P03 JnA FY24 TIC Gateway Refresh Redacted.pdf

Cisco Hardware VA-24-00065556

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 issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the procurement of brand name Cisco Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Servers.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services VA Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) Connectivity & Collaboration Services (CCS) Unified Communications (UC) has a requirement for brand Name Cisco Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Servers to upgrade hardware currently in use for VCL (Veterans Crisis Line), TIC (Trusted Internet Connection) Gateway South and TIC Gateway North. This effort will update the currently fielded Cisco voice equipment to enable, sustain, and maintain operations. This Voice Equipment shall be delivered to the site within 30 days of award. The Voice Equipment includes 12-months of maintenance for the base period and two 12-month option periods for extended maintenance. The total proposed cost of this effort is

, inclusive of the base and two 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: Based upon market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that only Cisco Brand Name Parts have the capability to satisfy this requirement. The current Voice System (VS) infrastructure in place within the VA�s Enterprise Voice Network consists of several Cisco Unified Call Manager (CUCM) clusters. Procuring and using Cisco Brand Name Parts needed to upgrade this equipment will ensure proper integration with any existing CUCM cluster across the enterprise. Cisco servers and CUCMs utilize a proprietary hardware structure specific only to Cisco hardware. The required Cisco hardware will integrate into an existing CUCM that no other brand hardware would be compatible with. Only Cisco, or an authorized reseller, can provide the necessary bug fixes, upgrade releases and enhancements, and periodic updates for the hardware maintenance due to the proprietary software and source code. Only Cisco or its authorized resellers have access to the proprietary software and source code needed to

Cisco FY24 TIC Gateway VA-24-00065556 provide the required hardware maintenance and ensure that the services provided are properly configured. This code is also required to develop and push updates and upgrades to the existing hardware. Additionally, VA already owns the associated licensing required to ensure the Cisco servers are fully functional. VA has an enterprise licensing agreement with Cisco which allows the upgrade of this equipment without the need to re-negotiate licensing; therefore, only Cisco or an authorized reseller can provide the necessary products for the replacement of the existing CUCM Servers currently deployed throughout the VA�s Enterprise Voice Network. If VA were to procure different VS products, even if another existed with qualifications that met VA�s functional needs, it would result in a duplication of costs, estimated to be approximately per site, to completely replace VA�s current existing Cisco infrastructure consisting of the CUCM, hardware and licensing. These costs would not be recovered through competition. The compatibility and interoperability issues would prove insurmountable and impractical from a technical and operational standpoint, since it would require VA to purchase an entirely new VS rather than expand on the existing infrastructure. If VA were to not purchase these replacement servers, support for the existing servers would be unobtainable and replacement parts would not be available from the manufacturer.

Failure of said equipment could result in a break in voice communications, including services such as appointment scheduling, pharmacy refills, and critical services such as Veterans Crisis Line.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. It was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for the required Cisco Brand Name servers. 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 Contracting 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 during March 2024 by reviewing similar hardware products to ascertain if other brands could meet VA�s functionality requirements. Specifically, the Government�s technical experts conducted web-based research and discovered that while other VoIP hardware solutions from alternative manufacturers such as Blackbox and Brocade exist, the products do not meet VA�s requirements because only Cisco or an authorized reseller has access to the proprietary database specific to the replacement requirement to interconnect with the VS�s in place throughout VA�s infrastructure. Therefore, at present there is no other hardware available in the marketplace that can meet this requirement.

In addition, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name hardware is available. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government�s technical experts have determined that only the aforementioned Cisco brand name hardware can meet all of the VA�s needs as only Cisco or its authorized resellers have access to the proprietary software and source code needed to ensure that the services are properly configured in order to provide the required hardware maintenance.

Additional market research was conducted by Government representatives in March 2024 by utilizing the NASA SEWP V Provider Lookup Tool. The search identified 18 contract holders that are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Cisco Authorized resellers on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. Furthermore, the NASA SEWP V GWAC has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests; therefore, as long as the required item or service is within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC, items and services can be added to the catalog on a daily basis.

Based on the above, there is a reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. As a result of the aforementioned market research, VA intends to issue a Request for Quotation on NASA SEWP V GWAC.

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.

Date:______________________

Contracting Officers Representative

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 anticipated competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP GWAC prices have previously been determined fair and reasonable. If necessary, additional price analysis may be performed in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(v).

Date: ______________________

Procuring Contracting Officer

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

Date: ______________________

Procuring Contracting Officer

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name Cisco Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Servers 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.

Advocate for Competition Technology Acquisition Center Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Department of Veterans Affairs

Date