JA_STEBANK_-_SONUS_6-26-15_Final.docx

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

FAR Part 6 Requisition Number: Insert Requisition Number

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

IN ACCORDANCE WITH 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) Requisition Number DJF-15-2500-PR-0023518

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

The Information Technology Contracts Unit (ITCU) of the Federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) has received a request from the Information Technology Customer Relationship & Management Division (ITCRMD), Information Technology Project Management Section (ITPMS), Project Management Unit 1 (PMU1) to establish a “Sole Source” delivery order with Sonus Networks, 4 Technology Park Drive, Westford, MA. 01886 under the GSA schedule GS-35F-0533W

2. Description of the action being approved.

This action will be a sole source purchase of (4) four Sonus gateways which include hardware, software license, and annual maintenance to support the development of the Secure Telephone Equipment (STE) Bank project.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs.

The Sonus VX900 Secure Voice Exchange (gateway) offers an efficient, robust, and cost-efficient way to provide high quality voice and secure voice services in the fixed or mobile government and military networks. Its advanced dynamic flow control technology helps keep secure call connected even in a degraded environment. When using in distributed architecture, each VX900 node acts as an independent intelligence processing element that do not rely on centralized servers for routing and management decisions which results in lower call set-up times and improve user experience. Below is a list of required hardware and software:

Hardware

· 4 (four) VX900

· 8 (eight) VX Secure Voice Module, PCI, 4 T1/E1

· 4 (four) VX900 chassis, CPCI, CU, AC

Software License

· 4 (four) (VX900/1200/1800), VX Security Module, Includes licensing for IPSEC,SVTP,SRTPl

· 4 (four) VX R5.0 SW, BSP, H.323 and SIP, Win 7

· 4 (four) VXVUE, NMS Suite per node license All hardware comes with one (1) year warranty. All software has a 90 day warranty. All software is perpetual license. Additional warranty can be purchased as needed.

The total dollar value of this purchase is approximately $108,000.00.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.253(c)(1); (or 10 USC 2304(c) (1)) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Demonstrate the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

The objective of the STE Bank solution will be to bridge the mission critical communication services that are currently underserved during the next decade as other agencies transition to pure VoIP communication services. The STE Bank effort is to update and enhance its secure communications capabilities with a secure voice communication system that is adequate to support the needs of the Bureau and its partners by acquiring hardware/system that supports the following:

· Providing a high availability, lasting solution on the SCINet and FBINET enclaves which can be used to communicate with agencies external to the FBI

· Providing a consistent interface for multiple enclave communication

· Eliminating the need for multiple phone systems by utilizing and integrating with a system already in place – Unified Communications (UC) MS Lync soft clients

· Providing voice mobility and call routing for optimal communications

The system shall be capable of providing inbound and outbound STE calling between internal Lync users and external STE callers on both FBINet and SCINet enclaves. Secure STE calls FBINet will only be possible at the SECRET level, while calls on SCINet will only be possible at the TOP SECRET//SCI level.

The FBI engineering team will build the STE Bank solution; the vendor’s Secure Voice Exchange Sonus VX 900 Gateway meets all the stated requirements to integrate the device into the FBI environments:

1. Must be approved for use for communications up to Top Secret

1. Must use the Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP)

1. Must support V.150 (applies to encryption passthru)

1. Must support media-bypass with MS Lync

1. Must support SIP/TLS to the GW device

1. Must be a rack-mounted and data center friendly device

1. Must be scalable and support a high capacity of concurrent calls

1. Must be usable to between SCIP and non-SCIP networks

1. Must provide cabling interface with existing FBI communication equipment and LYNC The Sonus Gateway devices will be configured to interface with a Secure Voice Encryption Device and the FBI’s LYNC network for each enclave. In addition, these gateways are also able to interface between the Secure Voice Encryption Device and the FBI’s telephone company provider. With the STE Bank, FBI users will be able to communicate securely using their LYNC headsets with users on STE Phones outside the FBI.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Engineers researched other vendors on the internet. CISCO system has a gateway device that appeared to be compatible but the CISCO 2800 series router does not support all requirements as described above. Other companies with similar products were also researched but their gateways and routers did not meet all requirements as defined by the engineering team (identified above). Additional research shows that the Cisco products are not capable of supporting media-bypass mode with Microsoft Lync and cannot be modified by FBI to do so; it would require additional Cisco product development to implement. Cisco products are also not yet approved for use with call encryption on US Government networks.

Without media-bypass support, there is a significant amount of unnecessary network usage and calls will not be as stable. Mission essential calling at sites with lower connection speeds will be impaired. Without call encryption support, calls will not be encrypted across FBI networks and security implementation requirements will not be met, and the solution cannot be approved.

7. The anticipated dollar value of the proposed acquisition, including options if applicable, and a determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

A price analysis will be conducted by the contracting officer prior to award to ensure that the proposed price is fair and reasonable.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results.

Our engineers search the Internet and researched several vendors including CISCO Inc. and Audio Codes Inc; to compare the technical capabilities and cost. Two other voice gateways were reviewed, 1) Cisco Q ISR Gen 2 and 2) Audio Codes One Box 365. Neither device was able to support all requirements as stated in section 5. Cisco Q ISR supports the SCIP but it is not approved by NSA, Audio Codes One server does not support SCIP which is required by the ECTOCrypt Black Secure Voice system

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

None.

A listing of any sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

None.

10. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition, if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

Market research will be conducted prior to any future purchases and the Information Technology Infrastructure Division/Collaboration and Compliance Section /Communication Support Unit, will continue to monitor the industry for new technology.

Reviews and Approvals (Not exceeding $650,000)

Requestor:

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

Signature Date

Contracting Officer:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature Date