S03 REDACTED JA FINAL_Vocera SW Hardware Support Services.pdf

Stryker SW Licenses, Software Maintenance and Support, and Hardware Support Services VA-26- 00047269

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 to be issued under the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the renewal of Stryker (formerly Vocera Communications, Inc.) brand name software licenses and annual software/hardware maintenance support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services:

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information & Technology (OIT), VASTLHCS Healthcare Technology Management Service, has a requirement for the renewal of Stryker software licenses, annual software maintenance support, and hardware support services for 900 Enterprise Voice Licenses and Messaging Licenses and 579 Engage Enterprise Licenses, serving end users at the following two campuses:

John J Cochran VA Medical Center (VAMC) and Jefferson Barracks VAMC. 3 servers will be supported; the Stryker Platform Server Cluster (consisting of a 2-server array) and the Stryker Analytics Server. The system will continue integration with Rauland, Vista CPRS, and Active Directory. A system administrator will also work on-site to perform the following services: data management, device management, software management, service monitoring, training & support, issue escalation management, and report management. VA requires a solution that is interoperable and compatible with the existing infrastructure.

The base period of performance shall be for 12 months beginning September 30, 2026, to September 29, 2027, with two twelve-month option periods.

The total estimated value of the proposed action (inclusive of options) is .

4. Statutory Authority:

Pursuant to Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) 16.507(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 RFO 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 Above:

The proposed source for this action is Stryker, 1941 Stryker Way Portage, MI 49002, and all their licensed and authorized resellers/providers. Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that only the Stryker software licenses and support will meet the Government’s requirements. Based on the requirement to be compatible with the existing (legacy) system (Vocera Communications), which is utilized by every nurse, nurse practitioner, and doctor at both campuses. Furthermore, voice & messaging licensing systems must be approved via Enterprise Risk Assessments (ERA) to integrate with the existing Electronic Health Record (EHR) and pull up to date staff data for communication. On-site services are also necessary, and include but are not limited to, database management, device management, software management, and administrator oversight.

Utilizing Stryker or an authorized reseller is critical to ensure that the legacy system is maintained to the current performance standard and does not void the warranty of the existing badging system and support licenses. A system administrator assigned from Stryker is also required for timely responses. Selecting a vendor outside of Stryker (including authorized resellers) would mean that the onsite administrator would not be authorized to use the system and be able to perform the necessary work to maintain it, badging system warranties will be voided, and a new solution would have to be approved into the Enterprise Risk Assessments (ERA) system. Additionally, due to the proprietary nature of the software, Stryker does not distribute or allow third-party support access to its codebase or system architecture. Access to the code is required to ensure all services provided are properly configured. Only Stryker and its authorized resellers can provide the associated support services that are required to keep the system fully operational.

Furthermore, failure to acquire the continuation of maintenance, licensing, and support would have a negative impact on the healthcare that veterans receive. Without renewing and maintaining these licenses, the VA will lose access to the core software environment that enables access and collaboration among healthcare providers and caregivers. The deployed hardware devices will become inoperable, as they require continuous connection to the licensed Stryker Software Platform for operation and security validation. This disruption would eliminate real-time voice communication between clinical staff, compromise alarm and patient monitoring, and significantly reduce situational awareness across inpatient and outpatient care units. The inability to utilize the Stryker system would therefore present a substantial risk to patient safety, delay response times to critical alarms, and hinder coordination of care. The continued maintenance, licensing, and support is critical to the healthcare that veterans receive at the VAMCs.

To pursue any alternative solution would require the complete replacement of the existing VCS infrastructure including hardware (badges), charging stations, batteries, licensing, training, and servers, which would result in a duplication of time and cost to the Government. This duplicative cost, which is based on previous acquisition history, is estimated to be approximately $2,500,000 and is estimated to take over two years to acquire, integrate and train staff on a new solution. It is not anticipated that these duplicative costs would be recovered through competition.

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 Stryker software licenses and hardware maintenance. In accordance with RFO 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 RFO 5.301, 16.507-6(f), and 16.507-7(c)(1)(i), 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.

Specifically, the Government will continue to monitor the marketplace to determine whether another brand software could integrate into VA's existing suite of applications.

8. Market Research:

The Government’s technical experts conducted market research by reviewing other voice and messaging licensing systems, and security badge hardware via web-based market research, and utilization of VA ADDSUP database for any similar products from alternative manufactures. This market research was conducted starting in January 2026 through April 2026. The other similar software reviewed included OnPage, American Messaging, and TigerConnect. Based on reviews of these products, the Government’s technical experts determined that none of these products can meet the Government’s interoperability and compatibility requirements. Due to the proprietary data, only Stryker and their authorized resellers have access in order to provide the maintenance. These three vendors are not authorized resellers and therefore do not have access. None of these other products can offer security badging hardware. Additionally, VA networking Subject Matter Experts regularly review industry trade publications and conduct internet research to ascertain if any other brand name software is available. Based on the above-mentioned market research efforts, the Government’s technical experts have determined that only Stryker brand name software/hardware can meet all of VA’s needs.

In addition, the contract specialist issued a Request for Information (RFI) on April 2, 2026, via a RFI posting to the Contracting Opportunities page (within Sam.gov – 36C10B26Q0306), NASA SEWP (RFI#372997), and GSA e-buy (RFQ1803993) to ascertain if there were any other authorized resellers that could meet the Government’s requirements. The RFI closed on April 15, 2026 with the following responses received from Government Marketing & Procurement, LLC (GMP – SDVOSB) and Alvarez (SDVOSB), both of which are authorized resellers of Stryker products and services. No other alternative proposals were received in response to the RFI.

Finally, additional market research was performed by the Contract Specialist in April 2026 by utilizing the NASA SEWP V Provider Lookup Tool/Market Research Tool (MRT). The search using keywords “Vocera” and “Stryker” identified 7 contract holders that are authorized resellers of Stryker products and services. Of the 7 resellers, 4 are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). As a result of this market research, there is reasonable expectation competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC amongst two or more SDVOSB concerns for the required Stryker software licenses and maintenance/hardware support.

9. Other Facts:

None

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.

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, comparison to the Independent Government Cost Estimate, and comparison to competitive published price lists/catalogs.

Contracting Officer Certification

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Advocate for Competition Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of Stryker brand name software licenses, software maintenance and support services, and hardware support services 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.