15-Q-7655_SSJ_Memo_for_Ixia_Licenses.docx

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

CONTRACTS OFFICE

BOX 555171

CAMP PENDLETON CALIFORNIA 92055-5171

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS

1. The material listed on quote # SFDC-116610 Rev. 1 is from a sole source and competition is restricted to one responsible source for reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available for these maintenance licenses.

2. This acquisition is restricted to the following source:

3. Description of the item required, the estimated cost, and required delivery date.

The proposed contract action is to procure various IXIA, Inc. renewal maintenance licenses for existing Government hardware and software located at the Program Engineering Support Group (PESG), MCTSSA.

The estimated dollar value for this procurement in its entirety is $119,737.15. Tentative delivery is 30 days after purchase.

4. Specific characteristics of the material that limit the availability to a sole source e.g., unique features, function of the item, etc. Describe in detail why only this sole source can furnish the requirements to the exclusion of other sources.

Although the original contracts to purchase IXIA commercial equipment (software and hardware) were originally competed using an unrestricted full and open competition strategy with brand-name or equal (FAR 52.211-6), this is the sixth occurrence of MCNEL, PESG, or MCTSSA needing to renew all the maintenance licenses on its Government-owned equipment.

IXIA, Inc. is the sole designer, developer, integrator, provider, and distributor of IXIA Maintenance Support License renewals. As a result, IXIA is uniquely qualified and solely authorized to provide the complete range of licensed maintenance support services required. In addition, much of the technical data, material, and expertise required to perform these maintenance support services were developed exclusively by IXIA and are singularly provided to their customers by IXIA. These privately held renewal licenses, along with the corporate expertise of the IXIA products themselves, are the sole property of IXIA, Inc.

5. Check and fill in all that are applicable:

|X| The material or service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, and function) with existing systems presently installed. Describe the equipment you have now and how the new item/service must coordinate, connect, or interface with the existing system:

Market research has revealed there were no other sources (open market of GSA/FSS) found that provided the required IXIA software and hardware maintenance support licenses. IXIA originally informed the Government via a letter dated 11 Jul 10 that they were asserting their status as the lone distributor and executor of their own maintenance support licenses and would not subcontract these out to third party vendors.

IXIA’s letter states that “… IXIA does not engage third parties in the performance of its warrany obligations…” and “… attempts made by a third party to perform repairs on IXIA products could potentially violate the terms and conditions of the End User Software License Agreement between IXIA and the End User.” The IXIA Account Manager for Renewal Sales also stated that “…IXIA is the sole provider for all SW, HW and technical support.”

The current acquisition strategy is to award a sole source contract to IXIA as a direct result of IXIA’s status as the sole authorized provider of these maintenance renewal support licenses. A notice of intent to award to a sole source will be posted to FedBizOps as required by FAR Subpart 5.2.

An estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated if the entire IXIA line of products and services were recompeted would amount to approx. $1,235,235. The estimate was derived from all the IXIA product and maintenance contracts purchased by MCTSSA Contract for MCNEL since FY10 multiplied by 3.5% for inflation per year.

|_| A patent, copyright, or proprietary data limits competition. The proprietary data are described as follows:

N/A

|X| These are “direct replacement” parts/components for existing equipment.

N/A

|_| Other information to support a sole-source buy:

N/A

CERTIFICATION

I certify that statements checked and information provided above are complete and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that the processing of this Sole-Source Justification precludes the use of full and open competition.

(Signature)________________________________________Date_______ __ __

Printed Name, Title __ ____________________________ _____

(Signature)________________________________________Date____________ ____ _

Printed Name, Contracting Officer ________ ________________________ ___ image1.emf