JA NVIDIA App and Maintenance_Redacted.pdf

NVIDIA Virtual Application Licenses and Support Control Number: VA-24- 00067412

JUSTIFICATIONFOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

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

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way

Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price delivery order (DO) that will be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for an Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name NVIDIA virtual application perpetual concurrent licenses to include warranty and support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs VA, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), Infrastructure Operations has a requirement to acquire 24 brand-name NVIDIA virtual application perpetual concurrent user licenses and 5-years of brand name NVIDIA warranty and support, for NVIDIA Virtual Applications, NVIDIA Virtual PC and NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstations on existing NVIDIA GPU hardware at three data centers in Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX and Cleveland, OH. The period of performance shall be 5-years following VA acceptance of licenses. Warranty and support shall consist of periodic updates, access to all upgrade releases (both minor and major), bug fix releases, enhancements and corrections to the software, and technical support. This level of support provides 24x7x365 coverage, plus holidays, to support and resolve issues. Warranty and support shall consist of periodic updates, access to all upgrade releases (both minor and major), bug fix releases, enhancements and corrections to the software, and technical support. This level of support provides 24x7x365 coverage, plus holidays, to support and resolve issues. The total estimated price of the proposed action is .

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting an exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (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: Upon comprehensive Market Research and analysis as outlined below in Section 8 of this justification, it is unequivocally clear that the NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation emerges as the singular solution adept at seamlessly integrating with our existing NVIDIA GPU hardware spread across three pivotal VA data centers in Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, and Cleveland, OH. This integration is imperative to safeguard the optimal performance of our Azure Virtual Machines and VMware vSphere environments, ensuring uninterrupted operations crucial to our mission.

Of paramount significance is NVIDIA's exclusive ownership of the application's source code, endowing them and their authorized resellers with the pivotal capability to furnish indispensable software maintenance, bug fixes, upgrades, and updates. This exclusive control is pivotal in safeguarding our systems' stability and functionality, a prerogative that no alternative solution can replicate.

Our technical team meticulously conducted extensive market research, diligently scrutinizing various GPU hardware and software licenses through web-based inquiries. Despite exhaustive exploration of alternatives such as Azure Virtual Machines and VMware vSphere, none presented the direct provision of crucial components like NVIDIA virtual application perpetual concurrent user licenses or the indispensable five-year warranty and support essential for NVIDIA Virtual Applications, NVIDIA Virtual PC, and NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstations tailored to our existing NVIDIA GPU hardware.

Any endeavor to procure similar services from alternate sources would inevitably mandate the wholesale replacement of our current Clinical Assessment Reporting and Tracking (CART) Program Systems at the aforementioned three locations. This course of action would not only entail a substantial duplication of costs and efforts but would also disrupt operations, potentially leading to critical service disruptions and compromised patient care. As the projected total cost of pursuing a replacement system is estimated at . Failure to proceed with the procurement of the NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation licenses would jeopardize system integrity, heighten operational downtime due to unresolved software issues, and incur exorbitant costs associated with infrastructure reconfiguration and potential service disruptions. Such ramifications would gravely impede the VA's capacity to fulfill its commitment to delivering high-quality care to our nation's Veterans, with implications reverberating across hundreds of providers, thousands of Veteran patients, and millions of diagnostic images reliant on the seamless functionality of our Virtual Workstations.

Without the assurance of comprehensive ongoing monitoring, support, and upgrades facilitated by NVIDIA's proprietary solution, the specter of system failures looms large, threatening delayed reporting and the potential loss of critical information essential for making time-sensitive, life-saving decisions for our Veteran patients. Therefore, it is imperative that we move forward with the acquisition of the NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstation to fortify our infrastructure and uphold our unwavering commitment to those who have served our nation..

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. However, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for these brand name items. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the award will be synopsized, and the justification will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website within 14 days of award. Additionally, the justification will be provided with the Request for Quotation.

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 by the Government’s technical experts via web based research in March 2024 to determine the availability of similar GPU hardware and software licenses capable of meeting the VA’s requirements.. The VA technical experts reviewed alternative products including Azure Virtual Machines and VMware vSphere. The Government’s technical experts determined that the aforementioned alternative sources reviewed do not meet all the requirements described in paragraph 5 above.

Additionally, none of the aforementioned sources indicated that they could directly provide NVIDIA virtual application perpetual concurrent user licenses and 5-years of warranty and support for NVIDIA Virtual Applications, NVIDIA Virtual PC, and NVIDIA RTX Virtual Workstations required on existing NVIDIA GPU hardware that the VA has in place. Azure and VMware can only provide support for their proprietary hardware and software and are unable to provide support on NVIDIA proprietary hardware and software currently in use by the VA. Based on this review, it was determined that no other source besides NVIDIA or its authorized resellers can provide the required licenses and support because the other service providers lack the access to the proprietary source code.

Furthermore, on behalf of OIT, Infrastructure Operations, the Office of Strategic Sourcing issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website on March 21, 2024. The RFI closed on March 28, 2024, with a total of 14 responses received; eight responses were received from Small Businesses and six responses were received from Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Based on the information gathered from the RFI posting, the Government’s technical experts determined that all 14 respondents were capable of meeting the Government’s requirement.

The Contract Specialist (CS) conducted additional market research in April 2024 by utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup tool to determine whether the brand name NVIDIA licenses and support is available from NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Based on this market research, the CS discovered several SDVOSB Contract Holders that are resellers of the brand name NVIDIA. As a result, there is a reasonable expectation that limited competition exists among capable SDVOSB resellers on the NASA SEWP V GWAC for the brand name NVIDIA licenses and support.

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.

Signature: _

Date:

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 because NASA SEWP GWAC prices have previously been determined fair and reasonable. Additionally, price competition is expected among authorized resellers for this action. Additional price analysis will be performed by comparing the successful quote to the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed , this document serves as the contracting officer’s basis for using an exception to the fair opportunity process in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(A).