JA FAR 16.5 Brand Name Nutanix VA-26- 00006389 REDACTED.pdf

Brand Name Nutanix- Licenses and Maintenance Support VA-26-00006389

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 Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for 1,103 brand name Nutanix software license renewals and maintenance support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Overton Brooks Medical Center (OBVAMC) Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Technology Office and Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 16 has a requirement for 1,103 brand name Nutanix software license renewals and maintenance support per each year of service. This consists of 24x7x365 complete solutions to ensure full interoperability and compatibility, as well as maintenance and support for all existing Nutanix systems to include all hardware and software components of the proposed solution, including updates and patches as well as technical support available via telephone, email, and web during all hours (24 hours per day, 365 days per year).

This is needed to provide continued service and support to keep VISN 16 Servers at the Shreveport Overton Brooks Servers operational. Nutanix hosts several virtual machines (VM) that operate and provide services to many VISN 16 sites. Software maintenance consists of 24/7x365 support and covers all software updates.

The period of performance for this action will be for a base period of twelve (12) months, and two twelve (12) month option year periods. The total estimated price for this proposed action is

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 upon market research, as described in Section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available for the required 1,103 brand name Nutanix software license renewals and maintenance support. OBVAMC currently owns a system of Nutanix servers which now requires continued maintenance Nutanix utilizes a proprietary operating system.. This action will guarantee that the 60 Virtual Machines stay online and active. Brand name Nutanix software licenses enable multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run on a single physical computer. Additionally, it manages and allocates resources like CPU, memory, and storage to these virtual machines, allowing them to share the host machine’s hardware.

The purpose of this requirement is to keep the Nutanix server and hardware operational by purchasing 1,103 brand name Nutanix software license renewals and maintenance support. If the Nutanix server goes down OBVAMC is at risk of losing several patient treatment resources such as Marquette Universal System Electrocardiogram (MUSE), Provation Gastrointestinal Record Keeping, Nurse Call, Data Innovations Laboratory Record Keeping System, Intravenous Drug Pumps, Intravenous Drug Compounding system, and Anesthesia Record Keeping System (ARK) Only brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support will keep the Nutanix operating system and active. No other manufacturer’s software license key codes will work on the Nutanix server already in place. The VA owned infrastructure is currently comprised of Nutanix hardware. Any changes will cause system treatment issues and delay appropriate care for our Veterans.

To utilize another manufacturer’s software licenses other than brand name Nutanix, the Government would have to buy a new virtual platform compatible with that company’s software and licensing, causing unnecessary duplicative costs and downtime. For a new virtual platform encompassing new servers for each medical modality, and software licenses it would cost an estimated It would take an estimated five years to procure, deploy, transfer data, and implement a new platform.

Due to the proprietary nature of the software only Nutanix or its resellers can provide software updates, to include all version updates and bug fixes, and maintenance support. The proprietary source code is required to access the Nutanix code structure to ensure the maintenance support provided meets OBVAMC requirements and ensures the software remains operational. Only Nutanix or its resellers can provide the required software licenses and maintenance, due to the proprietary nature of the source code needed for access to the proprietary database structures, protocols, software application programming, interfaces, updates, upgrades, and technical support. Access to this code ensures the services are properly configured with the software. Failure to renew the needed brand name Nutanix licenses and support would put the current OBVAMC infrastructure at risk and eliminate the required flexibility to manage the virtual infrastructure using multiple technologies. Additionally, this will impede the ability of the VA to provide care to the Veteran. Specifically, as mentioned above with regards to the patient treatment resources that thousands of Veteran patients rely on for diagnostic imaging, electrocardiograms and cardiology procedures, as well as comprehensive on-going monitoring and support.

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 could meet the Government’s requirements. However, it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V

GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome the barriers to competition in future acquisitions for the requirements herein, the Government’s technical experts will continue to conduct market research to ascertain whether there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research in April 2025 by reviewing other similar software solutions to include VMWARE, Linux and Ubuntu. Based on these product reviews, none can fully meet the Government’s interoperability and compatibility requirements as stated above.

Based on the above the Contract Specialist conducted additional market research in September 2025, by releasing a Request for Information (RFI) from September 5th, 2025 through September 18th, 2025 on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) to all contract holders to determine whether there were resellers available to provide brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support. Ten (10) contract holders responded to the RFI, four (4) of which are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small-Business (SDVOSB) resellers. The technical experts determined that nine (9) of the ten (10) resellers who submitted Rough Orders of Magnitude’s (ROMs) in response to the RFI were deemed capable of meeting VA’s requirement for Brand name Nutanix Software Licenses and Maintenance Support.

Three (3) of the ten (10) capable vendors are SDVOSB’s. The one (1) vendor who was deemed not capable did not provide a ROM that included all the items outlined in the Product Description (PD) as required. As a result of the RFI responses, at least two vendors are expected to bid on the formal solicitation for this requirement, limited competition is expected.

In addition to the above RFI. The Contract Specialist conducted additional Market Research by utilizing NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup Tool. It was determined that there are one hundred four (104) contract holders that are resellers of brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support, twenty-seven (27) of which are SDVOSB’s. Twenty-one (21) of those SDVOSB’s are categorized as approved re-sellers of brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. Therefore, limited competition is expected for this proposed action on

NASA SEWP V GWAC

9. Other Facts: None

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

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on anticipated limited competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable and more competitive pricing may result from competition. Finally, the successful quote may be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

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

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Nutanix software licenses and maintenance support on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.