Brand Name JEFO_CISCO_Posting12052024.pdf

Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i)

JEFO: FY25-0005 1

JEFO No.: FY25-0005

Date: 10/21/2024 PR Number: RUIO-25-ES004

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Information Technology Acquisition Center (ITAC) has prepared this Justification for Brand Name Exception to Fair Opportunity. This justification for brand name is to cover CISCO software license and maintenance support that will be procured in support of the Office of Chief Information Officer’s (OCIO) Homeland Security Enterprise Network (HSEN).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

DHS/OPO/ITAC intends to award a delivery order under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) as a Small Business set-aside on a brand name basis for CISCO brand software license renewal and maintenance support, manufactured by CISCO.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i), restricting consideration to an item peculiar to one manufacturer (e.g., a particular brand-name, product, or a feature of a product that is peculiar to one manufacturer) must be justified. A brand-name item, even if available on more than one contract, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need (including the estimated value).

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Enterprise Engineering Division (EED) has identified the need to procure continued CISCO branded software license and maintenance support for CISCO assets currently in operation across the HSEN. The renewal of maintenance for CISCO proprietary hardware and software will ensure DHS maintains support for critical elements of the HSEN network across multiple infrastructure environments. The estimated total value for this requirement is $. The period of performance is 15 months from the date of award (3 month Base Period and a 12 month Option Period).

The Government requires subscription license support for the following::

• Software licensing enterprise-wide for CISCO AnyConnect VPN.

• Hardware and software maintenance for switch devices.

• Software license & maintenance for Cloud Services Router to deploy Cisco or third-party Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).

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• Hardware and software maintenance to operate network routers with multiple Wide Area Network (WAN) connections

• Hardware and software maintenance for network switch devices.

4. Identify the Brand Name and supporting rationale.

DHS intends to procure a brand name specification support for CISCO branded software license and maintenance support in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i). The exception is based on FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i), the brand-name, product, or feature is essential to the Government’s requirements and market research indicates other companies’ similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency’s needs.

The brand name (CISCO) must be used because of the following reasons:

HSEN is DHS’ shared Wide Area Network (WAN) for all of DHS. The HSEN core infrastructure consists of multiple system components

Primarily, CISCO software and equipment are currently being used in the DHS HSEN Production environment.

If DHS implements a system other than the existing CISCO system, then the additional expenditure to purchase and install all new hardware and software ) would be necessary to meet DHS’s HSEN requirements. This would be a wasteful duplication of costs, since DHS has already purchased, installed and integrated the CISCO hardware and software products into the current DHS network architecture, maintenance platforms, and configuration.

Using a list price compilation of DHS’ CISCO Install Base (IB) data over the last decade, it is estimated that DHS has spent $ on the HSEN network infrastructure hardware, software, maintenance and configuration. It is estimated that for all of DHS Components network infrastructure using CISCO hardware and software products an excess of has been spent. These figures do not account for other government agencies or Trade Partners that are also tied into the HSEN network that would respectively make changes on their end, should DHS choose to replace the CISCO proprietary technology with another vendor’s proprietary technology.

The minimum cost to replace CISCO for DHS HQ would be an estimated ; if including DHS Components’ network, the estimate is over $, which does not account for the resources needed to rip, replace, configure and architect a new network, nor other government agencies and Trade partners costs as a result of DHS scrapping CISCO technology and replacing with another company’s products.

The time cost of replacement is dependent on doing (1) proof-of-concept between different vendors and ensuring compatibility with existing systems and applications then

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(2) the procurement process and the availability of the new vendor’s hardware and (3) coordinating with all other DHS Components with dependency on their availability to migrate which includes moratoriums and system suspension windows. With too many unknowns, to fully evaluate and assess the systems and network impacts of fully scrapping CISCO and replace it with another vendor and the service impact it will have on DHS’ mission and current production systems and applications, the timeframe could be 5 - 10 years. This timeframe does not account for other government agencies, Trade Partners that will respectively make changes on their end, should DHS scrap the CISCO proprietary technology and replace it with another company’s proprietary technology.

Other vendor’s similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency’s needs. Annually, HSEN Architecture and Development Team evaluates new technologies.

This brand name specification must be used because the existing infrastructure environments have been engineered to the specification of this particular software product (CISCO). CISCO Systems possess the necessary unique qualifications required for the DHS HSEN infrastructure environment.

Introducing a new vendor’s software and equipment to the HSEN network core system at this time would require: a significant redesign of the current HSEN network infrastructure configuration; a network architecture review of the HSEN network infrastructure; and a new system/product functionality compatibility architecture review to ensure operational integrity and interoperability between the new vendor’s software and equipment and all the other system components. Due to the fact that CISCO software and equipment are placed inside the DHS HSEN network infrastructure, not doing a full functionality and compatibility review of the new vendor to replace the CISCO software and equipment could result in impacts to the DHS HSEN WAN network and to the DHS mission These full functionality and capability reviews can only be accurately determined by putting the new software and equipment into production. The introduction of new vendor equipment and software within the DHS DataCenters would require a significant new investment, resources, and time. The level of effort involved related to new design, configuration changes and updates and testing a new technically capable system to replace an existing highly and fully functioning system would introduce significant unknown risk to an otherwise stable system and environment. Other vendors’ networking technologies are incompatible with CISCO proprietary technologies. All vendors including CISCO have their own processes and procedures to maintain and repair software upgrades and provide support. One vendor cannot provide Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support for products from other vendors. The DHS network is highly technical in nature; the use of CISCO hardware and software provides the functionality required to manage DHS’ environment. That said, CISCO network product does integrate with several other OEMs’ products that are currently deployed throughout DHS. CISCO does not dictate who has the authority to resell CISCO software, however, Value Added Resellers (VAR) must be certified by CISCO. To prevent grey market equipment (any

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product that is imported and sold by anyone other than the manufacturer and its authorized dealers), CISCO requires their resellers to be CISCO certified.

DHS network architecture, maintenance platforms, and configuration systems require the use of CISCO to ensure interoperability with other DHS systems at all data centers.

CISCO must be configured in accordance with OCIO system architecture requirements.

The use of other products could result in interoperability, compatibility, and interface issues that would preclude the system’s support team from providing efficient and effective customer support.

DHS conducted market research on the following competing products:

A market analysis was conducted on10 market leaders; however, none of these vendor technologies were fully compatible with the existing Cisco hardware and software technologies that currently operates on the DHS HSEN network infrastructure. Using any other vendor hardware and software technologies requires a significant investment with cost,time and resources and notably, the substantial risk of replacing Cisco equipment and software technologies with untested new vendor technologies which could not be compatible with the services and solutions. If this renewal is not approved, the DHS HSEN Wide Area Network (WAN) will be operating with no vendor software and maintenance support resulting in the government operating a production network environment with equipment without sotware and license support.

While most of CISCO’s competitors’ products can be modified to provide some of CISCO’s features, non-CISCO vendors do not and will not provide support for a competitor’s technologies and equipment Failure to maintain and renew CISCO’s maintenance contract for DHS will result in disruption in the DHS network, architecture, and functional and technical operations and maintenance support services, which would have an adverse impact to the efficiency of DHS’ mission. DHS would lose its current ability to receive support from CISCO. DHS would be left without CISCO’s support of the DHS network, will have no access to upgrades, risk being out of compliance, risk of security threats, continue important architecture refresh tasks, and continue with functional operation and maintenance responsibilities which are led by DHS’ expert care team.

- Market research as of October 2024 indicates other vendors with similar solutions still do not offer the same required features that CISCO provides

This procurement is to renew and Cisco software licenses and maintenance support for existing Cisco equipment and software that are currently operating in DHS Enterprise

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Network. Procuring an alternate brand other than CISCO would require a complete infrastructure replacement with a significant increase in cost and risk to the mission.

This involves purchasing and configuring the new equipment, changing control boards, implementation, and removal of old hardware from control boards. These risks include having: a break in service for all CISCO devices within the DHS HSEN Wide Area network, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) reinstatement fees, and unavailable support. Overall, procuring an alternate brand would create unacceptable risk to DHS.

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

CISCO license and maintenance support can be obtained in the commercial marketplace utilizing existing Government contract vehicles. NASA SEWP V is a GWAC for IT hardware and software solutions. Competition is anticipated among resellers that have partnerships with the OEM manufacturer (CISCO). This approach will result in the lowest overall cost, considering price and administrative costs, to meet the Government’s needs. The CO will also seek volume and customer loyalty discounts if they are available.

The CO will determine whether the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable by comparing the Government’s IGCE and CISCO’s product price list to quotes received.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the Brand Name before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

Barriers to competition may be removed or overcome when DHS seeks to replace or update the existing HSEN Data Center infrastructure and systems, which currently includes CISCO hardware/software. As of October 2024, DHS OCIO’s HSEN Data Center infrastructure and systems are not due for refresh or replacement. Changing software brands on a yearly basis is not practical; however, when major refresh cycles or product end-of-life cycles are reached where a significant part of the inventory requires replacement, market research will be conducted to identify other viable and cost effective solutions and full and open competition will be used.

8. This justification will be provided along with the solicitation to all NASA SEWP V Group B, C, and D contract awardees in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(2).

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9. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(9), I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

________|signed|_______________________

COR

10. Contracting Officer Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(8), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and hereby determine that the circumstances for a Brand Name exist:

__________|signed|__________________________ , Contracting Officer

11. Approval.

_______________|signed|_________________________________ Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition

JEFO: FY25-0005 7