P03 JA VISN 2 redacted.pdf

Control Number: VA-24-00019233

JUSTIFICATION

FOR 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: The 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 Cisco Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment, software, and services for Private Bank Exchange (PBX) User Class Identifier (UCI) Veterans Integrated Service Networks 2 (VISN 2) in its entirety at the VA Medical Centers in Albany Stratton, Batavia, Bath, Canandaigua, Syracuse, Washington DC, James J. Peter, and Northport. In addition to the locations listed, this procurement shall also refresh existing Voice Systems (VS) for local associated sites of each Medical Center. Cisco Call Manager is required to align these sites into the overall VA enterprise unified communications plan to integrate all VA sites into one seamless voice system infrastructure in VISN 2.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Information Technology Operations and Services, Unified Command Infrastructure Support requires a refresh of the existing VS in VISN 2. In order to have a unified communication infrastructure the existing VS will be refreshed with 27,401 brand name Cisco Internet Protocol phones, 1,056 wall mount kits, 272 transceiver modules, power supplies and 46 rack kits. Services will include software, installation, project management, engineering support, travel and help desk support. The voice system refresh will bring these sites into the overall VA enterprise unified communications plan to integrate all VA sites into one seamless VS infrastructure and will comply with VA security standards. VA requires VoIP equipment, software and services that integrates and is interoperable with the existing Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), Session Manager Enterprise cluster and existing VA enterprise VoIP equipment and software. The period of performance shall be 12 months from the date of award, with no option periods or optional tasks, with a total estimated value of $12,251,471.59.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 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 Subpart 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: Based on extensive market research, as described in Section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited

VISN 2 Phase 4 Cisco Lifecycle Refresh Control Number: VA-24-00019233 competition is available among authorized resellers for the required brand name Cisco VoIP hardware components. The VA VoIP infrastructure presently consists of Cisco Session Manager Enterprise clusters, which are currently installed and operational at the above mentioned VA Medical Centers. Local associated sites to these VA Medical Centers need existing VS to be refreshed and integrated into one VS infrastructure in VISN 2 pursuant to VA's enterprise unified communications plan.

Only Cisco or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary products for the expansion of the existing Cisco VoIP environment consisting of Voice Mail, Automated Call Distribution licensing and embedded software and hardware components currently deployed throughout the VA voice network. Brand name Cisco hardware and software are the only products that will allow the use of MGCP which is a Cisco proprietary protocol that allows the call manager clusters to interact with the routers and voice gateways throughout the existing VA environment. System interoperability and compatibility between routers, switches, voice gateways and call managers are required for these systems to function.

Since compatibility and interoperability with the proprietary Cisco MGCP and Session Manager Enterprise cluster is required, using another VS would prove insurmountable and impractical from a technical and operational standpoint. No other VoIP equipment and software and services including installation, engineering support and help desk support are interoperable and compatible with the existing Cisco infrastructure across VA sites or would allow for VA to meet its requirement for one seamless VS infrastructure to comply with VA security standards. Only Cisco has access to the proprietary source code necessary to perform the required installation, engineering support, and help desk support services on Cisco products. Due to these proprietary constraints, the use of any other hardware, software and services would require VA to replace the entirety of the Cisco VoIP infrastructure already in place. Based on previous acquisition history, VA technical experts estimate that the cost to replace the existing Cisco VoIP hardware and software infrastructure across those sites would produce a substantial duplication of costs exceeding $800 million and require an estimated ten years to complete.

These estimated duplicative costs would not be recovered through competition.

Therefore, only Cisco hardware, software and required installation, engineering support, and help desk support services can meet VA’s requirements.

Failure to procure the required Cisco VoIP equipment, software, and services would negatively impact VA’s ability to continue to provide critical TeleHealth video appointments and full remote services which would have detrimental health effects on Veterans and their families.

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 equipment, software, installation, project management, engineering support and help desk support services. 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 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: Market research was conducted in August 2023 by the Government’s technical experts. Specifically, the Government’s technical experts conducted web-based research on other commercial hardware and software VoIP products including Asus and Netgear. Although similar VoIP solutions exist, no alternative solution can meet VA’s requirements because only Cisco or an authorized reseller has access to the proprietary database and structure specific to the expansion requirement to interconnect with the current infrastructure across VA. Therefore, at present there is no alternative hardware or software available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement or avoid the substantial duplication of cost and time as outlined in Section 5 of this justification. VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name hardware or software is available.

Based on all these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only the Cisco brand name hardware, software and services can meet all the VA’s needs.

Market research was also conducted by the Contract Specialist (CS) in January 2024 by using the NASA SEWP V GWAC market research tools to determine what contract holders are capable of meeting the requirement. Based on this market research, the CS found multiple Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses capable of meeting the full requirement.

9. Other Facts: None

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

J.R. Carter Date: ______________________ Project Manager Signature: __________________

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable. Finally, the successful quote will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

Lori L. Walker Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: __________________

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Lori L. Walker Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: __________________

13. Staff Attorney, Office of General Council (OGC): I have reviewed this document and find it legally sufficient, based on the representations set forth in the documents and, if any, attachments. The Contracting Officer’s (or Competition Advocate’s if at that level) approval is an independently supported decision not wholly reliant on the legal sufficiency determination.

Magda T. (“Tatiana”) Reyes Date: ______________________ Staff Attorney (OGC) Signature: __________________

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Cisco VoIP hardware, software and services to modernize PBX UCI VISN 2 on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________ Jason Bullen Advocate for Competition Technology Acquisition Center

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics