S02 JA Brand Name - Commvault_Redacted.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, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price delivery order (DO) 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 Commvault (CV) Hyperscale X (HSX) Reference Architecture 24-Drive Node subscription (appliance software).

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action is for two CV HSX compatible storage clusters with four nodes in each cluster, for brand name CV HSX appliance software with hardware support. These storage appliances are utilized for the Commvault File System (CVFS) data protection platform. The CV HSX compatible storage clusters were proposed and included as part of the Enterprise Backup (EBU) Data Protection Storage and are now required as part of the storage expansion for the Austin Information Technology Center (AITC) and the Philadelphia Information Technology Center (PITC) data protection environment. The total estimated value of the effort is However, the estimated value for the brand name portion only is

. The period of performance of the overall action shall be 12-month from date of award. Accordingly, the approval level for this justification is based on the brand name portion of the requirement only.

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 on market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available for the required brand name CV HSX appliance software. Only CV HSX appliance software meets all of VA’s requirements. Specifically, the EBU Platform uses a CV Cloud Autonomous Recovery Software which is the core data protection application and requires all HSX Nodes to be equipped with CV HSX appliance software which is necessary to operate and integrate each node of the CV HSX compatible clusters. The brand name CV HSX appliance software includes the CV-managed release of the Nodes Linux Operating System and CVFS. The CVFS provides the storage appliances with the operating system and operational code necessary to fully integrate into the EBU Platform. For this to function properly, the storage nodes in the CVFS require brand name CV HSX appliance software. The overall procurement is to

CONTROL NUMBER VA-25-00065033

expand the Data Protection storage systems and associated mission function for our Veterans’ data, the CV HSX appliance software service grants users authorized access to the software, including all subsequent maintenance releases and patches, ensuring that the EBU Platform always has the latest features and security updates. This software is a highly specialized component that allows the additional storage cluster to have full integration and continue production of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) data protection major system. When this software is combined with the storage node hardware, it becomes a comprehensive data management solution designed to provide scalable, efficient, and secure file storage and management capabilities and allow the associated hardware to expand storage capacity for the EBU Platform. The EBU Platform was implemented using CV Cloud Autonomous Recovery Software as the core data protection application. Using CV as the core application, EBU was able to reduce annual software expenditures by 50%, resulting in annual cost avoidance of $2.5 million. The use of any other brand would require VA to completely redesign and install a major system platform. Acquiring and installing an alternative solution is estimated to take up to four years and require approximately $16,567,731.73 in duplicative costs. These estimated duplicative costs would not be recovered through competition. Therefore, only CV HSX appliance software can meet VA’s requirement.

No other manufacture can provide the required software that meets VA’s unique functional requirement. Failure to procure the required CV HSX appliance software would negatively impact VA’s EBU Platform and could lead to several significant harms that affect both operational efficiency and data integrity. If EBU fails to effectively protect against data breaches or ransomware attacks, direct service implications could arise including delayed healthcare services, disruption in benefits processing, and loss of trust between the Veteran and VA.

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. The undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for the brand name CV HSX appliance software. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505, this action is not required to be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities website upon award as it does not exceed $250,000.00, however, 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.

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 performed as part of an assessment of needs in May 2025 to determine if there are viable sources other than brand name CV HSX who could provide the appliance software necessary that could meet VA’s requirements. Specifically, the Government's technical experts researched similar products and brands such as Dell, NetApp, and HPE. However, none of these products can provide the storage clusters support for the current EBU Platform. Further, all of the aforementioned products researched are incapable of integrating with the existing platform. Currently, there is no other alternative software in the marketplace that can meet VA’s requirement. Based on all these market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that CV HSX brand name appliance software can meet all of the Government’s requirement. Additionally, market research was conducted in April 2025 by utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Lookup Tool to determine whether the brand name CV HSX appliance software is available from NASA SEWP V GWAC Contract holders. It was determined that there are several approved resellers of the brand name CV HSX that hold current GWACs. The result found 12 Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) approved resellers that hold current GWACs. Therefore, limited competition is expected among SDVOSBs for this proposed action.

9. Other Facts: N/A

10. Technical/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.

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 V GWAC has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable ad more competitive pricing may result from competition. Finally, the successful quote will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.

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