JARedacted.pdf

Webtext Messaging Service and Maintenance Control Number: VA-21-00043491 Support

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, New Jersey 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 the renewal of brand name Webtext messaging services which currently interfaces with the Avaya Aura private branch exchange (PBX) and the Avaya EMC

6.5.1 transport layer security (TLS) Encryption server.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) requires the renewal of brand name Webtext messaging service which currently interfaces with the Avaya Aura PBX and the Avaya Oceana v3.7 TLS Encryption server and Short Messaging Service (SMS) to allow Veterans to use their personal phones or computers to directly connect with the agents that are logged in to the National VCL application. The Contractor shall include Webtext SMS and Integrated Voice Recognition for texting and support services to include installation, configuration, programming, and testing for the VCL located at the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Canandaigua, New York. The contractor will provide the following vanity shortcodes, VETALK 838255, PeerVCL 30333 and TestVCL 21210 for use with all national telecommunications carriers so that 2-way person to person SMS messaging can take place. VA requires a single unified telecommunications platform for texting/voice services to integrate between the VA and the Veteran. The Contractor shall provide the licensing and provisioning of the Webtext SMS services interacting with all wireless providers’ networks necessary to support two-way SMS, multimedia messaging (MMS), and Facebook (FB) Messenger communication. The Contractor shall also provide Platinum system maintenance support which includes 24/7 email and telephone support with a 1-hour response time. The period of performance for the base year is from April 11, 2021 through April 10, 2022. The order will also include two 12-month option years.

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 market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, VA has determined that limited competition is viable among resellers of brand name Webtext messaging service which currently interfaces with the Avaya Aura Private PBX and Avaya EMC 6.5.1 TLS Encryption server and SMS. VA currently utilizes Webtext messaging solution as the telecommunications platform for the VCL located at the Canandaigua VAMC. No other Webtext messaging service can interoperate with the existing unified platform. The required texting solution must integrate with the current contact call center as a single unified telecommunications platform in order to interface with work force management and call recording. The Avaya infrastructure located at the Canandaigua VAMC allows other sites utilizing brand name Avaya Aura Private PBX and Avaya Oceana v3.7 TLS Encryption server and SMS to integrate with Webtext messaging to allow for a single platform. As the hardware and software that make up the Webtext messaging service are based on Ayava proprietary source code, no other messaging service will integrate and connect with the current contact center solution. No other service providers have the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for the brand name Webtext messaging software currently operating to support existing VCL requirement.

Any other solution will require utilization of its own proprietary infrastructure (not Avaya) and would not permit the integration of the texting platform and would not allow for the required single unified telecommunications platform solution. VA is not replacing the existing unified telecommunications platform. If another brand is procured, VA would have to replace the existing platform which is not required and would result in a duplication of cost that would not be recovered through competition. Failure to acquire Webtext messaging services to integrate with the existing Ayava solution at the Canandaigua VAMC would cause delays in processing Veteran calls and delay access to contact centers for crisis services which may have a direct and adverse effect on patient/Veteran care.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this document. Although the Government is limiting competition as a result of specifying brand name Webtext messaging service which currently interfaces with Avaya Aura Private PBX and Avaya Oceana v3.7 TLS Encryption server and SMS, there are multiple value added resellers of this Webtext product that hold NASA SEWP V contracts. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), this action will be synopsized, and the justification will be made publicly available on the Federal Business Opportunities Page within 14 days after award. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A), the justification will be posted with the Request for Quote on the NASA SEWP V website.

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. Specifically, the Government will continue to monitor market trends, new/emerging products, looking for compatible and more advanced technologies to meet VA needs.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research in December 2020 by reviewing similar service providers to determine if the current

SMS, MMS, and FB services being utilized by the VA can be supported by other service providers. Specifically, the technical experts conducted extensive web-based research on Voice and Enterprise Contact Center platforms from NEC Corporation and Technology for Business Corporation. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that due to proprietary nature of the source code, only Webtext can run on an Avaya Aura Private PBX utilizing Avaya Oceana v3.7 TLS Encryption server and SMS and is the only source capable of providing the required maintenance and support for the VCL and other entities such as Women’s Health, and Caregiver Support and Peer Support. No other service providers have the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for the software currently operating to support existing VCL requirement. Based on market research, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only Webtext messaging services can integrate fully with Avaya Aura Private PBX and Avaya Oceana v3.7 TLS Encryption server and SMS to meet all of VA’s needs.

Additional market research was conducted by the Contract Specialist in March 2021 via the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup Tool. The Contract Specialist identified multiple NASA SEWP V GWAC holders who are Avaya resellers. Of those, more than two are Vendor Information Pages (VIP)-verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

9. Other Facts: None.

Approval

In my role as Procurement Service Director, One Level Above the Contracting Officer, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of Webtext messaging service, in accordance with VAAM M816.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1), 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.

Charles Ross Date: ____________________

Procurement Service Director Signature: _____________________ Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics