Atch 8 - Redacted Crestron Justification.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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I. Contracting Activity.

NORAD & USNORTHCOM (N&NC) is the organizational activity responsible for this action and the 21st Contracting Squadron at Peterson AFB (PAFB), Colorado, is the contracting activity.

The Contracting Officer for this requirement is Mr. John P. McLaughlin. His contact information is shown above.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

The 21st Contracting Squadron is requesting the approval of this Brand Name Justification and Approval (J&A) to cover one (1) year from March 2021 (anticipated award date) through March 2022 for the Gold Level Crestron Programming Certification.

N&NC has a yearly requirement for Command and Control (C2) Systems' Video Telecommunications (VTC) and Video Distribution System (VDS) Tier Three (3) level hardware and software support non-personal services responsible for providing manufacturer authorized repair and replacement of all current equipment that is out of date. The required support and upgrade of these VTC and VDS systems are used during real life exercises and actual contingency operations, and require a Gold Level Master Crestron Programming certificate due to the complexity of work to be performed. In the event the systems need to be reprogrammed, a quick turnaround is required. To accomplish this, a high skill level is needed since any level below a Gold Level does not have the adequate training and experience required to successfully master the necessary skill set. If the systems are non-operational or fail, it could be detrimental to the war fighter, the Air Force, and general public.

Since 2006, a brand name justification for Gold Level Crestron Programmer Certification has been submitted and approved every year in support of this effort.

This Brand Name J&A can only be used by N&NC to ensure their VTC and VDS systems are fully functional and operational at their Headquarters Building 2, The General Officer/Flag Officer (GO/FO) quarters at PAFB and the Command Contingency Center (CCC) at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS), Colorado Springs, CO.

For this action alone, the estimated cost is

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The Contractor shall provide all non-personal services to include management, tools, materials, equipment, freight and labor necessary for maintenance and support for the N&NC VTC and VDS at PAFB and CMAFS, Colorado. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) authorized repair and replacement for all equipment covered within the scope of Attachment One (1) - Performance Work Statement (PWS). Additionally, the contractor shall possess a Gold Level Master Crestron Programmer certificate and a Top Secret security clearance in accordance with PWS. A brand name justification for Crestron has been submitted and approved.

The Contractor shall provide 24 hour, 7 days a week hardware and software support services as outlined in the PWS. This is to include OEM software updates, upgrades, and patches as well as technical support via telephone. The Contractor shall also provide performance-based non-personal services to include on-site preventive maintenance on a quarterly basis for the N&NC Command Center (N2C2) Master Suite and General Officer/Flag Officer locations. Preventive maintenance will include Audio/Video and Control Programming. The contractor shall possess a Gold Level Master Crestron Programmer certificate and a Top Secret security clearance. The contractor shall also be an authorized reseller and authorized maintenance support service provider of Crestron, Polycom, Dell, and Cisco OEM equipment. Contractor shall have previous experience in the maintenance and support of Crestron software, including two (2) years of experience in supporting

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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The products that comprise the N&NC VTC and VDS infrastructures are tightly integrated and are vital subcomponents of the entire VTC and VDS systems employed by N&NC supporting both NORAD and NORTHCOM missions. Any attempt to integrate an outside product would require the redesign of the entire infrastructure from system wiring down to recoding of the existing software. Secondly, certain VTC suites are critical due to the nature of the content that is broadcast. Interoperability issues such as delays in software patches being made available for dissimilar brands with these suites would introduce critical and unacceptable risk to VTC operations and continuity. Award to any vendor who is not an authorized Crestron, Cisco, Polycom, and Dell Service Provider for the equipment listed within the PWS will result in the cessation of the manufacturer's warranty support coverage and force N&NC to procure new assets in the event of hardware or software failure.

The Market Research Report (MRR) details and supports a 100% small business set-aside to be posted on beta.sam.gov for this requirement. This action will be awarded as a new, firm fixed-price/time-and-materials purchase order with two (2) line items solicited via Beta Sam IAW FAR 12.207(a). The contract number is not known until award.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

The contractor shall possess a Gold Level Master Crestron Programmer certificate to ensure all patches, updates, and revisions to the Crestron program are installed and apply any applicable modifications to the program to ensure continuous functionality. The products that comprise the N&NC Command and Control C2 Systems' VTC and VDS infrastructure are tightly integrated and are vital sub-components of the entire VTC and VDS systems employed by N&NC. Any attempt to integrate an outside product would require the redesign of the entire infrastructure from system wiring down to recoding of the existing software. Secondly, certain VTC suites are critical due to the nature of the content that is broadcast. Interoperability issues such as delays in software patches being made available for dissimilar brands with these suites would introduce critical and unacceptable risk to VTC and VDS operations and continuity. Award to any vendor who is not an authorized Crestron, Cisco, Polycom, and Dell Service Provider for the equipment listed within the PWS will result in the cessation of the manufacturer's warranty support coverage and force N&NC to procure new assets in the event of hardware or software failure.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

The required services cannot be provided by the AbilityOne program or Federal Prison Industry.

A Sources Sought was posted on Beta SAM from 21 - 30 December 2020 seeking businesses who could meet the requirements for this action. Eight (8) small businesses and one (1) large business responded. This information is captured in the MRR.

This requirement will be posted to Beta.sam.gov as a 100% small business set-aside. This avenue will promote

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Prior to making award, the Contracting Officer will determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable IAW FAR 13.106-3(a)(1).

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

See the MRR which details the market research completed for this effort.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

N&NC generates an annual review of the software and hardware requirements to support the overall network infrastructure baseline. A full review of the C2 VTC and VDS baseline was conducted in September 2020 as N&NC began implementing a new PEXIP hardware solution to support VTC capabilities. During this review it was determined that certifications of a brand name are needed to meet the standards of the requirement due to the complexities of the equipment all supporting the overall capability. A complete scrub was done of the existing equipment that would support this new infrastructure. As a result the equipment list has been reduced and items were decommissioned and removed if the new hardware replaced it. However, the remaining baseline supporting C2 VTC and VDS still remains and those brand names are still required to support maintenance on them.

The required support and upgrade of this system is used during real life exercises and actual contingency operations. If this system is non-operational or fails, it could be detrimental to the war fighter, the Air Force, and general public.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

See MRR.

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

At the time of any future acquisitions for this requirement, the market will be surveyed again in an attempt to identify potential sources that can satisfy this requirement.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by our signatures above, we certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is our responsibility, is both accurate and complete.