Attachment 8 70CTD024Q00000027 NonManufacturing Waiver Approval.pdf

All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. 2

In addition, the contracting officer must provide a determination that no small business manufacturer can reasonably be expected to submit an offer for the item that meets the specifications and solicitation’s requirements (including period of performance). This determination must be supported by a narrative of market research and supporting documentation. 13 C.F.R. § 121.1204(b)(1)(iii).

According to your submission, DHS ICE seeks an individual NMR waiver for Cisco and Poly Video Teleconference (VTC) products. DHS ICE has identified that this is the only item that will meet its needs and that no small business manufacturer can reasonably be expected to offer this item. This is because DHS ICE requires compatible VTC equipment that can connect with their secure back-end point-to-point infrastructure (Cisco Expressways Core registration and Poly Distributed Media Application registration), directly connect via that back-end infrastructure to internal and external stakeholders VTC endpoints, connect to other user-initiated ICE VTC FedRAMPed Software and a Service (SaaS) platforms (MS Teams/O365 and Webex SaaS), and be connected to existing displays and secure data networks for small meeting room spaces (internal and external endpoints). Cisco and Poly Brand products are currently the only brands of equipment that can successfully register with the existing DHS ICE’s expressways. DHS ICE infrastructure possesses a Cisco and Poly Expressway and Distributed Media Application (DMA) that act as gatekeepers into DHS ICE’s network.

As a result, DHS ICE’s hybrid (Cisco and Poly brand) infrastructure will only support Cisco and Poly VTC equipment; other brand name VTC products are incompatible and cannot be modified to meet the current requirement.

As DHS ICE has demonstrated no small business manufacturer can reasonably be expected to submit an offer for Cisco and Poly Video Teleconference (VTC) products, an individual waiver is granted.

This individual waiver applies to this one-time award only and does not apply to modifications to the scope of the contract or other procurement actions. Modifications determined by the contracting officer to be within the scope of the contract will require an additional waiver. 13 C.F.R. § 121.1203(b).

This individual waiver is good for the duration of the contract provided that it does not exceed five years. At the end of the fifth year, whether the contract is in the base period or an option period, the agency must request and receive a new waiver before entering into the contract’s sixth year.

Notice that an individual waiver has been granted must be published with the solicitation so that potential offerors are aware of the waiver and the specific item(s) covered. 13 C.F.R. § 121.1206. The effect of this waiver is to allow an otherwise qualified small business to supply the item of an other-than-small manufacturer or processor on this intended small business set-aside contract. However, it must be emphasized that this waiver of the NMR does not waive other legal requirements applicable to Government procurements, such as the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act.

All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. 3

This individual waiver must be used within one year of issuance. If that time period expires, the agency may request a waiver extension by contacting nmrwaivers@sba.gov. Please inform SBA of the date you enter a contract using this waiver, the contract number, and the actual dollar value of the contract. Should you have any questions or require any additional information, please contact Bernard Durham at (202) 510-0292 or bernard.durham@sba.gov.

Sincerely, For

Francine H. Morris, Director Office of Government Contracting

PAMELA

BEAVERS

Digitally signed by PAMELA BEAVERS Date: 2024.05.17 14:32:29 -05'00'