Redacted BNJ - HPE SD Flex 280 Servers_DVP.pdf

HPE SD Flex 280 Servers - DVP Control Number VA-24-00003837 among authorized resellers for the required brand name HPE servers. The Government requires this equipment to expand and strengthen the current infrastructure at the AITC to provide the computing resources necessary to support the large scale and high performance required for the VA research community. The HPE servers will be deployed within an existing server environment that is comprised of only HPE hardware and software. The existing HPE servers are proprietary to HPE and due to the included proprietary HPE code, no other brand of servers is compatible with the current server infrastructure.

environment at the AITC. Specifically, no other brand name servers will communicate and function within the current infrastructure due to the proprietary constraints. Due to technical compatibility requirements and the proprietary constraints of HPE servers, expanding the computing resources to support the large scale and high performance required for the VA Research community requires the same hardware as what is currently in use in the Corporate Data Warehouse environment at the AITC. Any additional server and associated components are required to fit and have 100 percent compatibility in an already existing HPE environment; therefore, HPE and authorized resellers are the only providers that can provide servers and Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) that are fully compatible within the HPE-based infrastructure at AITC.

Furthermore, use of any other brand name server would require VA to replace the existing HP server environment, causing extensive delivery delays that would not be recovered through competition. Since the current HPE infrastructure consists of dozens of existing servers and storage devices, the replacement cost would be a minimum of $5,000,000 and would result in an estimated 6-12 months necessary to reconfigure the network. These estimates are based on similar previous efforts. Since a stable, running s, this cost and delay is prohibitive.

Finally, the servers are proprietary HPE products; therefore, only HPE or its authorized resellers have the access to the proprietary data and source code necessary to provide warranty services for the hardware and software within the server. The proprietary code is required to ensure the server is properly operational and defects properly resolved.

Access to HPE proprietary data and source code is required to provide the required warranty services on the server and ensure all the services provided are properly configured. Fai ability to maintain the operational status of the server.

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 competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name HPE SD Flex 280 servers, including all corresponding components and installation, as well as 5-year maintenance and warranty 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 Contracting Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, 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 January 2023 through May 2023 by Government technical experts who researched internet sites and contacted vendors such as Dell and IBM for information on server equipment. Vendors were provided with the precise data center specifics and were asked to identify servers to expand the existing DVP environment to support the large scale and high performance required for the VA research community. The results of the market research confirmed that only HPE or an authorized reseller has the capability of providing servers that are compatible with the existing infrastructure. These products did not meet the requirement to integrate seamlessly with the current environment. This equipment is required to fit and have 100 percent compatibility in an already existing HPE environment.

Furthermore, the market research results indicate that only HPE and resellers of HPE products can provide warranty on the HPE servers as no other manufacturer has the required access to HPE proprietary data and source code.

In addition, a Request for Information (RFI) was issued on May 18, 2023 via the NASA SEWP V GWAC website to ascertain if there were sources that could meet the

HPE Superdome SD servers and maintenance. The RFI closed on May 25, 2023, with a total of four responses received from two Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Epoch Concepts and Minburn, and two small businesses, Standard Blazar and Sterling Computers. VA technical experts reviewed the results of the RFI and determined that only one of the f of providing servers that are compatible with the existing infrastructure. The other quotes proposed products from Dell and IBM, which do not meet the requirement to integrate seamlessly with the current environment, as stated above. Based on the information provided, the Government technical experts determined that only HPE and resellers of HPE products are

Additional market research was performed in June 2023 utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup tool, which yielded multiple, prospective contract holders that are resellers of the required brand name HPE servers. Of these contract holders, several were verified to be SDVOSB concerns. 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. This requirement has been found to be within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC in a separate determination. As a result of the aforementioned market research, there is reasonable expectation competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC amongst two or more SDVOSB concerns for brand name HPE SD Flex 280 Servers, and accordingly, this effort will be released to all SDVOSBs in groups B, C and D on the NASA SEWP V

GWAC.

9. Other Facts: None.