Aternity Software 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, New Jersey 07724
2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), for the procurement of software maintenance and technical support for 20,000 Aternity Frontline Performance Intelligence (FPI) Platform software licenses.
3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Enterprise Command Operations (ECO), requires software maintenance and technical support for 20,000 existing Aternity FPI Platform software licenses that are currently fielded at Austin Information Technology Center. The Aternity FPI Platform software, which is a registered product of Riverbed Technology (Riverbed), provides a desktop agent approach to Real End User Experience management. This is achieved by uniquely monitoring, aggregating, analyzing, and correlating all metrics associated with three components (Application, Desktop, and User Performance) that constantly interact to both define and impact the end user experience. The Aternity FPI Platform software provides precise insights into how applications are used, enabling organizations to understand the usage trends and trails of their users, the number of business processes executed, and the details of any usability issues. The software maintenance and technical support required will ensure the 20,000 perpetual software licenses remain up-to-date and operational by providing technical assistance, product updates and bug fixes. No software will be procured or renewed under this proposed action. The period of performance for the software maintenance and technical support is August 22, 2018 through August 21, 2019 with two 12-month option periods. The total estimated price of the proposed action inclusive of the option periods is
4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting this exception to fair opportunity is Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) 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: Based on extensive market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for Aternity FPI software maintenance and technical support. ECO currently owns and utilizes 20,000 Aternity FPI Platform software licenses, and requires maintenance and technical support to include updates and patches that are compatible with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality to ensure continued operational availability. Only Riverbed, or an authorized reseller, has the proprietary rights and access to the proprietary source code that is necessary to provide the required Aternity software maintenance and technical support for the existing licenses. No other firm has the capability of developing and issuing software updates and fixes for Aternity FPI Platform software due to the proprietary nature of the source code. Any other source would need access to this code to ensure all services provided are properly configured. Therefore, only Aternity brand software maintenance and technical support can meet the Government s requirements.
6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government s requirements. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the resultant delivery order will be synopsized and the justification will be made publicly available on the Federal Business Opportunities Page within 14 days of award of the order. In addition prior to exercising the option periods, VA will perform market research to ensure market conditions have not changed.
7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the Government will continue to perform market research to determine if there are any new products or maintenance services available that will fulfill the Government s need.
8. Market Research: Market research was conducted by VA technical experts in March 2018 which included extensive internet research of maintenance support services available from similar software product manufacturers. The Government's technical experts utilized numerous publications, to include Forrester Research and Gartner Research, and conducted web-based research on technical monitoring websites and forums related to desktop and user side monitoring to identify potential maintenance providers for the Aternity FPI Platform software. This market research identified only two products and services in the desktop monitoring space, Aternity and KNOA. Of these two products, only Aternity, through Riverbed or an authorized reseller, is capable of providing the required support and software updates and patches for the existing FPI software due to the proprietary constraints discussed above. While KNOA provides software maintenance for its own proprietary product, KNOA is incapable of providing updates, patches, and support on the proprietary Aternity FPI software.
In March 2018, the Contract Specialist conducted market research to ascertain the extent of limited competition among resellers. Through the use of the Provider Look-up tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website, seven Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) were identified as resellers of the required Aternity Licenses and maintenance support. Therefore, limited competition is anticipated.
9. Other Facts: None.
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.
Date: ______________________
Program Manager Signature: ______________________
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 anticipated competition. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has already determined the prices on contract to be fair and reasonable. Finally, the successful quote will be compared with the Independent Government Cost Estimate.
Date: ______________________
Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________
12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Date: ______________________
Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________
Approval
In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of software maintenance and technical support for 20,000 Aternity FPI Platform software licenses, on a limited competition basis pursuant to the statutory authority cited in paragraph 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.
Date: ____________ Signature: _________________________________
Advocate for Competition
Technology Acquisition Center
Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics
JUSTIFICATION
Justification For An Exception To Fair Opportunity
Coordination Matrix
Date Concur/Non-Concur
Director, Procurement Services E
Technology Acquisition Center
Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics
Department of Veterans Affairs
. Awarded Vendors: THUNDERCAT TECHNOLOGY, LLC;1925 ISAAC NEWTON SQ STE 180;RESTON;VA;20190. Contract Award Dollar Amount: $291,500.00. Contract Award Date: 2018-07-25.