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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 FBO #4692
DOCUMENT

D -- Enterprise Backup Encryption Solution - Attachment

Notice Date

9/27/2014
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541519 — Other Computer Related Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;23 Christopher Way;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11814Q0638
 

Archive Date

1/2/2015
 

Point of Contact

Cara DiNocera
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG07DA31B VA118-14-F-0568
 

Award Date

9/25/2014
 

Awardee

IRON BOW TECHNOLOGIES, LLC;4800 WESTFIELDS BLVD STE 300;CHANTILLY;VA;201512299
 

Award Amount

$2,656,050.42
 

Description

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1. Contracting Activity:Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, New Jersey 07724 2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed price (FFP) delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) IV Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) for brand name Hewlett Packard (HP) hardware, ancillary installation and configuration services, and warranty support. Hardware shall be delivered within 30 days after contract award with 36 months of warranty support. Additionally, this effort shall include six optional tasks with hardware delivery 30 days after contract award with 36 months of warranty support, if exercised. The total period of performance, if all six optional tasks are exercised, including warranty support will not extend past the second quarter of fiscal year 2018. 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: This action is to acquire brand name HP hardware, specifically an Enterprise Backup Encryption Solution for use within the Open Virtual Memory System (VMS) Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) environments. This action will provide hardware for all 45 required VistA sites and six optional sites that currently perform tape backups for their Open VMS VistA environments. The proposed action is to provide HP hardware which allows for encryption of VistA system backup tapes at 51 Regional Sites that are not currently encrypted. Furthermore, VA requires ancillary installation and configuration services, and warranty support to ensure the HP hardware remains operational. This will include ancillary installation; consisting of equipment delivery, installation in existing racks space, powering up of equipment, updating of firmware\microcode, and connection of equipment power cables. The six optional tasks included in this effort are for additional sites and will include delivery of HP hardware, ancillary installation and configuration services, and warranty support. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $ which is inclusive of all optional tasks. 4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting an 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: This is a brand name justification in support of FAR Subpart 11.105, Items Peculiar to One Manufacturer. Based on market research, as described in paragraph 8 of this document, the Government has determined that limited competition among authorized resellers of brand name HP hardware and services is expected for this proposed action. The existing Open VMS VistA environments at all 51 VistA sites covered by this effort are currently operating on HP software and hardware that is proprietary in nature. Any other brand name item other than HP, would result in various interoperability and compatibility issues with the existing OpenVMS VistA environment. Specifically, the existing Open VMS VistA environments consisting of HP hardware and software communicate through a proprietary infrastructure that is only fully supported with HP brand name items. Therefore any hardware must operate within the OpenVMS VistA environment, which is currently only fully supported by HP. Furthermore, this requirement is an augmentation to the existing environment and must be supported by the current VistA maintenance contract which only supports HP equipment. Due to a VA mandate to enable backup encryption, these VistA sites will need to be updated with new Tape Backup Libraries that support Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 encryption. The proposed HP hardware has been tested and approved for operation within the Open VMS VistA environments. Furthermore, any equipment other than the approved HP equipment would invalidate the operation and support of the existing systems through existing warranties and maintenance contracts. The existing systems are critical "systems of record" and have been tested, validated and approved to operate the Open VistA VMS environments; furthermore they must be maintained by the existing support and must not be co-habitated with non-approved equipment. Finally, only HP or an authorized reseller can provide the ancillary installation and configuration services, and warranty support because any source must have access to the proprietary hardware technical specifications to ensure the HP hardware is fully operational and configured properly with the existing HP items in the Open VMS VistA environments. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2), this action will be synopsized within 14 days of award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) and the justification will be made publicly available. In addition, in accordance with 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A), this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be posted on the NASA SEWP IV website with the solicitation. 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 products and/or source providers available that will enable future requirements to be competed. 8. Market Research: Market research for other sources/service providers for the requirements described herein was conducted in June of 2014 to determine if the current HP hardware and software being utilized in VA can be supported by other service providers. While other sources do possess the general capabilities needed to perform the proposed effort, only HP can provide the necessary technical expertise and product base that functions within the Open VMS VistA and its current configurations to prevent the loss of crucial data and ensure the backup encryption requirements are met. Additional market research was conducted in June 2014 to ascertain if any other brand name hardware can meet VA's needs. Specifically, another hardware solution that was researched was the Quantum iScalar 80, iScalar 500 and iScalar S6000 Tape Libraries and encryption key management systems. The Quantum iScalar products are proprietary to their solution and are not compatible with the exiting HP OpenVMS VistA environments. The final solution researched was the Spectra Logic Tape Library and encryption key management systems; it was discovered the Spectralogic product line is also not compatible with the exiting HP OpenVMS VistA environments. 9. Other Facts: None.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/04f0ee003cbdcd835a69e2e829f107a3)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: NNG07DA31B VA118-14-F-0568 NNG07DA31B VA118-14-F-0568_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=1656066&FileName=NNG07DA31B-001.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=1656066&FileName=NNG07DA31B-001.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN03534770-W 20140929/140927233435-04f0ee003cbdcd835a69e2e829f107a3 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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