P03- BNJ PLUM Case HW and Maint_REDACTED.pdf

JUSTIFICATIONFOR 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: This 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 Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name PLUM Antenna Arrays cases, as well as other PLUM hardware, and maintenance support for the Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), OEM requires the purchase of 63 additional Plum Antenna Array cases to provide signal coverage from distant cellular networks available in the regions where emergencies are occurring without enough reliable cellular connections to maintain connectivity during disaster events that cause normal network disruptions, as well as hardware and maintenance support in order to increase and update the currently deployed system. The PLUM cases as well as ancillary hardware must be compatible with the existing equipment in use at all VA locations. The proposed action will also provide maintenance by Plum Labs due to the proprietary hardware of the solution, including diagnostic support and cloud management for 353 existing4G/5G PLUM Antenna Array portable broadband kit’s that are already deployed throughout VA locations. Furthermore, the modems and routers included in the cases shall prevent the OEM from experiencing degraded cellular network functionalities during any natural and human caused disasters by including network connectivity without requiring contracted managed services. Some ancillary PLUM hardware is optional and will be exercised if needed. The period of performance for required delivery and support shall be 12- months starting September 06, 2024 through September 05, 2025, plus two (2), 12-month option periods. The total estimated price for this proposed action, inclusive of all option periods .

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: PLUM Laboratories, Inc. Antenna Array cases are the only proprietary technology that can deliver seamless connectivity in remote or temporary locations. Additionally, Plum Laboratory, Inc. Antenna Array is the only brand that is compatible with the existing system due to proprietary constraints.

The PLUM Antenna Array is already installed and is in use within OI&T and OEM departments and is a critical component for disaster recovery response operations.

Brand name PLUM Antenna Array hardware and Maintenance Control Number: VA-24-00082660

PLUM Antenna Array is a network building block that enables connectivity to avoid major patient safety issues during disaster recovery operations. If a different brand were chosen, the VA would lose the capability of the existing disaster recovery operational plan to provide cellular network connectivity during disaster recovery operations. The PLUM Antenna Array hardware enables network connectivity during disaster recovery operations. No other cellular antenna array has the capability to provide network capability without degrading the cellular network connectivity. The Plum Laboratory, Inc., brand name Antenna Array is the only company that offers the highly sensitive antennas with abilities to provide signal coverages from distant cellular network available in all VA locations with reliable cellular connections to maintain connectivity.

Further, PLUM Antenna Array must be obtained through PLUM Laboratories or one of its approved resellers due to the embedded technology infrastructure that PLUM Antenna Array cases contains. Even if another brand were available, the estimated cost to procure and replace all the infrastructure and equipment to implement an alternative solution is between for hardware replacement. Additionally, the time to deploy an alternate solution is estimated to be . These estimates are based on previous acquisition history and prior life cycle impact level determinations.

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 can meet the Government’s requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name PLUM Antenna Array hardware as well as maintenance support. 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 market research by testing other antennas. This market research is an ongoing process starting in 2022 and continuously being conducted, as recently as May 2024. As a result, the technical experts reviewed , and determined that these other brands cannot meet the Government’s interoperability and compatibility requirements as previously discussed in Section 5. Additionally, other antennas array products cannot offer the network connectivity, which is critical in disaster recovery and continuity of operations. The review of other products was based on actual VA experiences using the competing antennas. Likewise, maintenance support reviewed from other brands are not able to provide maintenance due to the proprietary rights and required source codes that are specific to PLUM Labs products. Furthermore, VA OI&T and OEM Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct Internet research to ascertain if any other brand name antennas are available.

Based on all these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only PLUM Laboratories, Inc. or one of its authorized resellers can provide the maintenance and support due to the proprietary hardware of the solution that can meet all of VA’s needs.

The Contract Specialist (CS) conducted a formal RFI that was released on June 27, 2024 and concluded on July 03, 2024. The RFI was posted to NASA SEWP V GWAC website to identify potential vendors who could meet the full requirement. The RFI did not render any responses. Additionally, as of June 2024, the CS utilized the NASA SEWP V GWAC market research tool to determine which vendors can meet the requirement. Based on this market research, the CS found two (2) approved resellers who are Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) that are capable of meeting the full requirement. Based upon market research efforts it has been determined that competition amongst VOSB contract-holders through NASA SEWP V GWAC is a viable contract vehicle.

9. Other Facts:

None.