Brand_Name_Justification_PWC041_Redacted_RFQ_PWC041.pdf

PR #21-17-G37PWC041

NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance Support Brand Name Justification

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251) and is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i).

(1) Agency and Contracting Activity.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG), Operations Systems Center (OSC) will compete the NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance support requirement utilizing the DHS First Source II contract. FirstSource II is a multiple-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle. FirstSource II is mandatory for use by all components within DHS in accordance with DHS Directive 060-01, Development and Use of Strategic Sourcing Contracting Vehicles.

(2) Background, Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved.

The OSC is requesting the use of other than full and open competition for the purchase the NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance support. OSC uses NetScout hardware and software to monitor the network. The NetScout devices allow network engineers to monitor the health of the network, and when problems occur assist in troubleshooting and fixing the issue.

Without these products OSC would be vulnerable to cyber attacks, and would be unable to maintain as high of a level of up-time. This request is for NetScout Hardware and Software support which will allow OSC to continue to provide these required network monitoring capabilities. Replacing the existing NetScout investment would be cost prohibitive.

(3) Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs.

The estimated cost of the NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance support purchase is $161,161.06. The following NetScout components must have hardware maintenance renewed for required monitoring of the OSC network to continue: 4-3200 collector appliances, 10-6980 packet capture appliances, and 3-9500 management appliances

(4) Identification of the justification and the rationale.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i), the Contracting Officer must justify restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer. The particular brand name is essential to the Government’s requirements, and market research indicates other companies’ similar products cannot be modified to meet, the agency’s needs.

OSC currently performs network monitoring functions in the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) utilizing NetScout hardware and software. These functions are required for successful performance and operation of the OSC data center network. Continuous monitoring of the network enables the network engineers to detect and fix network performance issues quickly.

Without this monitoring, some network problems will not be detected in time to avert outages, which would lead to extensive and unnecessary network downtime, which in turn will cause mission essential systems to become unavailable. Increasing emphasis on security issues in the last two years have resulted in Cyber Command mandates for increased monitoring and management of all assets on the network. The assets in the DMZ are especially vulnerable to malicious attacks due to their proximity to the external network. Since OSC already has a sizable investment in NetScout products, it would be cost prohibitive to consider changing to another monitoring solution to replace it prior to the end of life of these appliances. NetScout hardware and software are proprietary, and will not work with monitoring hardware and software created by other manufacturers. Other products are not compatible with NetScout products and cannot be modified to become compatible. When these network appliances do reach the end of their useful life, it would be appropriate to have a full and open competition to all vendors of network monitoring solutions.

External users access the DMZ, an area within the Coast Guard network, via the internet. This is the only area that external users can access. The DMZ limits their access to only the areas specified by the zone and system requirements. Thus, DMZ users do not have direct access to Coast Guard OneNet - Coast Guard's Data Network (CG-ONE) unless using the Common Access Card Remote Access Services (CACRAS) or the Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI). Both CG-ONE and VDI allow CG users to access CG-ONE from remote sites.

(5) Determination by the ordering activity Contracting Officer that the anticipated order represents the best value consistent with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(5).

The Contracting Officer has determined that issuing the proposed order through the Mandatory for Use, DHS FirstSource II contract vehicle represents the best value and will result in the lowest overall cost alternative, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. The Contracting Officer will seek additional price reductions before placing the order. The Contracting Officer will also perform a price analysis to determine that the price at the time of award still represents the overall best value for the Government and is consistent with the DHS FirstSource II contract vehicle terms.

(6) A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Previous acquisition for this hardware maintenance was solicited to the 8(a) Small Business Socio-Economic category of the Mandatory for use, DHS FirstSource II contract vehicle where it received four (4) competitive quotes and was successfully awarded. The RFQ will state the Government’s intent to award a task order for NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance support on a brand name basis. OSC will accept competitive quotes from all DHS First Source II contract vendors solicited in the 8(a) Small Business Socio-Economic category.

(7) Any other facts supporting the justification.

The current infrastructure contract requires a count every month of network devices and ports in use for billing purposes. The NetScout system is the current tool used to collect this data for

Brand Name Justification network devices in the DMZ. Without this capability, collecting these metrics becomes extremely problematic. Utilizing NetScout tools, device and port usage metric collection can be scripted, allowing for relatively automatic collection of this data. The alternative is to manually log into each and every network device, of which there are hundreds and make note of device and port usage. Performing these tasks manually is not a viable alternative due to the level of effort required and would pull network engineers from crucial security and operations tasks, at the expense of the safety and reliability of the network.

(8) A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

OSC will continue to need the NetScout MasterCare Hardware Maintenance support Brand Name for network monitoring to ensure 100% integration and compatibility at OSC. There are no other actions the agency can take at this time to prevent barriers to the use of NetScout for this existing need. However, when these network appliances do reach the end of their useful life, it would be appropriate to have a full and open competition to all vendors of network monitoring solutions.

(9) Contracting Officer’s Certification.

I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Craig E. Anderson Date Contracting Officer

(10) Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Brian G. Helm Date

(11) Additional Reviews and Concurrence.

I have reviewed this justification and deemed it legally sufficient.

Legal Review and Concurrence Date

11/29/2016

CEAnderson Sticky Note Accepted set by CEAnderson

CEAnderson Sticky Note Completed set by CEAnderson

CEAnderson Sticky Note None set by CEAnderson