J&A_BrandName_PacArea_MW_Routers_Redacted.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity Brand Name FAR 16.505(a)(4)

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Telecommunication and Information Systems Command (TIS-NET-PL-RIMB) located at 7323 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 20598-7320 prepared this justification for a Brand Name Exception.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The USCG intends to award a competitively awarded Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) order issued under DHS First Source II, a DHS Strategically Sourced Vehicle. Pursuant to FAR 16.505(a)(4), restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacture, the USCG has a requirement to procure brand name specific Cisco network routers.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The USCG has a need for lifecycle sustainment of PACAREA Microwave Network (PMN) standard network routers and associated hardware. To fulfil the lifecycle sustainment, brand name Cisco routers are required to interoperate on the Coast Guard Enterprise Network. The total estimated amount for this award is .

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale.

Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity -

The statutory authority permitting exception to fair opportunity is FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B). “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.” This requirement will be procuring items peculiar to one manufacturer on a brand name basis in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4).

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated cost will be fair and reasonable based on adequate price competition between two or more responsible offerors.

6. Demonstration that the Nature of the Acquisition Require Use of the Authority Cited.

The Cisco network routers are no longer supported by Cisco and have reached their End of Life (EOL), therefore, they will not receive security updates. Software upgrades, patches, and security updates provide critical fixes that affect system performance and are required for the servers to operate within the Coast Guard architecture. Failure to continue Cisco support will expose the USCG enterprise architecture to security vulnerabilities, degraded system performance, loss of functionality or failure of applications, and the inability to sustain current operations. In addition, market research revealed that replacing the Cisco servers with another brand of servers will result in unacceptable delays and cost to the

USCG. The downtime resulting from an infrastructure restructure will incapacitate the USCG’s mission.

7. USCG intends to post this requirement on FedBizOpps pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

In accordance with 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the justification will be made publicly available.

8. If applicable – A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition.

No sources have expressed in writing an interest in the acquisition.

9. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required.

There is availability of multiple vendors that can provide Cisco servers on First Source II, which will ensure competition. The USCG will continue to seek competitively available Cisco products or comparable products within the marketplace.

10. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for the justification, is accurate and complete.

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11. Legal Review and Concurrence:

I have reviewed this justification and deemed it legally sufficient.

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APPROVAL:

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