Dell_Brandname_Justification.pdf

Notice of Intent to Sole Source and Brand Name Justification In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)

Dell Server Maintenance and Support

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Office of Information Technology requires the use of a band name product for several Dell Pro Support maintenance renewals for servers in regional offices. The purchase of the Dell ProSupport Maintenance renewals is essential to the agency’s requirement to ensure continuous maintenance of the Dell products for which the maintenance is required. The service is offered via the original equipment manufacturer Dell for professional maintenance support required ensure on-site support maintenance support are aging equipment.

The Dell servers are primarily for a variety of FMCSA’s mission-critical functions, the most important of which are Application servers for both internal and external customers. For reasons of (a) cost, (b) business continuity (c) simplicity of management and (d) potential risk, it is decided that purchasing continuing maintenance for Dell servers is preferred over buying new sets of non-Dell Windows servers and migrating all configuration settings, applications and files.

Acquisitions conducted under simplified acquisition procedures are exempt from the requirements in FAR Part 6 (FAR 6.001(a)). In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), a Contracting Officer (CO) may solicit from one source if the CO determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name or industrial mobilization). This is a brand-name requirement due to proprietary configurations of the software and software updates are only available through resellers of the product. The circumstance(s) supporting this determination is outlined below.

As is the case of other maintenance and support services, Dell includes proprietary configurations including software and hardware that can only be supported by the owner/developer or the authorized reseller. Dell, as the owner/developer, owns the rights to the sale, support and distribution of its enterprise system. The maintenance and support ensures FMCSA can continue to provide the mission-critical functions of the Application servers to both FMCSA internal and external customers.

FMCSA conducted market research for authorized/certified resellers of Dell server maintenance and support. Market research indicated licensing and maintenance support for Dell Server and Storage is only available through Dell authorized resellers.

TVAR Solutions, LLC is a small business reseller of Dell Pro Support maintenance renewals.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 334111 with a small business size standard of 1250 employees.

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS and no solicitation exists for this requirement. However, parties interested in responding to this notice shall submit technical data, including cost, sufficient to determine capability in providing the same product. All capability statements received by closing of this notification of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Based on the information above, this requirement will be awarded to TVAR Solutions, LLC which is a small business and authorized agent of Dell.

The period of performance of this purchase order is anticipated to be 12 month from the date of award.

As is the case of other maintenance and support services, Dell includes proprietary configurations including software and hardware that can only be supported by the owner/developer or the authorized reseller. Dell, as the owner/developer, owns the rights to the sale, support and distribution of its enterprise system. The maintenance and support ensures FMCSA can continue to provide the mission-critical functions of the Application servers to both FMCSA internal and external customers.

FMCSA conducted market research for authorized/certified resellers of Dell server maintenance and support. Market research indicated licensing and maintenance support for Dell Server and Storage is only available through Dell authorized resellers.

When the Dell servers reaches end-of-life, FMCSA will investigate whether non-proprietary technology is available to replace the servers for FMCSA’s internal and external customers.

Replacement would require acquiring new servers which is currently economically unfeasible when compared to continued maintenance and support.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, Public Law 103-355 in conjunction with the Competition in Contracting Act, 41 U.S.C § 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), “ …the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name or industrial mobilization).”

I hereby certify that this justification for “Soliciting from a Single Source” is made in good faith, that the supporting data and information are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that I would not be making this request if it were feasible to fully compete this requirement. I further certify this request is not the result of a desire to expend funds while those funds are still available.

/s/

Ryan Mill Contracting Officer Representative

I have reviewed this justification and conclude that it is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

/s/ Sabrina Phillips Contracting Officer