JWIC_Kits_ACC_Redacted.pdf

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY March 2018 Page 1 of 5

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M > $13.5M and < $93M > $93M

Department of The Air Force

HQ ACC AMIC

Contracting Activity: Acquisition Management and Integration Center (AMIC) 129 Andrews Ave, Ste 110 Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA 23665

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: F2QF039078AW01

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): Deployable Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) Kits

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

Authority: 6.302-1 – 10 USC 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): $1,001,598.00 J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306 . 304 ( a) ) ** The text in the signature blocks below is editable, including the title.

** To remove a row, click the "X" next to the signature block. CAUTION: Once removed, it can only be restored by downloading the BLANK FORM again.

X

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306 . 304 ( a) )

Date

12 Apr 2019

Competition Advocate

Signature

NOTE: If a Justification and Approval was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved J&A for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant J&A. This applies to all J&A staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor J&A will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Sign and Save Procedure

Date Program Manager Signature

03 Apr 2019

Contracting Officer Steven F. Pillo

ACC AMIC/PKA / 757-225-7699

Signature PILLO.STEVEN.F.116114 Digitally signed by

PILLO.STEVEN.F.1161145595

5595 Date: 2019.04.03 13:28:46 -04'00'

Date Local Legal Reviewer Signature

12 Apr 2019

Chief of the Contracting Office (COCO)

Signature

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY March 2018 Page 2 of 5

I. Contracting Activity.

Department of The Air Force

HQ ACC AMIC

Acquisition Management and Integration Center (AMIC) 129 Andrews Ave, Ste 110 Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA 23665

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

The intended action is to award a new firm-fixed-price Purchase Order. It is a new requirement for a deployable Air Force JWICS solution and considered a supply buy and no options will be included. The timelines have been set by the Commander ACC, ACC/A2,A3 and USAFE/A2,A3. Due to unanticipated fiscal contingencies the previous iterative sourcing options/solutions failed to process in time to meet senior leadership identified timelines. For instance, an attempt was made to utilize a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) that the B2 Program Office currently has with Crystal Group Inc. The contract number is FA861614G6064 and has a ceiling of $12M and was awarded sole source to Crystal Group Inc. A25 considered two options attempting to get the JWICS kits ordered. One option was to MIPR funding to the B2 Program Office for them to do the order, the other option was for AMIC to do a decentralized order using the BOA. After further research, it was determined that using the B2 BOA for the JWICS kits would not be in scope of the B2 BOA because the BOA was strictly for the B2 Program to use 3010 (aircraft) funding. Therefore, the decision was made to negotiate with Crystal Group Inc. for rapid fielding of three survivable deployable JWICS kits to meet Air Force Senior Leadership dictated FY/CY19 timelines. While hardware from the B2 Program is utilized in this solution, the software configuration and the mission requirement are completely separate from the B2. For example, the B2 hardware is for communications whereas the deployable JWICS kits are for operational mission planning/trageting.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

These are considered specialized kits that include JWICS accredited software for secure, remote administration with a single "push button kill switch." The kill switch on each unit can be used to destroy information in the event of disaster or a potential compromise by a foreign entity. These kits have rugged fittings in a deployable light weight casings.

Under the contemplated Purchase Order, Crystal Group Inc. will provide, rugged hardware/software/configuration management equipment with leading edge technology expandable for increased performance and ruggedized for austere environments enabling IT Core Service in a deployed environment. The deployable hardware solution will provide the Air Force with a single platform enabling reliable high performance processing, storage capabilities, and secure capabilities.

Required capabilities must be delivered by 22 April, 2019 for testing and configuration for an upcoming exercise on 6 May 2019.

Estimated cost of three kits: $1,001,598.00 Funding type: 3400 The Purchase Order will be issued with one CLIN and a unit of issue as 1 Lot.

Following is a detailed listing of items required to build one (1) kit (3 kits total):

1x 8U Transit Case (1 Ea) Display Keyboard Mouse (1 Ea) High End Server (2 Ea) 24 Port Switch (1 Ea) UPS, 2U Syncor 115 VAC in 2500W (1 Ea) Pelican 1640 RAC-00037 (1 Ea) Dell 7730 17.3 ips 1TB (4 Ea) 3D Nvidia Glass, ACER 24 Monitor (1 Ea) Case Installation (1 Ea) 8U Case + Printer (1 Ea) Nutanix Acropolis/Prism software service licensing (3 Ea) Configuration Management Option, CM of System Items (for all three kits)

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY March 2018 Page 3 of 5

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

10 USC 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

Crystal Group Inc. is the only company that offers the use of a push button "kill switch" which can be used to sanitize the kit servers if required. This function will give operators, in a deployed environment, the ability to completely wipe all disks with the push of a button, in the event of a potential compromise by a foreign entity. Additionally, the Crystal Group Inc. deployable JWICS kits are the only equipment certified to use the Acropolis Operating System and Prism software by Nutanix. The Nutanix software is the only software certified to run on the deployable JWICS kits and integrate with existing AFJWICS infrastructure as it is already accredited to run on JWICS, supporting the range Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. The SPO also uses Nutanix software on in its own production environment. Nutanix software is the preferred hyperconverged software platform for enterprise IT Core Services. The Prism software is used for system management and allows ACC A26, the AFJWICS Special Programs Office (SPO) and enterprise control center to oversee and manage each kit remotely when the kits are in a deployed location.

Prism software allows the SPO to manage the servers, install new software as needed, and tailor the system for the user's requirements. This is important because there will be no IT personnel to accompany the deployed kits in upcoming exercises. Crystal Group Inc. is the only vendor that can configure the kits to provide all of these capabilities and provide them on the timeline for testing and configuration.

Procuring the deployed hardware solution provided by Crystal Group Inc. will ensure the availability, reliability, stability and security with direct access to technical engineers at Crystal Group Inc. This will minimize downtime to resolve issues quickly, and reduce the cost of deployed solution ownership by using Crystal Group Inc. experts, knowledge, and availability using their Configuration Management Option. Crystal Group Inc. will also provide the Air Force with license subscription updates that help reduce downtime with fast, expert technical support and flexible software coverage.

The unique requirements of the system, market research, and the recommendations of the PMO and SPO identified Crystal Group Inc. as a vendor that already provided a ready-solution for another Air Force platform. With minor changes, requisite capabilities, experience, and current certification it was determined that Crystal Group Inc. can successfully provide the JWICS kits and meet the required timeline. These kits have never been purchased before. Therefore, no purchase history of compatibility comparison is available.

The use of the Crystal Group Inc. kits are essential to the Air Force meeting exercise requirements, any other solution would result in unacceptable delays. Accordingly, Crystal Group Inc. is the only firm capable of providing the supplies described in Section III above without the U.S. Air Force experiencing unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A sources sought synopsis was posted on FedBizOpps on 21 March 2019 to notify interested parties that the Air Force intended to negotiate with Crystal Group Inc. on a sole source basis to procure three survivable JWICS deployable kits.

The synopsis stated that Crystal Group Inc. was uniquely qualified to provide the kits for testing and configuration to support required exercise and operational timelines, set by ACC senior leadership. The synopsis stated that all sources could submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which would be considered and that a determination by the government not to compete the requirement based upon responses to the notice was solely within the discretion of the government. As of the date the synopsis was posted, the Air Force has only received one inquiry which was from bloomberg.net asking if this was similar to any work performed currently or in the past, or if this will be a new

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY March 2018 Page 4 of 5 requirement. The Air Force responded back stating that it was a new requirement. No other inquires have been received.

As per FAR6.305(a), the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days after the Purchase Order is issued by posting the J&A on FedBizOpps.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Crystal Group Inc. has provided the contracting office with an itemized list of parts which makes up each kit. The parts are considered Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) items which can be compared to various market prices that are available to the general public. Even though kit items can be purchased commercially, there are multiple pieces from multiple vendors. All items have to be tested for compatibility and properly configured to work together. As an example, Crystal Group Inc. must change out chip-sets in the commercially available servers and there are stringent operating requirements in regards to temperature, humidity, sand and snow. Nevertheless, there is enough commercially available information to conduct a price analysis. Before contract award, the cost will be considered fair and reasonable and the basis for the determination will be included in the contracting file.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

The JWICS PMO performed market research to include contacting one large business and two small businesses and found that no other companies could provide the performance options in a ruggedized kit with the kill switch capability.

Market research has concluded that Crystal Group Inc. rugged product solution is the only products that meet all the Air Force's technical and functional requirements, and satisfy the needs of ACC/A25 in the timeline established by senior leadership. This is the only solution that can accommodate the ACC/A25 unique characteristics to help maintain quality of service for IT Core Services and is the only company currently configuring the JWICS kits with the authorized software, including the approved push button kill switch used to sanitize the kit servers as needed. The kill switch capability is critical when located in austere environments to protect top secret information. In the future the Air Force anticipates that more vendors will have this technology and as such will enable a more competitive acquisition approach which will preclude the necessity for future sole source acquisitions.

After approval/acceptance of the requirement to design an ACC deployable AFJWICS kit, the SPO Senior Integrations Engineer, the SPO Senior Systems Engineer, and a SPO Project Manager was assigned. Each member of the project team conducted individual research of potential vendors that were capable of fulfilling the project requirements. The Project Manager explored the possibility of utilizing existing kits/configurations currently in use by other AF IC entities.

The Project Manager conducted approximately 25 cumulative hours of research into this. However, the Engineers identified compute and storage issues due to the required application list and database storage given by the end user.

The Engineers each conducted direct and indirect research of individual vendors and hosted technical demonstrations to evaluate specific equipment. Each Engineer spent an estimated 120 hours of research, evaluation, and communication with vendor representatives.

The vendors researched were Intelligent Waves, Klas Telecom, Crystal Rugged, Dell, HPE, Harris, and Portexa. Each vendor was evaluated due to Engineer personal knowledge and past experience with the equipment. For example, SPO engineers have used the various vendor's equipment in the past and understand the capabilities, limitations, and reliability of their hardware. Subsequently, the SPO would not choose hardware from certain vendors because SPO engineers know of various security vulnerabilities and know that the hardware would not be capable of functioning at certain high or low temperatures as an example.

The short timeline provided for the project technical solution delivery dictated the Engineers be familiar with the equipment in order to have the best chance to be able to build out a design and configure the equipment by the deadline (approximately 50 days from project acceptance). Crystal Group Inc. was ultimately chosen for three reasons:

1) they are the only company capable of building hardware to meet the requirements/configuration needed to support the project, 2) Crystal hardware already had a certification to run the Nutanix Acropolis Operating System - The

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY March 2018 Page 5 of 5

Nutanix AOS is the management software used on the AFJWICS production environment and allows the 625 ACOMS to remotely manage the server environment with administrators being physically present at the deployment site, which was a requirement of the project, 3) they are the only company that could provide a “push-button sanitize switch” for the hard drives on the servers within the kit. The sanitize switch was a necessity due to the sensitivity of the data that will be residing on the servers combined with the potentially contested environment. This would provide the best possibility of gaining approval to load various databases owned by outside agencies.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

If the Crystal Group Inc. solution is not fully implemented, ACC/A25 will fail in its mission to provide deployed communications, security, interoperability, and resiliency capabilities for its customers in austere environments and will not be able to meet Air Force and ACC senior leadership established timelines.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

See Section VI above

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

Crystal Group Inc. is the only vendor that that can configure the JWICS kits with the certified JWICS software with the push button kill switch to sanitize kit servers if required. It is anticipated that more vendors will develop approved/ certified means and methods to sanitize/destroy this technology and provide a more competitive acquisitions market.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.

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