REDACTED_Brand_Name_JA_Ixia_Final.pdf

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, New Jersey 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 renewal of brand name Ixia hardware and software maintenance support for the Ixia Packet Broker Solution, brand name Ixia 100G network modules, and Ixia’s Basic to Enterprise 24x7 upgrade support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: VA Office of Information Technology, Operations and Services, Solution Delivery, Security Engineering Design and Implementation, Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) Architecture has a requirement to renew hardware and software maintenance support for the Ixia branded Packet Broker solution based on existing Ixia 7303 chassis in production at all VA TIC locations. In addition, VA has a requirement to increase capabilities for the Ixia branded Packet Broker solution based on the existing Ixia 7303 chassis in production at all the VA TIC locations. Due to recent upgrades on TIC network capabilities and the need to provide adequate visibility on those connections, 24 brand name Ixia 100G network modules need to be added to the existing Ixia Packet Broker monitoring solution. VA also requires Ixia’s Basic to Enterprise 24x7 upgrade support. Ixia basic support is limited to Ixia Business hours, 9am – 9pm EST, with an up to two-day response. The Enterprise 24X7 upgrade will provide support within a two-hour window and be available 24 hours a day seven days a week. The current level of support is not sufficient. As these systems are a critical part of VA’s network infrastructure, they require support 24 hours a day seven days a week. The period of performance shall be a 12-month base period with two (2) 12-month option periods to be exercised at VA’s discretion for continued maintenance support. The total estimated value of the proposed action is nothing to see here-move on

(inclusive of the 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 is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (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 on market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for the renewal of brand name Ixia hardware and software maintenance support for the Ixia branded Packet Broker solution, brand name Ixia 100G

Ixia Packet Broker Solution Maintenance Support VA-20-00002919 network modules, and Ixia’s Basic to Enterprise 24x7 upgraded support. Ixia branded Packet Broker is a network visibility solution that helps secure and monitor the network.

Ixia’s network Packet Broker implements a range of monitoring tools to access and analyze traffic across the network. Ixia’s Packet Broker Solution provides VA the ability to send copies of data to the various security solutions used in VA to monitor and analyze network traffic patterns at various checkpoints in VA’s TIC gateways. The current VA TIC Gateway Ixia Packet Broker infrastructure is based on existing operational hardware and requires a maintenance support plan. Only Ixia or a reseller can provide the necessary maintenance support plan because of the propriety nature of the hardware solution. Only Ixia or a reseller would have access to the proprietary source code necessary to perform maintenance of the hardware.

Ixia brand name provides the only technology which can continue to build upon VA’s existing Ixia branded 7303 chassis Packet Broker solution in production at all VA TIC locations. Any other brand name network traffic Packet Broker components are unable to integrate with the currently fielded Ixia branded 7303 chassis Packet Broker solution. Additionally, no other brand name 100G network modules will be interoperable or compatible with the currently fielded Ixia branded 7303 chassis Packet Broker solution. Specifically, the current system communicates through source code that is based on Ixia branded 7303 chassis Packet Broker solution proprietary data. No other network security components can provide this communication capability without this source code. Also, based on recent upgrades to 100Gbps interface connections on TIC network initiative, the network optic modules are critically needed to support visibility of network traffic on the connections at all the VA TIC locations.

Network traffic visibility is a VA Chief Information Officer sponsored program to share status (software, patches, vulnerabilities, up/down status) among VA network devices.

Furthermore, any other brand name network traffic Packet Broker cannot accomplish this because another product cannot communicate, nor integrate with the existing Packet Broker solution, and thus will not allow network traffic visibility. If VA were to switch to another Packet Broker solution, rather than augment its existing Ixia Packet Broker solution, it would take a minimum of 10 months to implement and cost an estimated $2.7M. These costs are based on previous acquisition history, and would not be recovered through competition. The Ixia Packet Broker Solution benefits our nations Veterans as it is a central tool utilized to help keep Veterans data secure by allowing various security monitoring tools access to the raw data that can be analyzed.

Therefore, to avoid the duplicative costs and delays outlined above, and to keep Veteran data secure, it is critical VA procure the required brand name Ixia maintenance support, additional brand name Ixia 100G network modules, and Ixia upgrade support to maintain and enhance the existing Ixia Packet Broker solution.

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, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for this brand name acquisition. 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

Ixia Packet Broker Solution Maintenance Support VA-20-00002919 synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award. However, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for this brand name acquisition.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to learn if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed. Additionally, as stated below in paragraph 8 continuing market research is part of the Enterprise Technology Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2017- 2021.

8. Market Research: Market research for renewal of the Ixia hardware and software maintenance support was conducted by VA technical personnel in January 2020, which consisted of a Market Research Request for Quotes on the SEWP portal open to Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Contract Holders. As a result of the market research, it was determined that several resellers have the capability to provide the required hardware and software maintenance support. In addition, VA technical personnel conducted market research for the network optic modules by reviewing other Packet Broker solutions. This market research is an ongoing process starting in 2017 as part of the VA Enterprise Technology Strategic Plan FY17-21 and is continuously being conducted, as recently as July 2020. The other similar network visibility Packet Broker solutions reviewed included NextGen Packet Brokers – Gigamon Network Visibility, Niagara Network Packet broker and NETSCOUT.

Based on review of these products, the Government’s technical experts determined that none of these products can meet the Government’s interoperability and compatibility requirements as previously discussed in Section 5 of this document. Review of these products is based on actual VA experience using the competing network packet broker monitoring tools. Additionally, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name network Packet Broker monitoring tools are available. Based on all of these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only brand name Ixia can meet VA’s needs.

Additionally, the Contract Specialist also conducted research in September 2020 by utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup and found several resellers that are SDVOSB Contract Holders under the NASA SEWP V GWAC that are capable of meeting the full requirement; therefore, limited competition is anticipated. As a result, there is reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC for renewed hardware and software maintenance for the brand name Ixia Packet Broker solution, 100G network modules, and Ixia’s Basic to Enterprise 24x7 upgraded support.

9. Other Facts: None.