P03 - JA - Lifecycle Refresh - FY21 Cisco Wireless Phones 8.20.21_Redacted.pdf

Cisco Wireless Phones Lifecyce Refresh Control Number VA-21-00085493

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd

Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: This proposed action is for the award of brand name firm-fixed-price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Cisco Wireless IP Phone 8821 and peripherals.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA Office of Information and Technology, IT Operations and Services (ITOPS) Unified Communications Infrastructure Support (UCIS) section has a requirement to refresh existing Cisco Wireless Phones with 3,875 Cisco 8821 phones and peripherals (to include power cords, lanyards, and chargers) across 29 Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and Medical Centers. The currently fielded Cisco model 7925 phones are End of Life and have reached the End of Support. VA requires an wireless Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that can integrate with the existing VA infrastructure, allows users to enter digits during call to a voicemail or automated attendant system, and is FIPS 140.2 certified. All warranties for the purchased brand name Cisco equipment will be covered under VA’s National Enterprise Service Agreement (ESA). This action is for the procurement of hardware only. No software or maintenance will be procured as a result of this action. The delivery date for phone equipment is 60 days from date of award. The total estimated value of this acquisition is .

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: The VA facilities need to upgrade from the existing Cisco model 7925 phones deployed as they are End of Life and have reached the End of Support. No other solution is capable of providing the required VoIP hardware that meets VA’s unique functional and technical requirements as well as integrating with the existing VA infrastructure. Specifically, only brand name Cisco hardware will allow the use of Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), which is a Cisco Protocol, that allows the call manager clusters to interact with the phones, routers, and voice gateways. Telephony devices, which are multi-functional, as an industry practice, are proprietary to each original equipment manufacturer (OEM). OEM telephony devices communicate through proprietary source code and uses hardware

Cisco Wireless Phones Lifecycle Refresh Control Number VA-21-00085493 interfaces based on the respective proprietary design. While market research indicates that there are other VoIP providers, as discussed in section 8, no other providers solution will be able to integrate or be compatible and interoperable with the existing Cisco Voice System and function properly. Due to proprietary constraints, the use of any other alternative vendor solution would necessitate the complete replacement of the wireless infrastructure in place rather than a refresh of the existing infrastructure. This replacement of the existing Cisco Voice System and the current wireless infrastructure to which the current FIPS 140.2 encypted phones connect would produce estimated duplicative costs of approximately and take approximately 2-3 years to complete. These estimates are based on previous acquisition of the wireless infrastructure overhaul and inflation.

Further, while solutions from alternative manufacturers exist, they do not meet VA’s functional requirements such as being able to enter digits during call to a voicemail or automated attendant system. Additionally, Cisco Wireless VoIP phones are the only phones with a FIPS 140.2 certification, which is a requirement of the VA for these devices to connect to its network. No other OEM’s wireless VoIP phone currently holds this certification and requirement to operate on VA’s wireless network. Furthermore, during market research, VA subject matter experts have ascertained that no other known OEM’s product has started the multiple year process to become FIPS 140.2 certified. No other source is capable of providing the required wireless phone systems and peripherals that meets VA’s unique functional requirements. Therefore, only Cisco or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary products for the expansion of the existing Cisco VoIP, hardware components currently deployed throughout the VA’s voice network. Failure to procure the brand name Cisco products required would put the VA at risk of having unsupported critical hardware and could cause communications failures and thus delay of care to our nation’s Veterans.

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 Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 8821 and peripherals. 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 SAM.GOV beta 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 market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts conducted market research in July 2021 by reviewing similar hardware and voice management solutions to ascertain if other brands could meet VA’s functional and technical requirements, which

Cisco Wireless Phones Lifecycle Refresh Control Number VA-21-00085493 consisted of a review of similar solutions from alternative manufacturers including those from Vocera and Ascom. While solutions from alternative manufacturers exist, they can not meet VA’s requirements. Specifically, no other alternative solution can meet the functional requirement to enter digits during call to a voicemail or automated attendant system and meet VA’s requirements for FIPS 140.2 encryption certification to connect to the VA’s wireless network. Lastly, no other alternative solution is compatible and interoperable with the existing Cisco Voice System or can avoid the duplicative costs and time as outlined in Section 5. Therefore, at present, there is no other solution available in the marketplace that can meet VA’s requirements. Also, Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name wireless phones and peripherals are available.

Based on the above market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned Cisco brand name wireless phones and peripherals can meet all of the VA’s needs.

9. Other Facts: None.