JnA Cisco Transceivers and Line Cards_Redacted.pdf

Cisco Transceivers and Line Cards for Control No. VA-24-00082988 Infrastructure Operations Data Centers

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 the award of a Firm-Fixed-Price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Cisco transceiver modules and line cards.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of VA Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Connectivity and Collaboration Services, Core Network Services (CNS), Network Operations has a requirement for brand name Cisco transceiver modules (700 each) and Cisco Nexus line cards (4 each) to expand VA�s existing Cisco switch capacity and throughput. This proposed expansion will increase communication speed and efficiency between switches and end devices in VA OIT Infrastructure Operations (IO) data centers. The hardware is required for the following three data centers: Austin Information Technology Center in Austin, Texas;

Capital Regional Readiness Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia; and Philadelphia Information Technology Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Delivery of the required brand name Cisco hardware is 90 days after award.

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 document, it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for the brand required. The Cisco brand transceiver modules and line cards are required to expand the existing Cisco switch capacity and throughput and ensure compatibility and interoperability with VA�s current network infrastructure. VA�s existing network infrastructure uses Cisco brand switches and internal Cisco transceiver modules and line cards to convert data signals from the network and local traffic managers into a format that can communicate with network devices. The additional transceivers and line cards will expand the existing Cisco switches' internal transceivers, increasing capacity and throughput, thereby enhancing faster and more efficient communication between

Cisco switches and end devices. Only Cisco brand transceivers and line cards can be used as no other products are compatible with the existing Cisco switches and/or covered under existing warranty. Due to Cisco�s proprietary source code, only Cisco brand transceivers and line cards can interoperate with the current infrastructure to ensure network switches are a part of the unified Cisco fabric and meet overall network architecture requirements and will be covered under warranty for triage, technical analysis, and replacement. The IO Data Center networks support VA programs and administrations from network application to end-user connections. Timely OEM hardware is required to operate and expand VA�s critical network infrastructure. Without Cisco transceivers and line cards, VA would not be able to connect switches and end devices for network and data communications.

Therefore, only Cisco and its authorized resellers can provide the necessary transceivers and line cards to expand the existing switch infrastructure.

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 the brand name Cisco transceiver modules and line cards. 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: 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: The Government�s technical experts conducted web-based market research in April and May 2024, to ascertain the availability, pricing, and compatibility of transceiver modules and line cards. The market research included products manufactured by Dell and Hewlett Packard. Although these vendors offer similar products, it was determined that none could meet the VA�s existing Cisco switch infrastructure compatibility and interoperability requirements. Only Cisco brand transceivers and line cards can be used as no other products can communicate with the VA�s existing Cisco switches and/or covered under existing warranty. Therefore, at present, there is no other brand or solution available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement. Based on the above market research efforts, the Government�s technical experts have determined that only Cisco and its authorized resellers can provide the necessary transceivers and line cards required to expand the existing switch infrastructure and throughput.

Additionally, the Contract Specialist (CS) conducted market research in June 2024 using the NASA SEWP V GWAC market research tool to determine which vendors are capable of providing the full requirement. Based on this research, the CS identified 23 Cisco Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) resellers that are capable of providing the required brand name Cisco transceivers and line cards. As a result, limited competition between SDVOSBs is anticipated.

9. Other Facts: None.