Volexity Volcano JA - Sole Source Final Redacted.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

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-priced delivery order to be issued under a Sole Source order for brand name Volexity Volcano Professional software subscription. This is an annual subscription that will need to be renewed yearly.

This requirement will be accomplished via:

[ X ] New Purchase Order

[ ] Modification No.

[ ] Purchase Card

Purchase Order will be:

[X] Firm Fixed Price [ ] Cost Type Contract:

[ ] Time and Materials [ ] Other (Specify):

Type of Funds (e.g. Supply Fund, Franchise Fund, IT, etc.):

[ X ] IT

3. Description of Supplies or Services.

VA Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) has a requirement for the procurement of brand name Volexity Volcano Professional.

Volcano Professional is a forensics software application for analyzing and visualizing the digital forensics data found in random access memory (RAM). It provides the capability to extract, reconstruct, and visualize the data structures and other artifacts found in main memory into easily interpretable information to aid cyber investigations. It also provides a platform to manage an analyst’s investigation workflows as to what data will be extracted, the types of algorithms that should be applied to detect anomalous conditions, and how the data will be presented.

Volcano is unique in the fact that it was developed with a modular software architecture that allows it to support a wide variety of operating systems and hardware profiles. The software is

Volcano Volexity Professional License the only memory analysis and visualization software available that is capable of analyzing data collected from Windows, OS X,and Linux systems. Unlike other software applications, Volcano also allows an organization to develop custom workflows, integration scripts, and detections based on their particular needs. This includes the ability to graphically generate an analytics catalogue that can be used to capture institutional knowledge or that can be easily shared across the organization. It also incudes the ability to automatically correlate related data and provide the analyst with the ability to pivot between views, which rapidly accelerates the investigation process. Volcano also includes patent pending algorithms and detections that are not available in any other software package.

CSOC requires one software license and maintenance support services in the base period.

The period of performance shall be one 12-month base period, with four 12-month option periods for one software license and maintenance support services. The estimated cost is inclusive of options.

[ X ] Supplies

Item name: Volexity Volcano Professional

Quantity being procured: Volcano Professional software

Option quantity, if option will be included in solicitation: _____

Estimated unit cost:

Estimated total cost (including option quantity, if any):

4. Authority Cited.

[ X ] FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available.

[ ] Other FAR Authority _________________

5. Reason for Authority Cited.

The proposed source for this action is:

Volexity, Inc 11654 Plaza America Drive #774, Reston, VA 20190

[ X ] Explain need for brand name

Based on market research, it was determined that limited competition is available for this procurement. Volexity, LLC is the sole manufacturer and seller of Volcano Professional, a powerful and robust memory analysis application which aids in the examination of critical evidence captured from memory in servers, workstations, and other platforms.

Volcano is a product that will assist the VA CSOC forensic analysts in providing time-consuming, comprehensive memory analysis of critical evidence during cybersecurity investigations.

Market research concluded there are no other commercial products on the market possessing the features and capabilities offered by Volcano. Additionally, the Volcano software license offers an up-to-date feed of threat intel and analytics to provide quick analysis/triage capabilities when reviewing memory images from intrusions and potential compromises. The VA’s current forensic software lacks the capabilities which exist in Volatility. This has impacted the CSOC incident response mission for many incidents such as the high impact, high visibility CVE incidents flagged by CISA in 2022.

Volcano is a specialized product which offers deep-dive memory forensics, like-tool integration, and analytical pivoting unmatched by any other product on the market.

[ X ] The supplies are urgently needed for the following reasons:

Failure to procure the required software package will impact the VA CSOC’s incident response mission by hindering the ability to detect and analyze threats. This will significantly compromise the VA’s ability to protect sensitive and patient data, perform its mission, and adversely affect the ability of VA employees to perform their jobs, thus negatively impacting Veterans and their caregivers.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition.

[ X ] There is only one responsible source for this item. Efforts made to locate additional sources are described under the “Market Research” paragraph of this document. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Procurement data does not include any unnecessary requirements that may inhibit competition.

Market research was conducted which did on result in any additional sources that could meet the Government’s technical requirements. The vendor, Volexity LLC, confirmed they are not on SEWP or GSA and are the sole manufacturer and seller of Volcano Professional.

7. Actions to Increase Competition.

[ X ] Other actions that will be accomplished to increase competition

The Government will continue to conduct market research for changes in the marketplace.

Specifically, the Government will continue to research similar forensic software to determine if new products enter the marketplaces that are comparable with Volexity Volcano.

8. Market Research.

Market research was conducted by VA CSOC DMMA, Ali Tanveer, and Ahmad Pierce during the time of 2021 and 2023. The methods used and results are as indicated below:

[ X ] The market research consisted of the following:

VA CSOC DMMA reviewed industry capabilities and could not find a comparable solution to Volexity Volcano licenses. Additionally, a market research request was solicited via NASA SEWP on May 25, 2023 and resulted in 0 responses. Furthermore, GSA e-buy was reviewed and found that there are 0 Veloxity Volcano products on the schedule. A letter date May 9, 2023 from Volexity, Inc. stated Volcano product are sold and distributed exclusively by Volexity, Inc. Based on the above, only Volexity can meet all the Government’s requirements.

9. Interested Sources.

[ ] No other source has expressed written interest in supplying this item.

[ ] The following companies have expressed written interest in supplying this item and/or service. However, they are not being considered for this procurement for the reasons given below.

[ ] Solicitation covering this procurement will be synopsized in the Contracting Opportunities Page and any bids/proposals received shall be evaluated.

[ X ] Solicitation covering this procurement will not be synopsized in the Contracting Opportunities Page pursuant to FAR 5.202.(a)(13)(i)

07/19/2023