Award Synopsis and Justification redacted.pdf

Award Notice

*= Required Field Award Notice

SUBJECT* VAST Support GenISIS (VA-25-00056384)

GENERAL INFORMATION

CONTRACTING OFFICE’S ZIP CODE* 07724

SOLICITATION NUMBER* 36C10B25Q0268

BASE NOTICE TYPE

ARCHIVE 10 DAYS AFTER THE AWARD DATE

RECOVERY ACT FUNDS N

PRODUCT SERVICE CODE* DB01

NAICS CODE* 541519

SET-ASIDE SDVOSBC

CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS Department of Veterans Affairs

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown NJ 07724

POINT OF CONTACT*

AWARD INFORMATION

AWARD NUMBER* NNG15SD30B 36C10B25F0155

AWARD AMOUNT* $355,736.00

AWARD DATE (MM-DD-YYYY)*

AWARDEE NAME* EPOCH CONCEPTS LLC

CONTRACTOR’S UEI LQ48B9A9QJC8

AWARDEE ADDRESS LINE 1* 1510 W CANAL CT

AWARDEE CITY LITTLETON

AWARDEE STATE CO

AWARDEE ZIP CODE 80120-5639

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Data and Computational Sciences (C-DACS) has a requirement for the procurement of high-performance computation (HPC) storage equipment for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Pittsburgh campus and the VA Boston campus. The purpose of this procurement is to provide renewal of maintenance support and licenses for brand name VAST components of the High-Performance Analytical Cluster for GenISIS – the transformational informatics platform for the Million Veterans Program (MVP) and the Cooperative studies Program (CSP) for the VA Office of Research and Development (ORD).

SEE ATTACHED JUSTIFICATION

CONTROL NUMBER VA-25-00056384

JUSTIFICATION FOR 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 under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the renewal of brand name VAST Data Inc. (VAST) support, including licenses, maintenance and technical support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Center for Data and Computational Sciences (C-DACS) has a requirement for the renewal of brand name VAST storage maintenance support services (hardware and software) and six (6) software licenses required to maintain the existing brand name VAST storage infrastructure. The existing system provides high-performance storage and supports critical applications, requiring ongoing maintenance to ensure optimal functionality in support of the Genomic Information System for Integrative Sciences (GenISIS) which is designed to perform genomic studies that combine both phenotypic and biological data (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.). It is an integrated environment featuring several applications and databases which connects to third party data sources such as knowledge bases and electronic medical records, with a high-performance computing and storage environment. Million Veterans Program (MVP) and the Cooperative studies Program (CSP) research is being performed to better understand how genes affect health and wellness to improve health care for Veterans by establishing one of the largest databases of genetic, military exposure, lifestyle, and health information. The renewal of maintenance support and licenses for brand name VAST components includes software licensing and maintenance, technical support, firmware and software updates, and hardware replacement services.

The renewal of this software licensing and maintenance component grants VA continued access to essential updates, patches, and security enhancements.

Additionally, technical support services provide 24/7 access to troubleshooting assistance and issue resolution. Firmware and software updates included will ensure system security, compliance, and performance optimization. Additionally, hardware replacement services enable rapid response to hardware failures, minimizing downtime and ensuring operational continuity.

The Period of Performance (PoP) shall be a 12-month Base Period and three subsequent 12-month Option Periods, if exercised.

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

VAST Maintenance and Technical Support Control Number VA-25-00056384 fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), titled “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 Market Research as noted in Section 8 of this document, only brand name VAST maintenance services and support, and license renewal can meet all of the government’s technical and functional requirements.

Specifically, the required brand name VAST storage maintenance support services and software licenses are essential to maintaining the performance, security, and reliability of the existing storage infrastructure, with the initial hardware and technical refresh in October 2020.This refresh was competitively awarded, with VAST being selected as the technical solution. The existing system operates via proprietary software code and hardware components, which were developed and exclusively managed by VAST. In order to maintain this deployed infrastructure, a capable source would need direct access to manufacturer-provided updates, security patches, and technical support.

Alternative service providers cannot offer the required software updates, system enhancements, or replacement components without compromising functionality or supportability. Specifically, if software code, patches or requirements were developed by another source of manufacturer, it would introduce risk and corruption to the underlying software functionality rendering it unusable and or unreliable, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) may also reject the warranty on the currently deployed units if an unsupported patch is introduced. A patch/push must be properly configured to the operating specifications necessary to meet the Government’s needs for data availability, reliability, and product support of the existing licenses and serviceability of the deployed VAST units.

Ensuring continuity of operations for mission-critical applications depends on receiving authorized firmware updates, security patches, and expert technical assistance. Without direct support, the storage system could face vulnerabilities, performance degradation, or extended downtime in the event of a failure. Additionally, hardware components must be replaced with original equipment manufacturer-approved parts to maintain system integrity and compliance with operational requirements. Given these factors, obtaining maintenance support and licensing from the original provider is necessary to sustain uninterrupted service and protect critical data assets.

The only other alternative would be to deploy an alternative brand solution, which would require extensive time and duplicative costs to VA, that would not be recouped through competition. Multiple storage appliances at several locations were deployed in October 2020 with an estimated 10-year lifespan for each appliance. Redesigning and re-platforming these appliances would require, at minimum, a similar amount of time, resources, infrastructure, and platform repeatability. Redesigning and re-platforming these appliances would lead to extensive delays of current functionality, duplicative costs that would not be recovered or justified through competition as the same functionality would be required on a new platform.

These estimates are all inclusive based on the cost and time to design the solution and effort required to conduct requirements gathering/defining, integration development, solution architecture, solution development/configuration, data migration, certification that equipment is fully functional and meets specified connectivity requirements, end user training, VA security compliance support, implementation/rollout support, licensing, and sustainment and maintenance costs.

If transition to a new platform were pursued, there would be increased operations cycle times, as well as degradation of services by expanding current resources to support both environments; prior to, during, and after transition; service delivery delays, and the potential delays in diagnostic turnarounds that enable timely genomic research studies, thereby impacting Veteran health and wellness.

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 limited competition is available among resellers of the brand name VAST support including maintenance and technical support. 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. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The government technical experts conducted market research via a review of VetCert and additional internet searches for technical specifications of the current Vast data platform in March and April 2025 to identify potential solutions that would meet current requirements such as Dell, Inc. devices and Azure Storage solutions. Based on this review, it was determined that there are no viable alternatives to the specified support offerings from other manufacturers, nor can these other manufacturers provide maintenance support/pushes/patches that would seamlessly integrate with the existing solution or meet all the functional requirements of the VAST data platform without the significant duplicated cost, effort, and time outlined in Section

5. Further due to proprietary data no 3rd party support exists for the VAST Data Platform.

Additional market research was conducted by VA technical experts, through issuance of a Request for Information (RFI) via the NASA SEWP V GWAC website to ascertain if there were sources that could meet the Government’s requirements for brand name VAST storage support services and software licenses under RFI 327422. Both of the responses received were responsive, and both are Vet-Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Further, the Contract Specialist reviewed the NASA SEWP V GWAC market research tool and identified that there are multiple Vet-Certified SDVOSBs that sell or can add the required brand name VAST storage support services and software licenses to their NASA SEWP V GWAC contracts. Based on the market research, this action will be set-aside to SDVOSBs on NASA SEWP V GWAC in Groups B, C, and D.

9. Other Facts: None