36C10B20Q0016-002.pdf

Vocera Premier Support and Professional Services for Hampton VAMC

Control Number: TAC-20-56146

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

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 contract for the renewal of software maintenance and technical support for brand name Vocera Communication System software licenses, server maintenance, and Premier Plus Support Services to support the Hampton VA Medical Center (VAMC).

3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has a requirement for the renewal of software maintenance and technical support for brand name Vocera Communication System software licenses, server maintenance, and Premier Plus Support Services to support the Hampton VAMC. The Contractor shall provide premier support services and professional services (one On-Site System Administrator) for Session Initiation Protocol Telephony, 6-ports, 300-User Enterprise License, 50-User Enterprise Add-on License, Vocera Collaboration Suite, 25 Licenses, and 3-prt Vocera Messaging Interface (VMI) Module Licenses.

Contractor support also includes: data and device management; software management; deployment optimization; training orientation management; issue escalation management; report management; end user satisfaction; messaging server administration; and Engage server administration. The period of performance shall be 12 months from date of award.

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements."

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 Vocera products and services. The Vocera Communication System is currently installed and operational at the Hampton VAMC, and only Vocera technicians are qualified to provide support for the communication badges. The use of any other brand name badges would require a complete replacement of the existing communication system due to the proprietary nature of the Vocera infrastructure. Specifically, only Vocera's solution provides wearable wireless hands-free voice activated communication badges. This functionality is critical to the improvement of medical staff services to Veterans. Furthermore, only the Vocera wearable communication badges have Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certification for the wireless voice activation which is one of a kind for voice activated communication badges. Without FIPS 140-2 certification the Information Systems Security Officer will not allow this communication system to

Control Number: TAC-20-56146 be installed on the VA Intranet. Instead it will need to be installed on a separate infrastructure network, which will require cabling throughout the entire hospital covering 1,200,000 square feet. This will increase cost of the communication system by several million dollars and cause a delay in installation. Finally, Vocera software is a proprietary product. Therefore, only Vocera or its resellers can provide maintenance and support on its software product. The proprietary code is required to ensure all Vocera software updates and patches are properly pushed through the fielded software and to ensure the software is properly configured. Access to this code is also required to ensure all services provided on the Vocera software is properly configured. Only Vocera and its authorized resellers can provide the associated support services and Premier Plus Support Services for the Vocera Communication System solution as both require access to required proprietary code and technical data.

Failure to continue software maintenance and technical support for brand name Vocera Communication System software licenses, server maintenance, and Premier Plus Support Services, will impact Hampton's VAMC's Vocera Communication System, which will continue to degrade until it is virtually unusable. Hampton VAMC will continue to face difficulties in its ability to maintain acceptable levels of communication and patient care and vital patient information would be further compromised due to human error and delays. Additionally, the lack of a wearable, hands-free, and voice activated communication badge will increase risk of contamination within the hospital and response times to medical emergencies such as cardiopulmonary arrest, inclement weather, bomb threats, or active shooter scenarios will be delayed causing unnecessary loss of life.

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 software maintenance and technical support for brand name Vocera Communication System software licenses, server maintenance, and Premier Plus Support Services. In accordance with FAR 6.302-1 (c)(1 )(ii)(c) and 5.106(a)(6) this justification shall be posted with the solicitation. Furthermore, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

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: Market research was conducted by Government technical experts during August 2019 to ascertain the ability of any other source besides Vocera to provide communication support. Government technical experts conducted thorough reviews of product information via web searches for similar solutions

Through this market research, the Government technical experts determined that due to the unique patented design, only Vocera technicians can provide support for

Control Number: T AC-20-56146

FIPS 140-2 compliant wearable wireless hands-free voice activated communication devices which are critical for increasing patient care and safety. Furthermore, only the Vocera communication technicians can provide support for Vocera integrating with the existing Vocera communication system at the Hampton VAMC. Therefore, only Vocera or its authorized resellers can provide the aforementioned services to meet the Government's requirements. In addition, on June 26, 2019, the Government directly contacted Vocera representatives and confirmed that Vocera's source code is proprietary and not sold to outside parties.

9. Other Facts: None.