Exception to Fair Opportunity Justification over SAT (Brand Name)(Redacted).pdf

Control No: JA-20-Adel-575

Supply/Service: Dell Servers and Nutanix Licenses

BRAND-NAME JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR PART 16 EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY JUSTIFICATION

For Actions Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

Programs/Equipment: Dell Brand-name Servers and Nutanix Licenses

Authority: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer.

Amount: Redacted

Prepared by: DSN: Redacted Date: 8.31.2020

Contracting Officer: DSN: 290.2021 Date: 8.31.2020

Technical: DSN: Redacted Date: 8.31.2020

Redacted Office Automation Clerk Email: Redacted

Christopher R. Moy Contracting Officer Email: christopher.r.moy.civ@mail.mil

Redacted Office Automation Clerk Email: Redacted

Requirements: DSN: Redacted Date: 8.31.2020

Redacted Team Lead, Software Systems Email: Redacted

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity.

Program Manager:

9/1/2020

X Redacted Redacted Program Manager

Signed by: Redacted mailto:gregory.b.cody.civ@mail.mil mailto:christopher.r.moy.civ@mail.mil mailto:gregory.b.cody.civ@mail.mil mailto:steven.s.leatherman.civ@mail.mi

BRAND-NAME FAR Part 16 Exception to Fair Opportunity Justification Under Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Contracts

For Actions Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), Adelphi Contracting Command Division, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-1138

2. Description of Action: The United States (US) Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Office of the Director’s Corporate Information Management Branch (FCDD-RLD-CM) requests a brand-name sole source for Dell and Nutanix distributors as a firm-fixed price (FFP) delivery order (DO) issued against the Computer Hardware Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS), Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-3 Hardware (ITES- 3H). The Government projects award in September 2020 and fiscal year 2020-2021, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Army funds will be used.

An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement either does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i), or is an R&D acquisition and does not meet the definition of services in 10 U.S.C. 2330(c)(2).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: ARL requires brand-name equipment manufactured by Dell for hardware systems including, but not limited to, power distribution units, servers, hard drives, and storage with Nutanix licenses to support the ARL’s Enterprise data center.

Delivery Date: 15 December 2020 Total Value: Redacted

Note: Reference the “Requirements” document for a complete list of equipment, peripherals, and licenses by part number.

4. Authority Cited: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: ARL currently uses Government-owned Dell brand-name equipment in its Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure and is requesting the aforementioned Dell hardware and associated Nutanix brand licenses to support ARL’s Enterprise data environment. Additionally, Dell EMC XC740XDENT servers will be configured to run Nutanix operating software to integrate a scalable infrastructure to support ARL’s datacenter with data protection, data back-up, secure networks, disaster recovery and continuity of operations for development. Ultimately, these servers will be additional clusters to accommodate the expansion of enterprise services provided to the ARL workforce and are proprietary to Dell.

ARL is moving forward to roll out a full scale Nutanix environment to replace legacy systems. In order to provide software continuity and be compliant and compatible with the hardware systems that currently use Nutanix, no other brand of software would tie into the configurations already in place. Furthermore, ARL exclusively uses Dell hardware and associated operating system (OS) software to ensure 100% compatibility between all of its operating systems. ARL spent significant time and money including for Redacted man-hours per system on over Redacted systems and approximately Redacted per system for a development laboratory located at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) that is designed to support Dell hardware and software updates for the production environment. This equates to approximately Redacted years and Redacted invested in the lab which covers Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC), Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG), White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), Army Research Office (ARO), and other ARL locations.

ARL's computer support staff has designed automated scripts for monitoring the health of various Dell hardware (Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), Central Processing Unit (CPU), Disk, etc.). The volume of standardized computer assets increases interoperability and allows ARL to benefit from economies of scale in training, operations, and maintenance. This consequentially reduces costs and raises service levels by decreasing the number of disparate vendors and would become a substantial duplication of cost to obtain an on-site presence of another brand representative. ARL has standardized its computer assets with Dell brand-name hardware and software across all sites, all Linux/Windows based workstations and servers are Dell brand-name equipment. Uniformity allows for single solutions to be applied across the entirety of ARL’s current IT infrastructure for security, repair, maintenance, and training of new employees. It allows for single supply replacement parts or new Dell hardware/software to be purchased and used anywhere on any system. The utilization of a uniform brand of equipment provides:

- Improved Network Security

- Improved Help Desk Support

- Standard Hard Drive Imaging

- Standardizing the ARL Domain structure

- Norton Antivirus Server Implementation ARL-wide

- Implementation of Automated Desktop Inventory

- Implementation of Remote Desktop Management

As a result of this uniformity, Dell brand-name hardware and power distribution units are the only brand capable of providing protection to ARL’s current IT infrastructure.

Failure to use Dell hardware will result in a lack of compatibility between systems. In addition, ARL will be required to develop new software to monitor, manage, report, and maintain new, non-Dell brand-name hardware. A Non-Dell solution will increase the physical footprint and cooling costs in the data center (approximately Redacted/year) and increases the cost of backup software licensing (approximately Redacted/year). An overall switch from the existing Dell solution to another manufacturer would then require the re-training to integrate new solutions. A non-Dell solution would require approximately Redacted man-year in training and development costs (labor: Redacted, disruption to ongoing work: approximately Redacted in lost productivity. Furthermore, non-Dell hardware will also need to be certified for use with required standard software.

All of the aforementioned would cause significant delays in completing mission requirements without the confirmation that the utilization of a different brand of hardware could provide. These delays consists of system patches, data protection, system back-ups, and vulnerability scanning. The utilization of the Dell brand allows system administrators to resolve issues in a timely manner, which helps to improve overall performance. Dell has proven to support ARL’s mission by providing hardware system functionality, frequent timely software updates and longevity.

Based on the above stated compatibility requirements and Dell’s proprietary knowledge, it is determined that Dell brand-name equipment and Nutanix licenses are the only brands capable of fulling the Government’s requirement and any other brand-name product lacks the particular features, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet the requirements. Additionally, based on market research performed below, the required Dell servers and Nutanix licenses are available through the CHESS ITES-3H contract.

6. Actions to Increase Competition: This procurement is exempt from synopsis in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(6) – the proposed contract action is an order placed under subpart 16.505(a)(4). As required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D) the notice and justification will be published 14 days after placing the order. The Army CHESS website is the mandatory source for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) IT products per AFARS 5139.101-90. The proposed acquisition strategy to increase competition is to post a request for quote (RFQ) on CHESS to allow for optimal competition in an effort to seek authorized resellers that meet the Government’s minimum requirements. The Government shall give fair opportunity to any associated CHESS vendors that can fulfill the Government’s minimum requirements. The intent of this procurement is to limit competition among the approved CHESS vendors of the ITES-3H IDIQ (17-vendors listed in the table below) in an attempt to assure the Government procures Cisco specific brand-name hardware and software licenses at a fair and reasonable price.

Contract Number Vendor

W52P1J-16-D-0005 Affigent, LLC

W52P1J-16-D-0006 Telos Corporation

W52P1J-16-D-0007 UNICOM Government, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0008 International Business Machines Corporation

W52P1J-16-D-0009 Dynamic Systems, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0010 Dell Federal Systems, L.P.

W52P1J-16-D-0011 Global Technology Resources, Inc. (GTRI)

W52P1J-16-D-0012 Hewlett Packard Enterprise

W52P1J-16-D-0013 CDW-G

W52P1J-16-D-0014 Iron Bow

W52P1J-16-D-0015 Wildflower International, Ltd.

W52P1J-16-D-0016 World Wide Technology, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0017 GovConnection, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0018 Force 3, LLC

W52P1J-16-D-0019 Government Acquisitions, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0020 Intelligent Decisions, Inc.

W52P1J-16-D-0029 Microtechnologies

7. Market Research: Market research was conducted on 24 June 2020 by Redacted, Office Automation Clerk, for ARL with seventeen (17) years of experience. Redacted market research determined there are multiple vendors that are authorized resellers of the required Dell brand-name servers and Nutanix Licenses via CHESS, which is a required source of supply. Per AFARS 5139.101-90, the CHESS program, under the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, is the mandatory source for commercial IT hardware and software purchases. CHESS contracts provide IT products and services that comply with U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, Army and DOD policy and standards. Purchasers of commercial hardware and software must satisfy their IT requirements by utilizing the CHESS contracts and DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) agreements first, regardless of dollar value or appropriation.

Since, the required Dell brand-name servers and Nutanix Licenses Are available through multiple CHESS vendors, it has been determined that this requirement shall be solicited through the CHESS vehicle, the mandatory source for this procurement.

8. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History:

Contract: W911QX-19-F-0131 Contractor: Zivaro Award Date: 26 September 2019 Delivery Date: 31 October 2019 Dollar Value: Redacted Competitive Status: Brand-name Sole Source Authority: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Item Peculiar to One Manufacturer

Contract: W911QX-18-F-0129 Contractor: Intelligent Decisions, LLC Award Date: 28 September 2018 Delivery Date: 20 October 2018 Dollar Value: Redacted Competitive Status: Brand-name Sole Source Authority: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Item Peculiar to One Manufacturer

Contract: W911QX-18-F-0125 Contractor: Intelligent Decisions, LLC Award Date: 28 September 2018 Delivery Date: 2 November 2018 Dollar Value: Redacted Competitive Status: Brand-name Sole Source Authority: FAR 16.505(a)(4) – Item Peculiar to One Manufacturer

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

Signer’s Title: Office Automation Clerk

9/1/2020

X Redacted Redacted Technical Certifier (Tech)

Signed by: Redacted

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

Signer’s Title: Team Lead, Software Systems

9/1/2020

X Redacted

Requirements Certifier

Signed by: Redacted

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

This determination will be made using the following:

Price analysis

IGE

Other: Adequate price competition

As a part of this basis, certified cost or pricing data:

A commercial item is being acquired.

9/2/2020

X Christopher Moy

Christopher R. Moy

Contracting Officer (KO)

Signed by: MOY.CHRISTOPHER.RYAN.1285356217

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

9/2/2020

X Christopher Moy

Christopher R. Moy

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Dell brand-name servers and Nutanix licenses, for an estimate of Redacted, using an exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(a)(4), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

9/2/2020

X Christopher Moy

Christopher R. Moy