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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF AUGUST 04, 2016 FBO #5368
DOCUMENT

D -- 29502 - HW Recurring F5 Load Balancers - Attachment

Notice Date

8/2/2016
 

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

VA11816Q1280
 

Archive Date

10/1/2016
 

Point of Contact

Amanda J Bleses
 

E-Mail Address

5-1054<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG15SD22B VA118-16-F-1270
 

Award Date

8/2/2016
 

Awardee

FOUR POINTS TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.;14900 CONFERENCE CENTER DR STE 100;CHANTILLY;VA;20151
 

Award Amount

$59,472.50
 

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: This proposed action is for a 12-month 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). 3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA, Office of Information and Technology, Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE), Office of the Director requires the renewal of annual hardware maintenance and software support services for brand name F5 BigIP Global Traffic Manager (GTM) and Local Traffic Manager (LTM) hardware located at Hines, Illinois and Martinsburg, West Virginia data centers. The LTM is for local-to-local failover at the data center. The GTM is for site-to-site failover between data centers. The load balancing hardware provides network connectivity and support for Veterans Personal Funds System, Patient Advocate Tracking, Blind Rehabilitation, and Emergency Department Information System. The period of performance shall be August 4, 2016 through August 3, 2017 followed by four option periods. 4. Authority Cited: 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) 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. Reason for Authority Cited: Based on market research, as described in section 8 of this document, it was determined that limited competition is available for the aforementioned brand name maintenance and services. The currently deployed F5 BigIP hardware utilizes network traffic shaping technology across disparate data centers. VA currently utilizes this network traffic shaping in many different production environments across the nation. The system is managed in ESE Enterprise Health Solutions by ESE staff and benefits VA storage systems and ESE systems engineering design and core services activities. F5 BigIP hardware and its operating system (OS) are brand name products with specific firmware/microcode that is only compatible with F5 BigIP hardware maintenance support. F5 BigIP hardware and application software reads and writes data through the F5 BigIP OS. Utilizing any other brand name besides F5 would result in interoperability and compatibility issues with the currently fielded F5 BigIP OS. If another brand name item such as the Citrix Systems NetScaler MPX, KEMP LoadMaster, or the Coyote Point E450GX load balancer was to be utilized it would not be able to communicate with the existing F5 software licenses due to the proprietary firmware/microcode of the current software. Only F5 BigIP brand hardware and software maintenance support will satisfy VA requirements, as the systems requiring maintenance are F5 BigIP brand. The Government contacted F5 in May 2016 and again in June 2016 to ascertain if this proprietary source code is for sale and was advised that the code is not for sale. The Government has determined that only F5 brand hardware maintenance and software support services can meet VA's needs. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the section eight of this document. The market research did not yield any other products that can meet the Government's technical requirements. Although the Government is limiting competition as a result of specifying F5 hardware maintenance and software support services, there are multiple resellers of this product that hold current NASA SEWP V contracts. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the resulting notice of award will be synopsized and this justification will be made publically available on the Federal Business Opportunities website within 14 days of award. In addition, in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(2), this justification will be posted with the solicitation on the NASA SEWP web site. 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 conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be fully competed. 8. Market Research: Market research was conducted by Government representatives in February 2016 by issuing a Request for Information via the NASA SEWP V GWAC to identify sources that could meet the Government's requirements. There were two results from Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. Additionally, VA subject matter experts regularly review trade publications, conduct internet market research, and review similar software through ongoing market research efforts to determine if other brand name products can meet their requirements. In June 2016, the Contract Specialist conducted additional market research utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC Provider Look-up tool and identified multiple authorized resellers of F5 products and services that hold a current GWAC. 9.Other Facts: None.? 10. Technical and Requirements Certification. I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Preparer Name: David FosterDate: ___________________________ Title: IT Specialist 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 NASA SEWP V GWAC fair and reasonable unit pricing, further price competition among GWAC holders and price analysis of the successful quote against the Independent Government Cost Estimate. Name: Debra G. ClaytonDate: ___________________________ Title: Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature:________________________ 12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification. I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1) serves as approval. Name: Debra G. Clayton Date: ___________________________ Title: Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature: _______________________
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/1db03be9ca46b2fe7688d1eb3a8472d4)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: NNG15SD22B VA118-16-F-1270 NNG15SD22B VA118-16-F-1270_1.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2916854&FileName=NNG15SD22B-028.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2916854&FileName=NNG15SD22B-028.docx

 

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

Record

SN04205302-W 20160804/160802235424-1db03be9ca46b2fe7688d1eb3a8472d4 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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