned small business Cisco authorized resellers under SEWP V capable of meeting the full requirement.

9. Other Facts: While this procurement covers the renewal of existing and future Cisco security software needs, the renewal of these licenses shall not replace the need, or justify a sole source, to procure licensing on new Cisco products.