S02_JA_Lantronix_Redacted.pdf

Control Number VA-26-00012881

Lantronix Software and Hardware Maintenance

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 the procurement of brand name Lantronix software and hardware maintenance support.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Infrastructure Operations (IO) has a requirement for the renewal of software maintenance support to maintain the existing brand name Lantronix LM83X Local Manager switch (LM83X) located at Austin Information Technology Center (AITC). The Contractor shall provide brand name Lantronix, 3-year software and hardware support services that include extended warranty and 24x7x365 technical support, as well as software updates. The Contractor shall provide a minimum of one phone number to the VA that enables VA to contact Lantronix and open a maintenance support call. The period of performance of the proposed DO shall be 3-years to cover the period of July 23, 2026 to July 22, 2029. The total estimated value of the proposed action is .

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul VA Deviation 16.507-6(a), 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 Overhaul VA Deviation 16.507-6(b)(2), 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: Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Lantronix software and hardware maintenance support. The current IO infrastructure consists of Lantronix console server hardware. VA requires support compatible with the existing VA owned, infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability. Based on previous acquisition history, VA estimates that implementation would require a minimum of 24 months for VA engineering design, testing, procedure development, and implementation that would be required for a new product. In addition, VA estimates the duplicative cost associated with replacement of the existing Lantronix hardware would be approximately $8,000. These estimated duplicative cost would not be recovered through competition. No other software/hardware maintenance support is compatible with or interoperable with the existing Lantronix hardware. In addition, only Lantronix, or a reseller, can provide the required firmware updates since access to Lantronix’s proprietary code is required to ensure all the services provided are properly configured.

Failure to acquire Lantronix software and hardware maintenance and support would cause the

Out-of-Band Management, the dedicated management pathway used to remotely access, troubleshoot, and recover Cisco Fabric Interconnects and Unified Computing System servers to be at significant risk, leading to the loss of remote recovery capabilities, longer service disruptions, and greater dependence on onsite personnel for incident response at Austin

Enterprise Data Center (AEDC).).

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 could meet the Government's requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Lantronix software maintenance support. In accordance with FAR Overhaul VA Deviation 16.507(c)(1)(i), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR Overhaul VA Deviation 5.301 and 16.507(c)(1), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract 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: Government technical subject matter experts (SMEs) conducted market research in September and October 2025 to ascertain if there are viable sources who could provide the software maintenance support that could meet VA’s requirements. VA SMEs compared software maintenance support from various vendors such as Opengear and Perle, who have similar offerings and determined that none of these products have access to the proprietary source code required to maintain the existing VA owned Lantronix hardware. No other manufacturer has the capability of developing and issuing maintenance for Lantronix to support existing infrastructure. Based on the above market research, these other similar solutions are not able to provide the required software and hardware maintenance support for VA’s existing hardware.

Additionally, market research was conducted in March 2026 through the use of the Provider Lookup Tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC web site to determine whether the brand name Lantronix is available from NASA SEWP V GWAC Contract holders. It was determined that are several approved Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) resellers of the brand name Lantronix that hold current GWACs.

Therefore, limited competition is expected among SDVOSBs for this proposed action.

9. Other Facts: N/A

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.

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 NASA SEWP GWAC prices already being determined to be fair and reasonable.

Additional price competition is expected among resellers for this action. Additionally, price discounts will be sought.

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