Brand_Name_Justification_MacBook_Aug6.pdf

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. IDENTIFICATION OF AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

Agency:

Contracting Activity:

General Services Administration Office of the CIO 1800 F Street NW Washington, DC 20405 Attn: Arthur (Buddy) King (703) 634-9510

General Services Administration Central Office Contracting Division 1800 F Street NW Washington, DC 20405

II. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED

In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1(c) for items peculiar to one manufacturer, the General Services Administration (GSA) intends to award a purchase contract for items peculiar to one manufacturer. The basis for limiting the sources for this acquisition is due to the brand name requirement of Apple/Mac. Attempts to acquire the Mac platform through GSA schedules were unsuccessful due to the lack of trade compliant issues.

III. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIRED SERVICES

In accordance with agency objectives and its unique purpose compatibility with existing GSA equipment, the government has a need to procure the following items:

Description

Qty

MacBook Air, 13.3-inch/1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 Turbo boost up to 3.3GHz/8 GB1600MHZ LPDDR3 SDRAM/512 GB Flash Storage

AppleCare for MacBook

Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter

IV. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is implemented by FAR

6.302-1. The rationale for this justification is based on FAR 6.302-1(c), which pertains to limiting sources for items peculiar to one manufacturer. A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer. Brand name specifications shall not be used unless the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the

Government's requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

V. DEMONSTRATON THAT THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY

CITED

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The White House initiative, Project Storm, that GSA has the responsibility for has solicited and hired 47 people known as leaders in their respective fields to solve specific problems that are well known within the Federal Government. This group falls under a Federal Program known as the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PlFs). Some of their work involves process changes and application development for new web and mobile apps. GSA's role is to manage and support this group with resources such as office space, clearances, and electronic equipment to include a development environment and software.

The purpose of this waiver is specific to the development platform. The Dell windows platform was considered, but does not offer the same capability and functionality as that when compared to the Mac OSX platform. The Linux platform was also considered, but is limited in tools to support cross-platform development. The same limitation applies to the Windows platform.

The nature of the development work to be done by the PIFs involves the creation of web applications and smart phone apps that can be created only on the Mac OS X platform. No other operating system other than the Mac OS X can support this effort. Also note that the Mac platform was not available on GSA Schedules or BPAs.

The Mac OSX is the only platform that meets the requirements for the development environment for the Presidential Innovations Fellows.

VI. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS TO SOLICIT AS MANY OFFERS AS PRACTICABLE

Fair opportunity will be given to three vendors that offer the products under their respective contracts.

VII. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST WILL BE FAIR

AND REASONABLE

The price will be determined fair and reasonable based on competition among three Apple resellers.

VIII.DESCRIPTION OF MARKET SURVEY CONDUCTED

An independent market survey was completed by the Government to determine the potential retail price of the equipment.

IX. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION

None

X. LIST OF SOURCES THAT EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN THE ACQUISTION

Quotes attached for the following vendors:

Sterling Computers 1508 Square Turn Blvd Norfolk, NE 68701 Phone: 800-916-1030 Fax: 402-379-2855

MNJ Technologies 107E Busch Parkway Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

(877) 665-4681

Mac Business Solutions

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9057 Gaither Road Gaithersburg, MD 20877

(301) 590-2555

XI. STATEMENT OF ACTIONS TO OVERCOME THE BARRIERS TO COMPETITION

XII. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that the information contained in this Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition for acquiring Oracle products for the GSA is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and is in the best interest of the Government.

PROGRAM OFFICIAL:

Signature and Print

APPROVAL:

Date Contracting Officer (H1E)

3 of 3 — Mac Platform Justification