NNG15SD25B-080.pdf

Contract Center TIC Expansion-TX-IL Control Number: TAC-19-56159

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 Director’s Blvd Austin, TX 78748

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for 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 the expansion of brand name Cisco and NetApp FlexPod Converged Virtualization Infrastructures (CVI) hardware and software components, as well as installation and configuration services, and NetApp maintenance and support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA Office of Information and Technology, IT Operations and Services (ITOPS) Unified Communications Infrastructure Support (UCIS) section has a requirement for brand name qty 2658 NetApp software and hardware items, and qty 5032 Cisco Server/compute devices and software items along with installation, maintenance, and configuration services to increase the storage capacity within the existing FlexPod Converged Virtual Infrastructures (CVI), equipped with hardware and software components, including related requirements for installation pertaining to architecture expansion, accessory kits, power cords, and maintenance support services. This equipment, located in the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) North-Chicago IL and South-Dallas TX Datacenters, supports National and VISN call centers. The Flexpod CVIs are complete solutions designed by Cisco and NetApp that consist of Cisco Hyperflex and NetApp hardware and software. The Flexpod CVI combines Cisco networking and compute components with NetApp storage elements in an all in one engineered platform. The Cisco elements provide the networking communications between all the hardware plus the compute servers while NetApp provides the storage needed for the environment. The Flexpod CVI is specifically engineered to provide high performance computing all in one rack of hardware. This requirement is to procure additional capacity of existing FlexPod CVI’s along with installation, configuration services, maintenance and technical support to increase the capacity. This effort will expand the Cisco and NetApp equipment that is currently in use supporting ITOPS UCIS voice applications.

This effort shall include NetApp maintenance and support under a one (1) year warranty to identify security vulnerabilities and defect resolutions, while ensuring all existing and newly added hardware runs efficiently within the TIC North-Chicago IL and South-Dallas TX Datacenters.. Accordingly, the maintenance and support consist of NetApp SupportEdge hardware and software maintenance, which includes 24x7x365 remote assistance (with a 4-hour response time), patches, bug fixes, software upgrades, as well as NetApp Consult Day support which includes converged solution storage virtualization, switching, and fabric interconnect troubleshooting. All hardware and software shall be delivered within 30 days and installation and configuration shall be due 90 days after receipt of order. The total estimated price of the proposed action is

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 extensive market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition exists among resellers of the FlexPod for this procurement. Only brand name Cisco and NetApp hardware and software, along with installation, configuration services, maintenance, and technical support can meet the Government’s technical requirements for expanding the existing infrastructure within the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) North/South Datacenters. The Flexpod CVIs are complete solutions designed by Cisco and NetApp that consist of Cisco Hyperflex and NetApp hardware and software. The Flexpod CVI combines Cisco networking and compute components with NetApp storage elements in an all in one engineered platform. The Cisco elements provide the networking communications between all the hardware plus the compute servers while NetApp provides the storage needed for the environment. The Flexpod CVI is specifically engineered to provide high performance computing all in one rack of hardware.

Only brand name Netapp software and hardware can be utilized for the additional capacity expansion due to the proprietary NetApp Data on the operating system which is specific to NetApp storage hardware. No other brand name software is interoperable or compatible with the existing NetApp software due to the proprietary code that the software communicates through. Use of any other brand name software would not be able to communicate with the existing software and would result in having to replace all the existing NetApp software. This would result in extensive delivery delays and duplicated costs that would not be recovered through competition. These estimates are based on previous similar efforts. Furthermore, no other brand name hardware, other than NetApp, can meet VA’s storage requirements due to the form, fit and function of the existing storage environment. Use of any other brand name item would not fit in the existing chassis due to the proprietary design of the NetApp environment. Also, other manufacturers do not have the proprietary source code and hardware necessary to provide the required installation and configuration services, maintenance and support.

Access to the proprietary source code is required to ensure all services provided on the NetApp products are properly configured. Expanding the current FlexPod CVI’s consisting of NetApp products will ensure significant reduction of risk of loss to vital patient care tele-services. Other vendor storage controllers and disk shelves are not compatible as each vendor has their own proprietary hardware and software in providing storage, and therefore would not integrate with the currently fielded hardware and software.

Only brand name Cisco software and hardware can be utilized for the additional networking requirements due to the proprietary Cisco Data on the operating system which is specific to Cisco networking hardware. No other brand name software is interoperable or compatible with the existing Cisco software due to the proprietary code that the software communicates through. Use of any other brand name software would not be able to communicate with the existing software and would result in having to replace all the existing Cisco software. This would result in extensive delivery delays and duplicated costs that would not be recovered through competition. These estimates are based on previous similar efforts. Furthermore, no other brand name hardware, other than Cisco, can meet VA’s networking requirements due to the form, fit and function of the existing networking environment. Use of any other brand name item would not fit in the existing infrastructure/servers due to the proprietary design of the Cisco environment. Also, other manufacturers do not have the proprietary source code and hardware necessary to provide the required installation and configuration services, maintenance and support. Access to the proprietary source code is required to ensure all services provided on the Cisco products are properly configured. Expanding the current FlexPod CVI’s consisting of Cisco products will ensure significant reduction of risk of loss to vital patient care tele-services. Other vendor networking products are not compatible as each vendor has their own proprietary hardware and software in providing network and communication capabilities, and therefore would not integrate with the currently fielded hardware and software.

VA’s requirement is for complete FlexPods. Failure to utilize one source to provide the Cisco and NetApp items and services will result in configuration and installation issues since these efforts must be done at the same time to ensure full interoperability and compatibility with the new items and the currently fielded Cisco and NetApp infrastructure. Failure to install the required Cisco and NetApp items as an integrated expansion will create a major impact on the organization due to critical performance damage from delays, possible nullification of existing warranties and maintenance agreements, and likely loss of vital patient care tele-services. Utilizing two vendors to complete the install and configure will cause tremendous communication issues, configuration issues, and an increased implementation schedule. Therefore, procuring this requirement under one delivery order action for the delivery, deployment, and configuration of the NetApp/Cisco products, at both facilities, is the only approach to ensure the successful completion of the existing storage and compute infrastructure(s).

Additionally, since the FlexPod design is a multi-product environment, only a single authorized vendor can install, configure, and verify the additional hardware and software in accordance with the Cisco Validated Design within each location. The configuration must be done by a single vendor to be in compliance with the Cisco Validated Design methodology.

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. It was determined however, that limited competition is viable among resellers for brand name FlexPod CVI hardware, software components, as well as maintenance support services. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(2), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all interested NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), notice of award of the resulting order will be synopsized and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days after award on the Federal Business Opportunity website. In addition, this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be posted on the NASA SEWP V website with the solicitation.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the Government technical experts will continue to perform market research to determine if there are any new products or maintenance services available that will fulfill the Government’s need.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts performed market research during January 2019 by researching other similar solutions (online and through market literature) to learn if other brand items could meet and be compatible with VA’s existing FlexPod architecture. Specifically, the Government’s technical experts conducted web-based research and reviewed similar products from Blackbox and Brocade. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that although the other companies' products provide similar capabilities, no other products will support VA's existing infrastructure protocols, interoperability, and compatibility requirements as outlined in Section 5 of this Justification. Based on this market research, the Government’s technical experts have concluded that only the FlexPod CVI brand name hardware and software will meet requirements.

Additional market research was conducted by Government representatives in May 2019 utilizing the NASA SEWP V Provider Lookup Tool. The search identified eighteen Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business resellers of both Cisco and NetApp on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. Therefore, there is a reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC.

9. Other Facts: None.