JA_NetApp_Final_Fully signed.pdf

NetApp A900 Hardware and Maintenance Support VA-24-00058158

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 (FFP) 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 brand name NetApp, Inc (NetApp) hardware and maintenance support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), Information Technology Operations and Services (ITOPS), Infrastructure Operations (IO), Enterprise Storage Service Line has a requirement for brand name NetApp hardware and maintenance support. This requirement is to acquire NetApp All- Flash Fabric-Attached Storage (AFF) A900 Storage Controllers, cluster switches, and 32Gigabyte (Gb) Input/Output (IO) Modules at four (4) locations which include Austin Information Technology Center (AITC), Philadelphia Information Technology Center (PITC), Hines Information Technology Center (HITC), and Capital Region Readiness Center (CRRC). Currently NetApp AFF A700 Storage Controllers, intercluster switches, and 16Gb IO module cards are in place at AITC, PITC, HITC, and CRRC locations. This requirement will support the upgrade of NetApp hardware at all 4 locations.

These storage cluster components require a technical equipment replacement for the continuation of support for storage access, storage compute, and connectivity for all IO hosted systems, storage and associated applications to remain operable and under maintenance. The components will begin to read End of Availability (EoA) and End of Life (EoL) over the next few years. The pre-existing brand name NetApp A700 Storage Controllers will reach End of Sales (EoS) and End of Life (EOL) over the next couple of years. Additional subcomponents, such as the intercluster switches and 16Gb IO Modules will reach End of Availability (EOA) and EOL in FY25 and FY27 respectively. The Contractor shall be responsible for coordinating delivery of the requested hardware to all 4 locations. All hardware shall be delivered to the sites within 60 days from award. The Contractor shall demonstrate to the appropriate Government point of contacts successful installation or Government acceptance. Installation shall be completed within 30 days after delivery. The associated maintenance support for the hardware shall be provided by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), NetApp and the Period of Performance shall be 12 months. The total estimated price of this proposed action is $3,795,655.44.

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

NetApp A900 Hardware and Maintenance Support

VA-24-00058158

implemented by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee can provide 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: Brand name NetApp storage controllers, shelves, IO Modules, and intercluster switches are required to ensure that the existing NetApp based infrastructure in place at the AITC, HITC, PITC, and CRRC locations remain operable. VA requires sustainment of the existing brand name NetApp AFF Storage Cluster disk capacity already in place through the procurement of brand name NetApp AFF A900 storage controllers. No other brand of hardware is compatible with the existing brand name NetApp AFF A900 storage controllers, shelves, IO Modules, and intercluster switches currently in place at IO.

Use of another brand would necessitate a complete replacement of the existing NetApp infrastructure in place at all 4 datacenter locations. This replacement would require VA to not only purchase entirely new storage controllers and associated storage disk capacity for these datacenters, but the running of hundreds of new fiber cables at each datacenter and the staffing to run cables in preparation of the migration effort necessary to pivot to any alternative solution. VA staff would also require vendor training on how to use an alternative platform. To replace the current storage controllers it is estimated to take approximately 12 months and cost approximately $30M for the hardware, software, and maintenance alone. These duplicative estimated costs, which are based on previous acquisition history and market research, would not be recovered through competition. No source, other than brand name NetApp, and their resellers, has access to the proprietary hardware that runs the current NetApp infrastructure in order to fully interoperate. Due to the high level of interdependency between devices and systems that comprise the IO storage solution, the Government requires a solution that will fully interoperate with the current brand name NetApp system. Any other brand name would not meet VA’s functional requirements.

Failure to procure the required brand name NetApp AFF A900 storage controllers, shelves, IO Modules, and intercluster switches would produce disasterous effects on VA’s ability to support interconnectivity for all IO hosted systems and storage needs.

This would negatively impact each of the over 200 Veteran facing applications that are supported from the AITC, HITC, PITC, and CRRC locations and would compromise VA’s ability to provide care and support to its Veterans. These applications include Mission Critical systems like the Insurance Payment System (IPS), VBA Corporate Database (CRP), Finanancial Management System (FMS), Veterans Canteen Services Point of Sale System (POS), and Veterans Crisis Line (VCL).

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 competition is viable among authorized resellers for the brand name NetApp hardware and maintenance support. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided to 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 Contracting Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

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

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research from October 2023 through February 2024. This research included reviews of internet websites, vendor demonstrations, product line showcases, and trade publications to determine if other similar storage controllers, shelves, IO Modules, and intercluster switches would be compatible with IO’s existing environment. Specifically, the technical experts reviewed similar storage controllers from alternative vendors including those from Pure Storage and Dell. Although other products can provide similar capabilities, no other product can meet VA’s requirements as outlined in Section 5 of this justification, as they are not compatible and interoperable with the existing infrastructure in place.

The alternate brands of storage controllers do not have access to NetApp’s proprietary source code needed in order to seamlessly interoperate and communicate with the existing NetApp infrastructure. Therefore, at present there is no other brand hardware (and associated OEM maintenance support) available in the marketplace that can meet VA’s requirement. Based on these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only brand name NetApp storage controllers and maintenance support can meet all VA’s needs.

Additional market research was conducted by the Contract Specialist in March 2024 by utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup Tool to determine whether the brand name NetApp hardware and maintenance support is available from NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. The search revealed a total of eighty six (86) possible vendors. This included nineteen (19) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) resellers, twenty-seven (27) Other Than Small resellers, thirty (30) Small Business resellers, and ten (10) HUBZone resellers under the “NetApp” keyword search.

Based on the above, there is a reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. The requirement discussed herein has been found to be within scope of NASA SEWP V GWAC in a separate determination. As a result of the aforementioned market research, VA intends to issue a Request for Quotation on NASA SEWP V GWAC.

VA’s technical experts have determined that only brand name NetApp hardware and associated maintenance support can meet all of VA’s requirements.

9. Other Facts: None

10. Technical and 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.

Nicholas Miller Date: ________________________________

IT Specialist Signature: ____________________________

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 the fact that NASA SEWP V GWAC prices have previously been determined to be fair and reasonable. In addition, price competition is expected among authorized resellers for this action. Finally, the successful quote will be compared to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

Heather Utt Date: ________________________________

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ____________________________

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

Heather Utt Date: ________________________________

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ____________________________

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of NetApp A900 hardware 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.

Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________ Jason Bullen Advocate for Competition Technology Acquisition Center

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics