NNG15SD22B-149.docx

FedBizOpps Award Notice

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* = Required Field FedBizOpps Award Notice Rev. March 2010 TAC-19-53884_Tele-ICU Server Migration – YorkTel and NGINX 07724 36C10B19Q0139 N 541519 Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown NJ 07724 Contract Specialist:

Tinamarie Giraud, Tinamarie.Giraud@va.gov, 732-440-9641.

NNG15SD22B 36C10B19F0131

464,487.44 Total Base Period: $132,812.96 03-14-2019

FOUR POINTS TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.

089896737

14900 CONFERENCE CENTER DR STE 100

CHANTILLY

VA

20151

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

2. Description of Action: The proposed brand name action is for a firm-fixed-priced delivery order under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Yorktel and NGINX software licenses, with associated installation, configuration, development and maintenance support services.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Office of Information & Technology, Solution Delivery (SD) has a requirement for 2 brand name Yorktel Univago HE server licenses and 25 brand name NGINX server licenses and controllers, along with installation, configuration, development and maintenance support services. SD is migrating its current Phillips eCare Tele-Intensive Care Unit system to support a collaborative/unified Enterprise Tele-ICU deployment within the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) gateways. The required combination of Yorktel Univago and NGINX software licenses will enable VA to migrate to an Enterprise class video conference infrastructure by providing the capabilities necessary to execute secured access to the telemedicine video platform-as-a-service thus allow clinicians and medical experts to video-connect with patients. The required Univago HE and NGINX software will be integrated with the VA’s current VA Video Connect platform to further extend tele-video services to Tele-ICU bedsides and will enable remote clinical VA staff support personnel to video connect with patients and exchange data between the existing Tele ICU platform. The Contractor shall provide remote installation and support services to integrate and configure the software into two VA data centers located in Chicago and Dallas. This procurement shall also include development support services to further customize the Yorktel software to integrate into other VA video Tele-Health applications. The required maintenance support services shall provide the VA with 9x5 maintenance support, software updates, patches and vulnerability fixes. The licenses subscriptions shall be 12 months from the date of acceptance, including three 12-month option periods for continued service. The total estimated value 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 market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers of Yorktel and NGINX software licenses. Yorktel Univago HE is the only VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) approved audio-video solution that can be fully integrated with VA’s existing Phillips eCare Tele-ICU system. Further, Yorktel Univago and NGINX is the only software combination that is fully interoperable with VA’s existing Video connect platform consisting of Pexip Infinity Connect. Pexip Infinity Connect is a scalable solution that solves interoperability challenges between video communication systems and allows clinical staff to seamlessly use their mobile devices to access the VA Video connect platform. Yorktel Univago HE is the only software that provides a secure overlay control matrix for providers, and creates Virtual Medical Rooms within the existing Pexip environment. Yorktel Univago HE utilizes NGINX reverse proxy server, however, Yorktel’s out of the box Univago HE solution only leverages the “Free Open Source” version of the NGINX webserver which has operating limitations and security challenges. Therefore, as part of this effort, VA requires the subscription version of NGINIX to strengthen the web server deployment that is required to sit behind the VA firewall and integrate with the existing VA Video connect platform to effectively and securely direct clinical requests. No other reverse proxy server is compatible or interoperable with both the Yorktel Univago HE solution and VA’s existing Pexip Infinity Connect. Therefore, Yorktel and NGINX is the only combination of software that is capable of expanding the existing tele-video services to enable two-way video communications from caregiver into the remote Tele-ICU room. Further, VA requires remote installation and configuration services as well as additional Yorktel development services to further customize the Yorktel software to integrate into other VA owned video Tele-Health applications such as iObserver, and Video on Demand. These services require access to Yorktel’s proprietary source code, and therefore, can only be provided by Yorktel or its resellers to ensure the software is properly installed and configured. Finally, no other source can provide the required maintenance support services due to the proprietary nature of the source code. Specifically, if any other source was to provide these maintenance services without access to the Yorktel and NGINX proprietary source code, it would not be able to push upgrades to the existing software or fix and configure the software to keep it fully operational. VA requires one source to provide the Yorktel and NGINX software and associated installation, configuration and maintenance support services due to the interactivity of the brands working together as part of overall solution to be integrated within VA’s existing Enterprise Tele-ICU infrastructure.

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 of Yorktel and NGNX software licenses, development services and associated maintenance support services. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the resulting award will be announced on the Federal Business Opportunities Page, and this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be made publicly available since the estimated value of this action is higher than Simplified Acquisition Threshold. This Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be posted on NASA SEWP V website with the solicitation.

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

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research in November 2018 to ascertain if any other source could provide the required software to extend VA tele-video services. This included a review of similar software such as Vidyo and Kemp, as well as direct contact with Philips and Yorktel. Based on the reviews, the Government’s technical experts determined that the combination of Yorktel Univago HE and NGINX software components is the only software that can be integrated into the existing Enterprise Tele-ICU infrastructure due to interoperability and compatibility constraints with the Philips eCare and Pepix software. Further, no other sources can provide the required installation, configuration, development and configuration support services due to the proprietary nature of the Yorktel and NGINX source code.

Additionally, in December 2018 The TAC conducted market research by using the Provider Look Up Tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website. Although the tool revealed multiple resellers of Yorktel and NGINX products, only one verified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) reseller (Alvarez, LLC) in Group B(2) was listed as a reseller of both brands. As a result, the contract specialist conducted additional market research by contacting multiple SDVOSB contract holders in Group B(2) and received confirmation from another verified NASA SEWP reseller (Four Points Technology,LLC) that they have the ability to provide both Yorktel and NGINX products and could specifically quote the complete list of required products and services. Therefore, based on the results of the market research, there is reasonable expectation that limited competition exists among verified SDVOSB contract holders in Group B(2) of the NASA SEWP GWAC. Additionally, the NASA SEWP V GWAC has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests, therefore, as long as the required item or service is within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWACs, items and services can be added to a NASA SEWP V GWAC holder’s catalog on a daily basis.

9. Other Facts: N/A