C01 - JA Gigamon Packet Brokers.pdf

Control Number: VA-25-00051842

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

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, New Jersey 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Gigamon Packet Brokers and Module Line Cards with associated software subscriptions and technical support.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Electronic Health Record Modernization -

Integration Office (EHRM - IO) has a requirement for the (4) brand name Gigamon Packet Brokers and (4) Module Line Cards with associated technical support. The Gigamon Packet brokers and Module line cards are required to support the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) deployment. The infrastructure in place requires augmentation that ensures compatibility and interoperability with the existing Gigamon equipment and requires the extension of existing management and monitoring platforms providing security, network performance and application performance management. As part of this ongoing enhancement effort, VA requires additional brand name Gigamon packet brokers and Module Line Cards to increase the current capacity to collect network traffic and distribute traffic data to existing network monitoring and traffic analysis systems at Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) sites. The proposed effort is to provide for brand name Gigamon packet brokers with elite technical support (24x7/365). The software subscriptions provide the quarterly updates and elite technical support provides for defect isolation plus assistance with more complex configuration and “how to” questions, full access to latest software releases for duration of the standard support agreement, technical support by phone, email, and web (24x7x365), and same day advanced hardware replacement. The initial period of performance (PoP) is one year with two one-year options for extended services, and delivery of the hardware within 30 days after receipt of order. The total estimated value of the proposed action is (inclusive of options).

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 fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C.

4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “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.”

Gigamon Packet Brokers and Module Line Cards Control Number: VA-25-00051842

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition among resellers is available for the required brand name Gigamon packet brokers with associated technical support.

Currently, VA has Gigamon packet brokers deployed in more than 230 VAMCs and other VA facilities across the enterprise. Gigamon Packet brokers were originally deployed as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program to establish a comprehensive security and monitoring framework within the government. Since that time, VA has integrated other network management functions including network and application performance management. Gigamon uses the proprietary communication to feed the GigaVUE HC series devices already in the VA network from the GigaVUE TA series switches to increase network visibility in the VA. Through this Gigamon infrastructure, the VA is able to efficiently collect information about network traffic, correlate that with other events in other locations to rapidly identify security and performance issues affecting Veteran care and VA operations in general. Further, this Gigamon infrastructure is part of the VA’s Joint Security Architecture that is used to connect VAMCs to the new EHR.

The current Gigamon packet broker infrastructure physically connects to the security, application, and network performance management applications. The packet brokers are network appliances which listen to and inspect network traffic.

The packet brokers are able to classify the traffic by source and destination and the application being supported. They are further able to understand details about the application transactions. Procurement of another brand packet broker would require redesign and engineering of the monitoring environment to support the new connections to the management platforms.

Failure to acquire Gigamon components would leave VA without an enterprise packet broker infrastructure managed with a single interface necessary for EHRM operations. Procurement of any other vendors brand packet broker would require a complete replacement of the existing Gigamon packet broker infrastructure to achieve the single management interface with required functionality already in place which would result in substantial delays to EHRM deployment and duplication of costs. Specifically, based on previous procurement history, it is estimated that a replacement of the existing Gigamon infrastructure would cost approximately and take approximately 5 years to complete. These duplicated costs would not be recovered through competition. Only Gigamon products and technical support will meet the requirements to integrate and interoperate with the existing Gigamon-based infrastructure.

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, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for these brand name items. 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)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract 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. Specifically, the Government will research similar items to determine if any changes have been identified in the marketplace.

8. Market Research: Internet Market research of alternate packet broker manufacturers was conducted in December 2024. Packet broker products reviewed products were Ixia and NetScout. The market research confirmed that while other brand packet brokers exist, they cannot be integrated into the existing Gigamon infrastructure to expand existing monitoring capabilities through a single management interface as they are not interoperable or compatible with Gigamon’s HC series already in place throughout VA. As such, only brand name Gigamon packet brokers can meet VA’s requirements to expand existing capabilities without requiring a complete replacement of the existing infrastructure as detailed in Section 5.

In December 17 2024, VA posted a Request for Information (RFI) to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), SEWP V Request ID number 331270. Two responses were received: Epoch Concepts, LLC (Epoch Concepts) and MetGreen Solutions. Both vendors were found to be responsive and are verified as Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses in Vendor Information Pages (VIP). As such, coupled with the Market Research detailed above, it was determined that there is an expectation of limited competition under NASA SEWP V GWAC, and the Government would pursue the brand name requirement as a SDVOSB set-aside.

9. Other Facts: None.

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11. Fair and Reasonable Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable. Finally, the successful quote will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $750,000 the certification below required by FAR 6.304(a)(1) serves as approval.