JA for Leavenworth VA Wireless MESH Network - RFQ_Redacted.pdf

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 to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the procurement of a brand name Siemens Wireless lnterMesh Fire Alarm Monitoring System.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The VA, Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth, KS (VAMC Leavenworth), requires the procurement of a Siemens Wireless lnterMesh Fire Alarm Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution. VAMC Leavenworth currently has a Siemens Fire Alarm Monitoring System communicating via fiber optic cable. The Siemens Fire Alarm Monitoring System covers an area of 323 acres with monitored buildings spread throughout the property.

These buildings range from critical care areas like the hospital and community living center to maintenance shops and warehouses. Due to the fragile condition of the fiber network that interconnects all of the monitoring panels together from each building to form one system, VAMC Leavenworth is losing reliability and vision on sectors within the whole. This wireless technology provides wireless radio mesh that monitors the existing panel and communicates to the central station and this solution can operate as a secondary means to the existing fire alarm monitoring system, or be configured to operate as the primary means of communication with an A�n Programmin Interface to the existin Desi o Command Center Computers.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 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 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 the extensive market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that competition is viable among resellers of the Siemens Wireless lnterMesh Fire Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution. Only the brand name Siemens Wireless lnterMesh Fire Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution can meet VA's requirements. Over the years, the existing Fiber Network has been compromised by a series of construction projects, causing interruptions of the fire alarm system at VAMC Leavenworth. VA has spent significant time, labor and money to

Siemens Wireless InterMesh Fire Monitoring System Control Number VA-24-00043406 re-establish fiber that has been damaged over time. The fire alarm system fiber network was originally designed with a redundant fiber network. Due to these ongoing issues with the existing fiber network, it is currently operating on one fiber patched together between the original two redundant fibers.

VAMC Leavenworth has over 1,000 employees and over 20,000 Veteran visits a year, all of whom rely on the fire system for their personal safety. An unreliable system is not an option as per National Fire Protection Association 99 16.7.1.2.

Siemens and its authorized resellers are the only providers and installers of the Siemens Wireless InterMesh Fire Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution due to the proprietary data required to integrate with the already existing Siemens Fire Monitoring System. No other manufacture has a fire monitoring system that can communicate with the existing system. Without a functioning fire monitoring system, VAMC Leavenworth cannot monitor any emergencies at their 16 locations. If VA were to procure another product to replace the Siemens Fire Alarm Monitoring system, the estimated cost of replacement would be approximately $3,000,000.00 for the solution and it would take approximately 1 to 2 months to replace.

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 competition is available among Siemens authorized resellers. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

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: VA technical experts conducted web-based market research in January 2024 to determine if competition was viable for this action. Specifically, the Government’s technical experts conducted web-based research and discovered that while other wireless mesh fire alarm monitoring system offerings from other brands such as Firetide, KBC Networking, and Ruckus exist, they do not meet the VA’s technical compatibility requirements for the existing Siemens Fire Alarm Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution. As a result, the Government’s technical experts concluded that only brand name Siemens or its resellers have the capability to provide the wireless mesh fire alarm monitoring system for the existing Siemens Fire Alarm Monitoring System. In addition, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name wireless mesh fire alarm monitoring systems are available. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned Siemens Wireless InterMesh Fire Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution can meet all of VA’s requirements.

Additional market research was conducted in February 2024 by utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup Tool. The Provider Lookup Tool yielded 45 contract

Siemens Wireless InterMesh Fire Monitoring System Control Number VA-24-00043406 holders, of which 13 are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) offering the required Siemens brand name products. Furthermore, 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 GWAC, items and services can be added to the catalog on a daily basis. This requirement has been found to be within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC in a separate determination. There is reasonable expectation that competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC amongst all SDVOSB concerns for the Siemens Wireless InterMesh Fire Alarm Monitoring System and Siemens Cloud Application solution.

9. Other Facts: Not Applicable.