JA - AudioCodes FY24 - Redacted.pdf

VA-24-00019257

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a Firm-Fixed-Price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name AudioCodes Maintenance, one (1) Session Border Controller, technical support and 10 Licenses for Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) Gateway sessions.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Information Technology Operations and Services, Unified Communication Infrastructure has a requirement for Maintenance Support for the sole purpose of maintaining the existing equipment of AudioCodes used throughout VA, which enables VA enterprises and service providers to build and operate all-Internet Protocol voice networks for delivering unified communications, contact centers and hosted business services, whether in the cloud or on premise services for VA facilities. The AudioCodes maintenance will cover 170 session border controllers that are already deployed within VA and will include software updates to enhance the Veteran experience, which will enable more human, personalized Veterans interactions. VA also requires one (1) Session Border Controller and 10 AudioCodes Licenses for WebRTC Gateway sessions. The Period of Performance shall be a 12-month base year, with two (2) 12-month option periods, to be exercised at the Government’s discretion. The total estimated price for the proposed action is which is inclusive of options.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on extensive market research, as described in Section 8 of this document it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for the required brand name AudioCodes software maintenance, Session Border Controller and 10 Licenses for WebRTC Gateway sessions that are currently deployed throughout the VA voice network. Brand name AudioCodes Session Border Controller is the product that allows for the use of AudioCodes, which enables enterprises and service providers to build and operate all-Internet Protocol voice networks for delivering unified communications, contact centers and hosted business services, whether in the cloud or on premises

AudioCodes Maintenance Support VA-24-00019257 environments. System interoperability and compatibility between routers, switches, voice gateways and call managers are key for these systems to function at the highest performance levels. VA is moving to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) circuits for voice delivery. AudioCodes are built specifically for SIP, are already deployed throughout VA and Unified Communications requires maintenance on these devices in order for them to function. The software is proprietary to AudioCodes or their authorized resellers only.

The cost to replace the currently fielded hardware in need of maintenance is estimated at over . AudioCodes are per pair, Cisco router is for one and VA requires two (2) at each medical center. Taking into account 168 medical centers the cost would be over . In addition, the estimated time to replace and configure all new routers across 168 VA medical clinics would be between two to three years. These estimates of costs and time are based on other projects of similar size and scope. Since compatibility and interoperability with AudioCodes uniformity throughout VA enterprise is required, using another platform would prove insurmountable and impractical from a technical and operational standpoint. Therefore, only AudioCodes can meet VA’s requirements. VA is moving to SIP circuits for voice delivery and Unified Communications requires maintenance on all these devices. The 10 Licenses for AudioCodes WebRTC Gateway sessions provide for the embedding of interactive communications capabilities, such as voice, video and chat directly into the Web browser and will be purchased in the base period and each option period, which are necessary for the continued need to support VA employees. No other brand name software licenses will be able to meet the applications and VA’s interoperability and compatibility requirements, as there is no other brand name software that is interoperable or compatible with the AudioCodes existing licenses. AudioCodes is the Original Equipment Manufacturer and requires the software to be maintained at the same source code levels in order to maintain operations within the existing solution.

Specifically, no other brand name software would be able to communicate and function with the currently fielded AudioCodes software licenses due to proprietary constraints within the software. As a result, use of any other brand name item would require extensive diagnosis, risk assessment and a complete replacement of the existing AudioCodes software licenses, necessary hardware and training.

Additionally, only maintenance and technical support provided by AudioCodes, or a reseller, can meet the requirements as the existing software is proprietary to AudioCodes. Specifically, without access to AudioCodes proprietary source code, no other source is able to provide software updates, fixes, security alerts and critical patch updates. Some updates would include upgrade scripts, certification with most new third-party products/versions, major product and technology releases, general maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates. Additionally, since the software is proprietary, no third-party source exists that provides analysis, troubleshooting and resolution of any software product-related problems other than an AudioCodes reseller. Failure to acquire the brand name AudioCodes licenses, software support, installation, remote cutover support and technical support would cause a break in connectivity directly effecting phone systems, Contact Centers, and telehealth for both Veterans and employees.

AudioCodes Maintenance Support VA-24-00019257

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. It was determined, however that limited competition is available among resellers for brand name AudioCodes Maintenance, one

(1) Session Border Controller, technical support and 10 Licenses for Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) Gateway sessions. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the resultant award notice will be synopsized and the justification will be made publicly available on the Contract Opportunities Page. In addition, the Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity shall be posted to NASA SEWP V GWAC website for consideration by prospective offerors.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in January 2024. Specifically, the Government’s subject matter experts conducted web-based research on other commercial products including Asus and Netgear. Although similar solutions exist, they do not meet VA’s requirements because they do not have access to the proprietary database in order to provide maintenance on the existing system. Therefore, at present there is no other software maintenance available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement. In addition, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software maintenance is available. Based on all of these market research efforts the Government’s technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned AudioCodes can meet all of the VA’s needs.

Additional market research was conducted in January 2024 by utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup tool to determine whether the brand name AudioCodes products are available from NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. VA determined that there are authorized resellers of the brand name AudioCodes products that hold current GWACs.

9. Other Facts: None.