BRAND_NAME_JUSTIFICATION.docx

JA-15-36

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

(Simplified Acquisition Procedures under FAR Part 13 Not Exceeding $650K)

1. Agency/Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC- APG) Tenant Division

2. Description of Action: The Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) Mid-Atlantic Region Network Enterprise Center (NEC) has a requirement for software upgrades, patches, and repairs on all 173 Government owned Brocade brand-name switches on a break/fix basis. The software updates/patches will be routed to the Mid-Atlantic Region NEC electronically. Any hardware replacements will be shipped by the NEC to the contractor for repair/replacement.

Nature: X New Requirement Mod to Existing Purchase Order/Contract Number

Pricing: X Firm-Fixed Price Time & Materials Cost

Funds: X Operations and Maintenance, Army (OMA) Other Funds:

Fiscal Year of Funds: 2015

Proposed Brand Name: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

130 Holger Way San Jose, CA, 95134-1376

3. Description of Services: Brocade Maintenance Support

The Mid-Atlantic Region, NEC at APG has a requirement for maintenance and repair on Government owned Brocade equipment. This shall include twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week of emergency off-site technical assistance for remote diagnostics and troubleshooting as required. Contractor personnel supporting this requirement shall be manufacturer-trained to ensure the productive service and delivery of the equipment as/or may be required by the O.E.M. (Brocade). The Period of Performance (POP) for this action is twelve (12) months after receipt of award. No option year(s) will be included on this action.

4. Authority: FAR 6.302-1: In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501(a)(2)(i)“Justification and approvals are required under this subpart only for sole source (including brand-name) acquisitions or portions of an acquisition requiring a brand-name. (i) For a proposed contract exceeding $150,000, but not exceeding $650,000, the contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and believe will serve as approval, unless a higher approval level is established in accordance with agency procedures.” (41 U.S.C. 1901)

5. Reasons for Authority Cited: Brocade equipment was previously purchased on contract W91QUZ-06-D-0030. The equipment purchased functions as the core distribution switches for the entire C4ISR Campus which supports over 8,000 customers. This acquisition is to establish a service contract in order to be able to receive maintenance on a break/fix basis, on the 173 Brocade switches. Previously, the Brocade infrastructure was being maintained under the warranty of the items purchased under contact W91QUZ-06-D-0030 which expired 13 Jul 2013. Once the warranty expired contract W91ZLK-14-P-0343 was established to provide coverage on the switches for one year of performance (18 June 2014 to 17 June 2015). This contract was solicited as 100% small business set-aside and was awarded to Intelligent International, Inc. (1JE93). Without a maintenance contract there is the potential for a critical mission failure of the C4ISR distribution switch infrastructure. Only Brocade and authorized resellers of Brocade hardware, software and service are able to obtain the proprietary hardware, software, code and algorithms necessary to perform the required services.

The current Government owned Brocade equipment being utilized is part of the 13MP project at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). Brocade Ethernet stacking technology makes it possible to stack up to eight switches into a single logical switch that provides only a single IP address to simplify management and transparency in forwarding across a pool of up to 384 1 GbE ports and 32 10 GbE ports. The stacking of Brocade switches cannot be combined with the inventory of the CISCO switches already at APG because stacking technology is limited to the specific manufacturer due to proprietary software codes and algorithms, as well as required manufacturer specific hardware. Only authorized resellers have access to Brocade’s proprietary items. Market research has determined there are at least two authorized vendors capable of providing upgrades, updates, and patches to the existing Government owned Brocade infrastructure.

To deviate from Brocade would result in the need to replace the entire existing Brocade infrastructure. It is estimated that such a project would cost the Government approximately $7,500,000.00 to replace the Brocade switches, as well as other existing proprietary hardware and software. The required time to complete such an action would also leave the existing Brocade infrastructure without maintenance and necessary upgrades to ensure information security and mission success.

Brocade equipment is on the Army’s Information Assurance Approved Products List (AIAAPL), the Unified Capabilities Approved Products List (UCAPL), and the Army’s 13MP performance evaluated products list.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: This requirement will be solicited on the Government point of entry, FedBizOpps through the Army Single Face to Industry (ASFI). The solicitation will be advertised under a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, for a 100% small business set-aside for the brand-name of Brocade for a service contract to receive maintenance and repairs on a break/fix needed basis.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The 9th Signal Command currently has an Army Enterprise Initiative to bring all Brocade equipment under one enterprise contract within the next year. The intent of this potential Army Enterprise Agreement would be to stabilize costs Army-wide and deliver updated Brocade switch infrastructure across the Enterprise. As such, the Mid-Atlantic Region, NEC is required to proceed with this Brocade brand-name action for a one year period of performance with no option year(s) so that further information can be gathered on the potential enterprise agreement.

In addition, the Mid-Atlantic Region, NEC is currently conducting World Wide Web (WWW) market research to determine if it is within the best interest of the Government to obtain an entire new switch system at APG. Should the research determine the action appropriate, it is the intent that this potential requirement would be competitive.

8. Market Research: In accordance with FAR 19.502, this acquisition will be competed as a 100% small business set-aside to approved Brocade authorized vendors. The action will be solicited on FedBizzOpps utilizing a combined synopsis/solicitation.

Market research has been conducted within the last six months which has shown that there are at least four responsible small business concerns authorized as providers of maintenance services on Brocade proprietary hardware/firmware. Below are four authorized vendors of Brocade that are capable of providing the required upgrades to the existing Government owned Brocade equipment:

a. Intelligent International Inc. (Cage Code: 1JE93) 6910 Hayvenhurst Ave STE 103, Van Nuys, CA, 91406-4633 Office: 818-465-8000 http://www.sbcontract.com

b. NextiraOne Federal, LLC. (Cage Code: 0TPR9) 510 Spring Street, STE 200, Herndon, VA 20170-5148

c. DasNet Corporation (Cage Code: 1D4Z9)

d. Pacific Star Communications, Inc. (Cage Code: 1RZG3)

9. Procurement History:

Previous Purchase Order(s) or Contract: x Yes No

If "Yes", for each purchase order or contract provide:

If action was not competed, state the cited authority, summarize rationale: N/A

10. Additional Information to support the justification: Based on the above, this action will be competed as a brand-name requirement, set-aside 100% for Brocade authorized vendors and re-sellers. This action will be competed under the provisions of FAR 13.5, Commercial Item Test Program.