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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 FBO #5423
DOCUMENT

70 -- TAC-16-37968 NetApp FAS 6240A SW Maintenance Reinstatement - Attachment

Notice Date

9/26/2016
 

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

VA11816Q1634
 

Archive Date

10/26/2016
 

Point of Contact

Jessica Adamitis
 

E-Mail Address

0-9704<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

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 one-year firm-fixed price task order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for a the reinstatement and renewal of brand name NetApp hardware and software maintenance support for a VA owned NetApp FAS6240A Storage System. 3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information Technology, Systems Design and Core System Engineering Services, has a requirement for hardware and software maintenance support services for a NetApp FAS6240A Storage System. The NetApp FAS6240A Storage Systems are used by field employees of the Systems Design and Core Systems Engineering Services, Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) Groups (ESE Storage Engineers, Platform Engineers, and Network Engineers). The NetApp FAS6240A is an integral part of the infrastructure in the ESE Lab, which tests current and future configurations or products to be procured by all Regions and entities within the VA for Office Systems or Data Processing Systems. The contractor shall provide all maintenance support Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm. The maintenance support shall include access to immediate support by web, email and telephone, on site coverage in most cases would be Next Business day, to cover hardware and software issues with the NetApp FAS6240A Storage System. The maintenance support shall include microcode and firmware releases, part replacements, released updates and upgrades to the hardware and the software. All software and hardware maintenance shall be reinstated with a Period of Performance ending on September 30, 2016, with two 12-month option periods to renew all maintenance. 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) 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 upon extensive market research, as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined limited competition is viable amount authorized resellers of NetApp hardware and software maintenance support. Only NetApp and authorized resellers of NetApp products have the capability to satisfy this requirement. NetApp and authorized resellers are the only entities with the credentials and technology required to troubleshoot, diagnose, support and perform maintenance on the NetApp FAS6240A Storage System due to the proprietary nature of NetApp products. NetApps hardware and software maintenance coding is proprietary in nature and is not released to any other party. Furthermore, NetApp maintenance will ensure that all support services are performed and properly configured to the NetApp FAS6240A Storage System, which can only be provided by those who have access to the proprietary software code. Any lapse in qualified service to these Storage Systems could result in damage to the existing equipment and the inability to verify or test data for various organizations or Departments throughout the VA by the Systems Design and Core Systems Engineering Services, which could compromise care and service to Veterans. As such, brand name NetApp hardware and software maintenance is the only maintenance that meets the Government's requirements. 6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. 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 resellers for this brand name item. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 16.505(b)(2), this action will be synopsized at award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) within 14 days of award, and the justification will also be posted to the NASA SWEP V GWAC website along with the Request for Quotation. 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 competed by periodically reviewing literature and websites of software providers offering similar products and maintenance. 8. Market Research: During July 2016, Government's technical experts conducted market research and reviewed similar software maintenance providers to ascertain if these they could meet, or be modified to meet, VA's requirements. Specifically, the Government's technical experts reviewed other similar brands of hardware and software maintenance to include those provided by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) such as EMC, IBM and Hewlett Packard, to see if they could meet the Government's requirement for support and maintenance for the VA-owned NetApp FAS6240 Storage System. As a result of this market research, the Government technical experts determined these OEMs do not have access to the proprietary NetApp Storage coding needed for maintenance services, to include hardware component replacement, microcode and firmware releases, part replacements, released updates and upgrades as required for the VA-owned NetApp FAS6240 Storage System. Additional market research was conducted during August 2016 through use of the Provider Look-up tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC website. The Provider Lookup tool yielded including 17 Group B2 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) contract holders offering NetApp brand name products. There is reasonable expectation that limited competition exists on the NASA SEWP V GWAC amongst Group B2 SDVOSB concerns for the required NetApp hardware and software maintenance support. 9. Other Facts: None
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/46836a2d3264b18310b1bac78e47b5c4)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: NNG15SD19B VA118-16-F-1558 NNG15SD19B VA118-16-F-1558_2.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3026191&FileName=NNG15SD19B-063.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=3026191&FileName=NNG15SD19B-063.docx

 

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

Record

SN04287967-W 20160928/160926235004-46836a2d3264b18310b1bac78e47b5c4 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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