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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF OCTOBER 02, 2015 FBO #5061
DOCUMENT

99 -- TAC-15-24191 FBCS - NetApp Hardware - Attachment

Notice Date

9/30/2015
 

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

VA11815Q0709
 

Archive Date

10/28/2015
 

Point of Contact

Dawn Eimont
 

E-Mail Address

0-9638<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG15SD21B VA118-15-F-0644
 

Award Date

9/28/2015
 

Awardee

FEDSTORE CORPORATION;1 PRESERVE PKWY STE 620;ROCKVILLE;MD;20852
 

Award Amount

$3,940,395.06
 

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, NJ 07724 2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order (DO) issued under the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Office of Information and Technology, Service Delivery and Engineering (SDE), Information Technology Services Management requires the purchase of brand name NetApp storage hardware, software, and associated support services which include warranty, maintenance support services, and installation. The NetApp storage hardware and software shall provide augmentation of storage subsystem capabilities for the converged virtualization infrastructure at SDE Field Operations Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4 Regional Data Processing Centers (RDPC) in support of the Fee Basis Claims System (FBCS). Required maintenance and warranty support includes storage system installation for storage hardware and software, 24x7 remote hardware technical support and targeted response, onsite support, troubleshooting, replacement parts delivery and installation, and software updates. Additionally, installation and integration services are required to ensure the aforementioned items procured under this proposed action are properly integrated into the current infrastructure. These associated support services will ensure that the NetApp storage hardware and software remains operational. The period of performance for warranty and maintenance support services shall be up to 60-months after the DO award date with completion of delivery of storage hardware, software and installation within 120 days after DO award. 4. Statutory Authority: 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) 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 market research listed below in section 8 of this justification, the Government anticipates limited competition amongst NetApp resellers. The existing RDPC virtualization infrastructure supporting FBCS was built on a NetApp solution and only utilizes NetApp storage hardware and software. Specifically, the current environment consists of NetApp storage solutions comprised of NetApp storage processors, disks, disk shelves, interconnecting hardware, software, and firmware. These solutions were designed and tested by NetApp, as complete systems and require the same Original Equipment Manufacturer storage hardware, software, and support in order to maintain them. Similarly, in order to perform the required expansion of the existing infrastructure, NetApp storage hardware and software are required. The procurement of the required NetApp storage hardware, software, and associated support services will provide SDE with the ability to expand the existing hardware infrastructure, thus allowing for additional storage space required for FBCS to process additional electronic claims. In order for storage hardware to function properly with the existing RDPC infrastructure, only NetApp storage hardware can be used. The only available source for NetApp storage hardware is NetApp or NetApp authorized resellers, due to proprietary restrictions. Only NetApp or one of its authorized resellers have the proprietary rights to access the fundamental elements of the existing storage hardware platforms that are essential for updates and replacement. Purchase of any other brand of storage hardware would cause latency and stability issues to existing systems, which would result in downtime and possible corruption of data. Veterans data and claims could be lost or corrupted, which would cause delays in processing Veteran claims in a timely manner. Additionally, only the procurement of the required NetApp software will allow for interoperability and compatibility with the existing RDPC infrastructure. Due to proprietary software code that each software developer utitizes, no other product can interoperate with VA's current infrastructure, which is comprised of NetApp products. Specifically, no other manufacturer's product, other than NetApp, would be able to communicate with the currently fielded NetApp platform. NetApp owns all proprietary program language and intellectual property of all its software products. There is no support or resale of these products outside of NetApp's authorized resellers. As part of this requirement, VA will also need to procure associated support services to successfully implement the storage hardware and software into the existing environment. Once implemented, associated support services are required to ensure that the procured storage hardware and software components continue to operate efficiently. Only an authorized reseller of NetApp storage hardware and software with access to the NetApp proprietary source code can provide these services. Other manufacturers do not have the proprietary source code and storage hardware replacement parts necessary to provide the required maintenance. Support services performed by parties not authorized by NetApp will invalidate product warranties and remove liability for performance from the manufacturer. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are discussed in section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. It was determined; however, that limited competition is viable among authorized NetApp resellers for the required brand name software, hardware, and associated services. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), notice of award of the resulting DO will be synopsized and this justification will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website within 14 days of award. Additionally, this justification will be posted to the NASA SEWP V GWAC website along with the solicitation. 7. Actions to Increase Competition: Limited competition for this requirement among NetApp resellers is anticipated. Additionally, the Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed. 8. Market Research: In July 2015, the Government's technical experts conducted market research to ascertain the ability of any other source, other than a NetApp or its authorized resellers that can provide the aforementioned storage hardware, software and associated support services. Specifically, the Government's technical experts researched similar solutions from other companies, including FCN Technology, Iron Bow Technologies, LLC., and WorldWide Technology, Inc. Based on technical reviews of these products, the Government's technical experts determined that none of these products can meet the Government's interoperability and compatibility requirements with the existing FBCS storage infrastructure, as previously discussed. Additionally, only NetApp, or its authorized resellers can access the proprietary source code in order to provide the required maintenance support or provide NetApp storage hardware replacement components. Unauthorized maintenance providers do not have access to the proprietary data on the existing NetApp storage hardware to be able to provide the required maintenance for storage system installation for storage hardware and software, 24x7 remote hardware technical support and targeted response, onsite support, troubleshooting, replacement parts delivery and installation, and software updates. Additional research was also conducted by the Contract Specialist in August 2015 utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup Tool. Based on this research it was found that there are multiple resellers that can provide the required storage hardware, software, and warranty and maintenance services; therefore, limited competition is anticipated at the reseller level. 9. Other Facts: As a result of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act legislation of 2014 that allows Veterans to obtain approved care in their community by local health care providers, VA experienced a significant increase in the number of claims submitted. Veteran's Health Administration utilizes the FBCS which streamlines the processing of VA claims and provides strategic insight that can help guide the decisions of non-VA care. FBCS is a software solution that simplifies the administration and tracking of claims and automates the entire claims process from authorization to payment determination. In order to address the immediate need for additional storage to process electronic claims, and avoid the risk of disruption of service to its existing customers, SDE needs to immediately expand its current storage environment supporting FBCS.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/315104fb894ed991389a1c8afde7b960)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: NNG15SD21B VA118-15-F-0644 NNG15SD21B VA118-15-F-0644_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2346961&FileName=NNG15SD21B-005.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2346961&FileName=NNG15SD21B-005.docx

 

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

Record

SN03909759-W 20151002/150930235707-315104fb894ed991389a1c8afde7b960 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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