NNG15SD26B-166.pdf

Capacity and Performance Engineering VxRail Expansion

Control Number: TAC-18-50135

JUSTIFICATIONFOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1 . Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

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

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA's Office of Information Technology (OIT) Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) Capacity and Performance Engineering (CPE) directorate requires a Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged Solution to augment and fully integrate into its current Dell EMC VxRail system. The Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged Solution" is a manufacturer-specified, pre-defined combination of hardware and software that has been validated by the manufacturer to work together and delivered as a single integrated unit. CPE has the responsibility of gathering and analyzing performance and capacity data from Information Technology systems throughout VA, specifically, at the Defense Information Systems Agency's Defense Enterprise Computing Centers (DISA DECC) data centers. To accomplish the analysis, CPE requires extensive computing resources and therefore has a requirement for a Dell EMC VxRail converged solution to add additional capacity. The Dell EMC VxRail converged solution will deliver the performance, reliability, and efficiency required to host an increasing demand for CPE computing resources. The Contractor shall deliver a pre-configured system to the Government with necessary operational information already present on the system. Both the current Dell EMC VxRail system and the proposed Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged Solution provides a single point management of the integrated technologies. The Contractor shall provide associated services which include three years of standard manufacturer's warranty and maintenance services on the Dell EMC VxRail converged solution consisting of remote and on-site troubleshooting and replacement of defective hardware components;

configuration assistance, manufacturer's authorized updates and replacements, and new versions and patches. The period of performance will consist of a one-year base period which includes delivery of the Dell EMC VxRail converged solution 30 days from receipt of order and associated services for configuration. In addition, warranty/maintenance shall be three years from the delivery date.

4. Authority Cited: 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

CPE VxRail Expansion Control Number: TAC 18-50135 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 upon market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers of the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper Converged Solution. VA currently utilizes a Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged solution as its virtualized compute and storage solution. VA is not replacing the current system but rather augmenting it to increase capacity and create the ability to migrate additional systems to the virtualized compute and storage solution. No other virtualization solution is interoperable or compatible with the existing infrastructure. This existing infrastructure consists of only the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged solution. Only the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper Converged solution, which is a proprietary solution, ensures compatibility and interoperability with the existing system. Other manufacturers do not have access to the proprietary data, source codes, protocols, and proprietary hardware for the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper Converged solution. Another brand name Hyper Converged solution will not integrate and communicate with the existing solution because of the proprietary constraints. Use of another brand Hyper-Converged Solution would require VA to replace the existing system utilized by CPE. The cost to replace the current system would be approximately $ not including an estimated $ of duplicative costs relative to Government resources needed to de install/install hardware, migrate data and reconfigure supporting infrastructure. These costs would not be recovered by competition. This estimate is based on previous efforts conducted by VA. Use of another brand solution will adversely impact OIT projects from a cost and schedule perspective due to system downtime needed to replace the system. Replacement of the system would also introduce the risk of an untested solution within the CPE environment, the risk of data damage or loss during the migration process, and the risk of encountering unsupported configuration scenarios. The existing Dell EMC VxRail Hyper Converged system is comprised of Dell items and a small amount of ancillary Cisco and VMware components; however, it is impossible to separate these components from Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged solution because they comprise the overall Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged solution. These components are critical to the overall functionality of Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged Solution designed by Dell. Any other brand name infrastructure components will jeopardize CPE's ability to effectively migrate existing systems to a virtualized compute and storage solution due to the interoperability and compatibility requirements. Finally, VA requires maintenance support to include the hardware and software components that comprise the VxRail solution. Only Dell or a reseller of the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged solution can provide the necessary support because of the proprietary nature of the technology required to troubleshoot, diagnose and configure the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper Converged solution. Because of the proprietary nature of the solution, other manufactures will not have access to the proprietary data, source codes, and protocols required to provide support and ensure all services provided are properly configured.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional

CPE VxRail Expansion Control Number: TAC-18-50135 sources that can meet the Government's requirements. It was determined, however, that limited competition is viable among resellers for IBM hardware maintenance and associated technical support. 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.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research by continually reviewing competing Hyper-Converged systems to learn if there have been any changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: VA's technical experts conducted market research to ascertain the ability of any other source other than Dell EMC or the resellers to provide the Hyper Converged solution. VA technical experts conducted market research in July 2018 to find an alternate solution to the Dell EMC VxRail Hyper-Converged Solution; however, upon an exhaustive search, it was determined that there are no other brand Hyper Converged solutions that can meet VA's requirements and can be integrated into the existing infrastructure. VA technical experts conducted market research by researching other similar Hyper-Converged solutions available from Cisco, International Business Machines and Hewlett Packard. None of these other virtualization solutions were found to be interoperable or compatible with the existing system. Only the Dell EMC VxRail converged solution ensures compatibility and interoperability with the existing Dell EMC VxRail VxRail system. Similarly, while other vendors possess general capabilities needed to provide similar maintenance services, no other source was found to meet VA's needs due to the proprietary source code specific to the maintenance support for this Dell EMC VxRail solution. Unauthorized providers do not have access to the proprietary data, source codes, protocols, and proprietary hardware for the VxRail Solution. Based on the results of the market research, limited competition is expected for this proposed action based upon the identification of brand name requirements.

9. Other Facts: None.