VMWare Training Credit - Dell Federal System - Redacted JA.pdf

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

MARINE CORPS INSTALLATIONS NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO

3250 CATLIN AVENUE

QUANTICO VIRGINIA 22134 5001

J&A Number: MCINCR-RCO-23043

FAR Subpart 8.4 Limited Sources Justification

V 1.3 (28 February 2023)

MEMORANDUM TO THE FILE

Subj: FAR SUBPART 8.4 LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

I. BACKGROUND:

A. FAR 8.405-6 states that orders placed or BPAs established under Federal Supply Schedules are exempt from the requirements in FAR Part 6. However, an ordering activity must justify its action when restricting consideration. This memorandum documents the justification for limiting sources, in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c).

B. This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program (see FAR 8.401).

C. For a proposed order or BPA exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), the requiring activity shall assist the ordering activity contracting officer in preparation of the justification, in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(1).

II. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

Requesting Activity: Marine Corps Software Factory (MCSWF), Deputy Commandant for Information (DC I).

Contracting Office: Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region - Regional Contracting Office (MCINCR-RCO), 2010 Henderson Road, MCB Quantico, VA 22134-5000

III. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The Marine Corps Software Factory (MCSWF) has a requirement to procure 10,601 VMware consulting and training credits to educate, mentor, and maintain software development skills for our service members. The VMware credits acquired will be used to provide accelerated one-to-one training for Marines to become Software Developers, UI/UX Designers, Product Manager, and Platform Engineers.

The intent of this action is to issue a Sole Source order under DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) DoN VMWare Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) BPA N66001-19A-0055, Dell Federal Systems, LP.

The required performance start date is 30 September 2023 or date of award whichever is sooner.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS (INCLUDING THE ESTIMATED VALUE):

Per DC-I tasking, the MCSWF has been established as an organic software development organization and capability. This organization will upskill Marines, build tailored software at the speed of operations, and develop a plan to institutionalize this capability in the Marine Corps.

Due to its limited uniformed structure, MCSWF is embedded in the US Army Futures Command Software Factory, and is reliant on US Army facilities, equipment, software, and administrative support.

The US Army Software Factory uses VMWare services, and in order to maximize government efficiencies and capitalize on existing Army infrastructure, the Marine Corps needs to engage similar VMWare services in support of Marine Corps requirements. VMware will support MCSWF’s mission to design and institutionalize the organization, enable and upskill Marines, and provide the technical integration necessary to manage and collect information on the pilot program.

The success of this pilot program hinges on the ability of teams of Marines to be rapidly upskilled to the level necessary to produce software in 12 months. VMware Tanzu Labs is the only vendor that has proven this capability under these time constraints by establishing software products, led by upskilled uniformed service members, in less than 12 months in both the Air Force and Army Software Factories.

The VMware credits acquired will be used to provide accelerated one-to-one training for Marines to become Software Developers, UI/UX Designers, Product Manager, and Platform Engineers. This focused training is required to rapidly produce the level of technical acumen necessary to produce software products within the SWF prototype timeline objectives, which is to produce Marines with the technical skills necessary to produce software in 12 months or less.

In the private sector this level of training can take anywhere from 2-4 years to achieve, but due to the intensive, one-to-one pairing provided by VMware Tanzu Labs similar level of competency can be achieved in as little as 25% of the time.

The total estimated value for this procurement is $XXX in FY23 Marine Corps Operations and Maintenance (O&M) appropriations as outlined in the table below:

Part Number Unit Price Quantity Total Price

SVC-CR-20-F $XX 10,601 $XX

Manufacturer: VMware Incorporated Manufacturer POC and Phone Number: Customer service: 1-877-486-9273 Manufacturer Address: Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA Manufacturer’s Dealer/Representative: Tara Lewis, Dell Marketing, LP (via the mandated DoD ESI BPA N66001-19A-0055, sole source to Dell Federal Systems, LP.

V. THE DETERMINATION TO LIMIT SOURCES IS BASED ON THE FOLLOWING

AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE (select all that apply):

A. ___ AN URGENT AND COMPELLING NEED EXISTS, AND FOLLOWING THE

PROCEDURES IN FAR 8.405-2 OR 8.405-3 WOULD RESULT IN

UNACCEPTABLE DELAYS (FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A)):

The supplies or services are of such unusual and compelling urgency that the Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals. Urgent requirements are supplies or services that will result in a work stoppage, or are mission critical and the routine processing time would result in injury to the Government. The determination that the procurement for the above item/service is an urgent and compelling requirement is based on the following:

1. Date on which the requirement was first identified:

2. Required delivery date/period of performance:

3. Explanation of why delivery/commencement of services by the date mentioned above is required:

4. Market research:

5. If appropriate, include any additional pertinent information.

B. ___ ONLY ONE SOURCE IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE SUPPLIES OR

SERVICES REQUIRED AT THE LEVEL OF QUALITY REQUIRED BECAUSE

THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES ARE UNIQUE OR HIGHLY SPECIALIZED (FAR

8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B)) (select all that apply):

1. ___ RESTRICTIVE RIGHTS. The source has established proprietary rights, limited rights in data, patent rights, copyrights or secret processes in the item or service required.

2. ___ EXCLUSIVE LICENSING AGREEMENTS. The item or service is only available from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), or there is only one authorized distributor or technical representative for the OEM.

3. X OTHER REASONS.

In order to continue to meet mission requirements the Marine Corps must obtain contracted training and IT support for the Marine Corps Software Factory, collocated with the Army Futures Command Software Factory. The Army Software Factory has made a significant investment in workforce (~150 soldiers), facilities, equipment, software and services over the past three years (including $82,425,883 in a competitively established Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement with VMWare). If the Marine Corps Software Factory obtains these services from VMWare the Marine Corps will be able to use the Army’s existing facilities and infrastructure, thereby avoiding a substantial duplication of costs, time, and effort to recreate what is already in place.

If the Marine Corps were to purchase services from any other vendor they would not be able to use the existing Army infrastructure or VMWare leadership and management structure, requiring a significant investment in time and funding which would far outweigh any anticipated benefits of another round of competition, therefore only VMWare is capable of providing these services in an economic and efficient way.

Further VMWare is the only prime contractor supporting other DoD software factories and is the only contractor with the unique and highly specialized experience in planning, executing, training, and producing software at the Army Software Factory in Austin, TX necessary to meet Marine Corps requirements to establish a Marine Corps Software Factory within the existing Army Software Factory.

C. ___ IN THE INTEREST OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY, THE NEW WORK IS

A LOGICAL FOLLOW-ON TO AN ORIGINAL FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE

ORDER (FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C)):

The original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA was not issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.

D. ___ ITEMS PECULIAR TO ONE MANUFACTURER (FAR 8.405-6(b)):

An item peculiar to one manufacturer can be a particular brand name, product, or a feature of a product, peculiar to one manufacturer. A brand name item, whether available on one or more schedule contracts, is an item peculiar to one manufacturer.

VI. DETERMINATION THAT THE ORDER OR BPA REPRESENTS THE BEST

VALUE:

The Contracting Officer has determined that the order or BPA covered by this justification will represent the best value to the Government. Fair and reasonable pricing will be determined in accordance with DoD Class Deviation 2014-O0011 using the proposal analysis techniques at

FAR 15.404-1.

VII. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG

SCHEDULE HOLDERS:

Market research included reviewing the history of this requirement, contacting knowledgeable individuals in Government, in particular Ms. Hannah Hunt, Chief Product and Innovation Officer for the US Army Software Factory, and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements, and internet searches including the System of Award Management and DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI).

The US Army Software Factory through Army Contracting Command Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) solicited a Call for Other Transaction (OT) Solutions through beta.sam with the Call for Whitepapers opening on 28 December 2020 and closing on 22 January 2021. Army Software Factory received 51 successfully submitted whitepapers, of which 13 were deemed ineligible, and two, Dell and VMWare, were deemed Excellent, with only VMWare meeting or exceeding all technical requirements.

The market research conducted found that there was a Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) DoD ESI DoN VMware Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) BPA N66001-19-A- 0055, awarded to Dell Federal Systems, LP.

DoD ESI BPA N66001-19-A-0055, was awarded to Dell Federal Systems, LP, competitively, is the only DoD ESI BPA for VMWare software products and services at this time. Under this DoD ESI BPA there are no other authorized resellers outside of Dell Federal Systems, which is considered an other than small business. This BPA has a five-year agreement, with a period of performance of 18 March 2019 through 17 March 2024.

In accordance with DFARS 208.7402 - Departments and Agencies shall fulfill requirements for commercial software and related services, such as software maintenance, in accordance with the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI). As such, DoD ESI is the mandatory source for the VMware software and software maintenance agreements. Dell Federal Systems, LP. is the only vendor that currently has an established Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for the VMware Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) in the DoD ESI.

VIII. ACTIONS TAKEN TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS:

The MCSWF will continue to work with the other DoD Software Factories to stay abreast of trends and capabilities in the commercial marketplace. Prior to executing a follow-on contract, the Government will revalidate market research to determine whether other sources exist which can meet the agency’s needs.