JA 23-007 Redacted.pdf

J&A No. 23-007

V1.3, 15 March 2023

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR USE OF BRAND NAME OR EQUAL DESCRIPTIONS, OR PROPRIETARY SPECIFICATIONS

AND STANDARDS, IN SOLICITATIONS

1. Contracting Activity.

The Agency is the Marine Corps Installations Command (MCICOM) HQ located in Arlington, VA. The Contracting Activity is Marine Corps Installations Command (MCICOM) HQ

Contracting, located in Arlington, VA.

2. Description of Action Being Approved.

This Brand Name Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes issuance of a new solicitation

M95494-23-R-0018, awarded pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5, in accordance with 41 U.S.C. § 1901; utilizing other than full and open competition procedures. A firm-fixed unit price contract is anticipated in order to minimize the risk to the Government.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

This J&A authorizes and approves the award of a Brand Name, firm-fixed unit price, single award contract for the Point of Sale hardware and maintenance service agreement, in support of the Marine Corps Food Management Information System (MCFMIS) Point of Sale (POS) software. The MCFMIS POS is a multi-application system that interfaces with MCFMIS Food

Operations Management (FOM). The proposed hardware is based on the Marine Corps’ required hardware configuration which complies with the current Marine Corps Enterprise Network

(MCEN) Windows 11 environment. The POS hardware must be compatible with previously acquisitioned Computrition SuitePoint POS software. The Hewlett-Packard (HP) Engage One

Pro (EOP) Retail System has been tested and verified as compatible with said software. All testing and development to support the modified Computrition Point of Sale software has been conducted on the proposed HP platform. This equipment model will be constructed to support the 178 existing POS terminals for 65 Marine Corps Mess Halls throughout the Continental

United States as well as Outside of the Contiguous United States. Maximum quantities that can be awarded are identified below:

Quantity I Brand Name Item Description and Part Number

150 I Hewlett-Packard (HP) Company All-in-One Point of Sale Unit; MS Windows 11

64-bit; Core i5 Processor

(SKU#6Y819US#ABA)

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS for Windows 11

• HP Engage One Pro 0.5m USB-C Cable Kit Black G2 (2Y5Z2AV)

• Single Unit (All-in-One) 15.6 wopt6inCFD Eco-Packaging (3J418AV)

• HP Engage One Pro NO Column Hub (3S845AV)

• HP Smart Support (3V4S6AV)

• HP Engage 6.6 Attached Display (49Z58AV)

• OS Localization US (4YH35AV#ABA)

• Windows 10 Pro 64 upgradable Win 11 Pro 64 (56B99AV)

• 280-Watt Straight Power Supply (9UK21AV)

• HP RCTO Engage One Pro 15.6 Landscape Touch All-in-One no Camera Black PC

(9UK36AV)

• Intel Core i5 10500E 12MB 6C 65W CPU (9UK48AV)

• HP Engage One Pro Performance (Lift/Tilt) Stand w/Stability Plate (9UK56AV)

• Engage One Pro AiO Advanced Fanless Hub Attached (9UK57AV)

• 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 2666 SODIMM Memory (9UK77AV)

• 128GB 2280 PCIe-3x2 TLC Solid State Drive (9UK78AV)

• Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 ax 2x2 MU-MIMO vPro 160MHz +Bluetooth 5 WW with 2 Antennas

(9UK90AV)

• 3/3/3 (material/labor/onsite) Warranty US (9UK94AV#ABA)

• HP Engage Pro AiO C13 Country Kit US (9UK95AV#ABA)

• Hewlett Packard: Cable Pack for Dual Cash Drawers (QT538AA)

• Hewlett Packard: Cash Drawer Till Inserts w/Lockable Lid (QT458AA)

• Hewlett Packard: POS Keyboard (FK221AA)

• Hewlett Packard: Presentation Barcode Scanner (9BU50AA)

• USB CAC Card Reader (2Y3F8U3)

• APC: POWER SAVING BACK-UPS RS 1500 (6T4F5U3)

• Epson TM-T88VI PUSB Printer only (6BC94AA)

• USB Cable (2KH43AA)

• Hewlett Packard: Standard Duty Cash Drawer (QT457AA)

Quantity Brand Name Item Description and Part Number

140 Hewlett-Packard Company HP POS Keyboard (Part # FK221AA)

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS

• USB or wireless Keyboard For use with POS hardware

140 Hewlett-Packard Company DL 1500i OEM presentation scanner, (Part # 9BU50AA)

• Scans CAC PDF 417 VN Bar Code on front of CAC Cards/smart cards

140 SCM Microsystems SCM Microsystems - USB CAC Card Reader

(Part # 2Y3F8U3)

• USB CAC Card Reader - includes support for USB and all relevant security standards

V1.3, 15 March 2023

140 American Power Conversion™

Corporation

APC: POWER SAVING BACK-UPS RS 1500

(Part # 6T4F5U3)

• POWER SAVING BACK-UPS RS 1500 - UPS Interface Port USB

140 Epson Epson TM-T88VI PUSB Printer (Part #

6BC94AA)

• USB Single Station Receipt Printer

140 Hewlett-Packard Company HP Standard Duty Cash Drawer (Part #

QT457AA)

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS

• Electronic cash drawer, one cash till. Compatible with HP • HP Engage One Pro Retail

System

140 Epson Epson 6' PUSB Cable (Part # 2KH43AA

• USB Cable for Epson Printer

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Per FAR 19.502-2(b), Full and Open Competition will not be utilized. As described in

Paragraph 6 below, there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two (2) or more responsible small business concerns that are competitive in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery. As such, the solicitation will be a total small business set-aside to be issued on SAM.gov. This document meets the regulatory requirement at DFARS

206.302-1(c)(2) to execute the justification and approval addressed at FAR 13.501(a) in order to use brand name or equal descriptions FAR Subpart 13.5 procedures are being utilized for this acquisition in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901 or the authority of 41

U.S.C. 1903.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The Government has previously procured Computrition SuitePoint Point-of-Sale (POS) software with a Back Office module for use, and now requires hardware to utilize the procured software.

Although the software is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, it has been modified allowing the Government to interface with the Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS) and provide the tools necessary for a paperless and cashless environment. The system will incorporate both card scanners and readers to read the DoD Common Access Card (CAC) for patron identification and entitlement verification. POS terminals will also be used to record cash collections by authorized paying personnel. The unique DOD public key infrastructure (PKI) requirements and the stringent Marine Corps hardware/software certification process makes these procedures different from how the standard COTS software was designed to be utilized.

The POS Back Office system is run in a Windows Server environment with an Oracle 12c database. Consequently, the POS Hardware and configurations must be compatible with this modified Computrition software that the Government has procured.

The HQMC C-4, Information Assurance (IA) Analyst Enterprise Branch, requires all new hardware to be tested prior to being approved to operate on the MCEN. This requirement was previously coordinated with Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) which was provided with the proposed hardware configuration for testing.

The Marine Corps Network & Infrastructure Services (MCNIS) assigned a team to work with the software vendor to test and certify this hardware configuration with the required Department of

Defense (DOD) Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) configuration standards required for DOD IA and IA-enabled devices/systems. This testing and certification is unique to the salient characteristics of this specific hardware and software configuration. Changing to another brand would be a waste of these resources and the Marine Corps could lose over 210 man-hours and approximately $10,000 in support salaries associated with the required hardware certification. Switching to another brand (even though the specifications may be exactly the same) would essentially require rework of all previous IA testing and certifications, putting the program at greater risk for delays and potential failure.

Similar products, or products that have not been pretested and certified, do not meet, the agency’s needs. The proposed hardware is based on the Marine Corps’ recommended hardware solution and complies with the current MCEN Windows 11 environment. Computrition based all software testing and development around HP technology and will only guarantee that the modified software will work on this specific HP model. Without the purchase of this HP POS hardware suite and service maintenance agreement, the Marine Corps stands to lose $1.3 Million dollars associated with software design and interfacing. Utilizing uncertified and untested hardware would most likely render the software useless. Additional funding to purchase replacement computers, if they don't work with the modified software would result in mission failure.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Possible

This effort will be synopsized on SAM.gov in accordance with the requirements for FAR 5.2. All responses will be evaluated prior to award of the contract.

The requiring activity conducted market research and determined that due to the requirements set forth by the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer memorandum (dated 20220608), MARADMIN 340/22, and MCCOG Tasking Order 22-3085 the subject HP hardware system and

V1.3, 15 March 2023 associated peripheral parts required under this brand name justification are the only commercially available products that can meet the Government’s need at this time. The

Contracting Office will ensure that in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iv), the brand name justification will be synopsized. Additional market research, in accordance with FAR Part 10, was conducted by running a part number search of the parts identified in Section 3 above in

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement. The part number search resulted in one vendor, HP, a large business, who could provide the main

POS part. Based on this, Market Survey M95494-MR23-0018 was issued on 26 June 2023 on

SAM.gov, and closed on 11 July 2023. This market survey was issued to determine capability of the reseller market. Two (2) responses were received from small businesses. The two (2) small businesses that responded to the market survey were determined to be technically capable of providing a viable proposal to fulfill the requirement. No vendors expressed any concern with the use of brand name or equal descriptions. A search of the Interagency Contract Directory returned 84 profiles of potential offerors to provide the POS hardware. Additionally, a search of the SBA Dynamic Small Business Database returned over 2,000 offerors who may be able to provide the required POS hardware. Based on the market research results discussed above, there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two (2) or more responsible small business concerns that are competitive in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery. As such, the solicitation will be a total small business set-aside to be issued on SAM.gov.

Although this J&A is for brand name items, there are various authorized resellers that can compete. The Contracting Office will ensure that in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iv), the brand name justification will be synopsized with the solicitation.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, the activity has no plans at this time to eliminate the use of brand name or equal descriptions from future solicitations for the types of supplies/services covered by this document; however, this will be reassessed during follow-on acquisition planning.