C01 JnA Redacted.pdf

Control Number VA-20-00031664

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd., Suite 600 Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for an Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) TrueSight Capacity Optimization (TSCO) Server Plus term software licenses and associated maintenance and support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action will provide 216 additional BMC TSCO Server Plus term software licenses and associated maintenance support services. VA’s Office of Information Technology Enterprise Program Management Office Demand Management Office Capacity and Performance Engineering (CPE) directorate has a requirement to expand CPE’s ability to provide advanced performance modeling and analytics for VA Information Technology (IT) systems. CPE is responsible for gathering and analyzing performance and capacity data from VA IT systems. CPE currently uses BMC’s TSCO software for capacity and performance monitoring, as well as performance analytics to ensure the viability of the VA’s IT systems. VA’s fourth mission, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, has increased the demands placed on VA’s IT systems. As a result, CPE has been engaged with analyzing the performance and capacity analysis of IT systems impacted by COVID-19 related workload. Examples of these system include Citrix Access Gateway (CAG) and Telehealth. CPE does not anticipate the demand decreasing in the future. To meet the increased demand, CPE needs to strengthen its performance monitoring and analysis. In addition, CPE requires the brand name BMC technical support included with the software, including software patches, upgrades, enhancements, and corrections, and 24 x 7 x 365 telephone support to ensure the software functions as intended. The delivery period is 30 days after receipt of the order and the period of performance (PoP) is a 12-month base period. In addition, CPE requires one 12-month Option Period for the purchase of up to 1,050 brand name BMC TSCO Server Plus term software licenses to provide continued performance modeling and analytics. The total estimated price of this proposed action inclusive of all options is $

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity as it relates to brand name requirement and justification is FAR Subpart 16.505(a)(4).

The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C.

4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or

BMC TSCO Server Plus Term Licenses Control Number VA-20-00031664 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 described in section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for this brand name requirement. BMC’s TSCO software is the only software capable of using VA’s existing IT system performance data to model, analyze, and engineer capacity and performance for VA’s IT systems.

The BMC software code is necessary to access VA’s historical performance and capacity data. The BMC software code is the proprietary property of BMC and BMC has exclusive rights to distribute the software and use the source code. BMC’s software is the only product that can use the current data that has been collected through the existing performance monitoring infrastructure. Without BMC software, VA would lose access to its historical data, decreasing the accuracy and effectiveness of the models. Currently, CPE has 1 terabyte of historical system performance data that covers over two years of data. Without access to this data, CPE would not have system baseline data upon which to construct accurate system models for system capacity and performance analysis and modeling. BMC owns the proprietary source code for its software products and services and does not sell the proprietary source code as part of the products and/or services. Only BMC and its authorized resellers are capable of providing the required licenses and software maintenance support because of the proprietary source code. The proprietary BMC software code allows BMC and its authorized re-sellers to alter or modify the BMC software source code used by VA; the Government does not possess the proprietary technical data or source code for the BMC software. Only BMC software is interoperable and compatible with VA’s historical data due to the aforementioned proprietary constraints. In conclusion, BMC TCSO licenses and associated maintenance support services, are the only products to meet the Government’s requirements.

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 VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name BMC TSCO software licenses and support. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to NASA SEWP IV Group B (2) GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii), 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 fully competed.

8. Market Research: In May 2020 CPE technical experts conducted market research via the NASA SEWP website to determine if there are viable sources other than BMC who could provide the necessary capacity performance software.

The technical experts analyzed competitors such as FireScope and Computer Associates (CAs) capacity performance software. Although these sources offer similar products, their products do not have the ability to interoperate with the BMC’s proprietary software code and therefore cannot access historical capacity and performance data to strengthen the analyses and models. As previously noted, due to the proprietary BMC software code, only a BMC solution can use the existing data collected. In May 2020, additional market research was conducted using the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Look-up Tool which confirmed that there are several federal partners for BMC TCSO on the NASA SEWP V GWAC, including 16 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). Based on the analysis of the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Look-up Tool results, there is a reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC for the required BMC TCSO software licenses and associated maintenance support services. As a result of the aforementioned market research, VA intends to issue a Request for Quotation targeted to NASA SEWP V Group B (2) GWAC holders who are SDVOSBs.

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.

Signature:

IT Specialist Date: 6/19/2020

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable because NASA SEWP GWAC prices have previously been determined fair and reasonable.

Additionally, price competition is expected among authorized resellers for this action.

Additional price analysis will be performed by comparing the successful quote to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

Procuring Contracting Officer Date: 6/18/2020

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $700,000, the certification required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1) serves as approval.

Procuring Contracting Officer Date: 6/18/2020