Attachment 1 - Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity rev 4_Redacted.pdf

v1.1_JULY2020

Action #: 210056

PR #: 1300884848

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity The Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport (NUWCDIVNPT), Contracts Department, Code 02, Newport, RI.

2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved Request approval to solicit and award a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) delivery order for Dell brand server components, no substitutions, to support NUWCDIVNPT’s Code 15 Virginia Class Alternative Compensatory Control Measures (VA ACCM) Program.

3. Description of Supplies/Services (including the estimated value)

Estimated Dollar Value Funds Type Estimate

Other Procurement Navy (OPN) $302,155.62

NUWCDIVNPT requires the below specified Dell PowerEdge brand name components (no substitutions) to support the program. will utilize the required equipment to support various scientific, engineering, and applied sciences disciplines associated with the program.

Qty MPN Description

10 210-APNS Dell EMC R740xd Server (vSan-RN)

45 SSDSC2KG

038T801 Intel Solid-State Drive D3-S4610 Series - Solid state drive -encrypted - 3.84 TB - internal - 2.5“ - SATA 6Gb/s - 256-bit

AES

90 CT32G4RFD

Crucial - DDR4 - 32 GB - DIMM 288-pin - 2933 MHz / PC4-23400 - CL21 - 1.2 V - registered - ECC

45 PE255947 Hard drive hot-plug tray

10 SSDPE21K3

75GA01

Intel Optane Solid-State Drive DC P4800X Series

10 AA787771 Nvidia GRID Bundle Quadro 10 490-BENW NVIDIA Tesla P40 24GB GPU, Passive, Customer Install

The Government’s minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel.

4. Identification of the Exception to Fair Opportunity

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.

5. Supporting Rationale

The datacenter is comprised of Dell storage servers and VMware virtualization components (i.e. Dell hardware + VMWare ESX hypervisor) that provide

The required Dell PowerEdge servers and hardware must correspond to the Government’s existing infrastructure components to ensure compatibility and it must include all associated licenses for VMWare ESXi, VMWare vCenter, VMWare vSAN, VMWare Horizon, and Nvidia Grid vDWS/vGPU software.

Utilizing this combination presents minimal impact regarding training, certifications, management, configuration, integration, and other internal processes. Using another brand would require extensive research, testing, and overhaul of the virtual cluster currently in use within NUWCDIVNPT’s program and would result in significant costs to the Government in man-hours, procurement of new hardware and software, and personnel retraining.

Additionally, the loss of vendor support in transitioning to another brand would require approximately for the replacement of nine (9) HPC Nodes, identifying a compatible replacement hypervisor and VDI solution, and any other additional licensing costs associated with the new hardware/software.

The Government requires approximately replace any/all unsupported HPC node(s) with compatible equipment and reinstall associated software. This would impose a similar amount of system downtime which would significantly disrupt the mission’s ongoing data analysis and high performance computing (HPC) efforts.

Other vendors cannot guarantee the same level(s) of technical support, hardware compatibility/interoperability or long-term product viability. The Government necessitates minimizing the degree of short and long-term risks associated with purchasing hardware or software components by taking into consideration successful integration within an existing network infrastructure.

In summary, given the anticipated dollar value of this requirement, it is not reasonable to conclude the costs and detriment to the Fleet can be offset by potential savings from competition.

Additionally, it is paramount Dell brand name items are procured to avoid a disruption in mission schedules. Therefore, based on the aforementioned analysis, it is determined to be in the best interest of the Government to procure the Dell hardware on a brand name only basis.

6. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government for Dell brand name requirements, covered by this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity, will be fair and reasonable. The Government will use price and/or cost analysis techniques in accordance with FAR Part 15.404-1(c)(1)(i)(A), 15.404-1(b), or 15.404-1(c) methods.

7. Other Supporting Facts

For the reasons identified in Section 5 above, Dell brand name items are the only items that meet the Government’s needs. As previously stated, no other items will interface with the existing VA ACCM infrastructure and the schedule delays and cost of procuring other than Dell hardware would not be offset by potential savings from competition.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

This requirement does not allow for substitution of another manufacturer’s hardware. For the reasons set forth in Section 5, Dell and its authorized resellers are the only vendors approved and authorized to supply the hardware listed in Section 3. As a result, NUWCDIVNPT has no plans at this time to compete future requirements for the items covered by this document. NUWCDIVNPT technical personnel will continue to examine the marketplace and explore viable alternatives if they become available in the future.

IDENTITY OF NEGOTIATOR:

Type or Print Name Title Code Phone

SIGNATURES:

A. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(8))

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Teresa Michael

Contracting Officer 0222 401-832-5434 Type or Print Name Title Code Phone

B. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(9))

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and its supporting data, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

C. JUSTIFICATION APPROVAL (FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(10))

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby determine the circumstances indicated in paragraph 4, above, apply to this order.

I hereby approve the Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity for the procurement of the supplies/services indicated in paragraph 3, above, subject to the availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.