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FBO DAILY ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 FBO #3582
DOCUMENT

70 -- CISCO Networks (Hines and Austin) (FY 11 VBA Funding) - Justification and Approval (J&A)

Notice Date

9/13/2011
 

Notice Type

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

NAICS

541519 — Other Computer Related Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Center for Acquisition Innovation-Austin;1701 Directors Blvd;Suite 600;Austin TX 78744
 

ZIP Code

78744
 

Solicitation Number

VA798A11RQ0237
 

Archive Date

9/18/2011
 

Point of Contact

Kari L Cozzens
 

E-Mail Address

1-4413<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

NNG07DA32B VA118A-11-F-0148
 

Award Date

9/13/2011
 

Description

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY 1.Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition and Logistics Center for Acquisition Innovation 1701 Director's Blvd., Suite 600 Austin, TX 78744 2.Description of Action: The proposed action is for a Firm-Fixed-Price Delivery Order (DO) issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) IV Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) required to refresh the network switches at the Region 5 Austin Systems Development Center and Hines Information Technology Center. The proposed contractual action will provide Cisco hardware, installation, and warranty support at Region 5 facilities. All items shall be delivered within 45 days after award of the DO. The contractor shall deliver the hardware, install the equipment at each facility, and arrange with the manufacturer for the initial 12-month Cisco SmartNet warranty support. 3.Description of Supplies or Services: The proposed action is to refresh the network switches at the Region 5 Austin Systems Development Center located at Austin, Texas and the Hines Information Technology Center located at Hines, Illinois. Both environments are a network used by VA that allows data to be processed and transmitted to various VA facilities and other Government agencies. The hardware will increase the network bandwidth from the existing 1GB throughput to a 10GB throughput in support of Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) systems, such as the Benefit Delivery Network (BDN), the Terminal Server Farm, the various Virtualization platforms, and development and test environments at the Austin Systems Development Center and Hines Information Technology Center. This Cisco network hardware is required to expand infrastructure requirements at Region 5 LAN/WAN environments by allowing more users to share VBA's data within various VA organizations and other Government agencies. The specific Cisco brand name items are provided below: ManufacturerManf Part NumberDescriptionQty CiscoN2K-C2248TP-1GENexus 2248TP GE Fabric Extender, (2) P / S, (1) Fan Module, 48X100 / 1000-T+ 4X10GE SFP+4 CiscoN2248TP-FA-BUNStandard airflow pack: N2K-C2248TP-1GE, 2AC PS, 1Fan4 CiscoCAB-9K12A-NAExalt only CAB-9K12A-NA8 CiscoCON-SNTP-N2248TSMARTNET 24X7X4 N2K GE1PS1FanMod48x1G-BaseT+4x10GE 4 CiscoSFP-10G-SR10GBASE-SR SFP Module16 CiscoN5K-C5548UP-FANexus 5548 UP Chassis, 32 10GbE Ports, 2 PS, 2 Fans4 CiscoN55-BAS1K9Layer 3 Base License for Nexus 5500 Platform4 Cisco N55-M-BLNKNexus 5500 Modular Blank Cover4 CiscoN5548-ACC-KITNexus 5548 Chassis Accessory Kit4 CiscoN5KUK9-503N2.1Nexus 5000 Base OS Software Rel 5.0(3)N2(1)4 CiscoCAB-9K12A-NAExalt only CAB-9K12A-NA8 CiscoCON-SAU-N5FMSUS ONLY Application Support + Upgrades4 CiscoCON-SNTP-C5548UPUS Only SMARTnet c5500 24x7 4-hour4 CiscoGLC-SX-MM=GE SFP, LC connector SX transceiver40 N5000FMS1K9NEXUS 5000 FABRIC MANAGER DEVICE MANAGER COMPONENT LICENSE4 CiscoN55-D160L3Nexus 5548 L3 Daughter Card4 CiscoN55-LAN1K9=Layer 3 License for Nexus 55004 CiscoN55-PAC-750WNexus 5500 Power Supply 750 Watts, Front-to-back Airflow8 Cisco N5548P-FANNexus 5548P Fan Module8 CiscoSFP-10G-SR10GBASE-SR SFP Module88 N5K-C5596UP-FANexus 5596UP Switch Chassis w /48 Fixed Unified Ports, Front-to-Back Airflow & (2) 1100W AC Supplies4 CiscoN55-PAC-1100WNexus 5500 Power Supply, 1100W, Front to Back Airflow8 N5596-ACC-KITNexus 5596 Chassis Accessory Kit4 CiscoN5596UP-FANNexus 5596UP Fan Module16 CiscoN5KUK9-503N2.1Nexus 5000 Base OS Software Rel 5.0(3)N2(1)4 CiscoCAB-9K12A-NAExalt only CAB-9K12A-NA8 CiscoCON-SAU-N5FMSUS ONLY Application Support + Upgrades4 CON-SNTP-5596UPSMARTNET 24X7X4 Nexus 5596UP 2RU Chassis, 2PS, 4 Fans4 CiscoN5000FMS1K9NEXUS 5000 FABRIC MANAGER DEVICE MANAGER COMPONENT LICENSE 4 CiscoN55-M16UPNexus 5500 Unified Mod 16p 10GE Eth / FCoE OR 16p 8 / 4 / 2 / 1G FC12 CiscoSFP-10G-SR10GBASE-SR SFP Module384 The total estimated price of the proposed action is REDACTED. 4.Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting this exception to fair opportunity is 41 U.S.C. 253(j)(b) as implemented by 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 available for these brand name items and services. Existing VA Office of Information & Technology (OI&T) Region 5 enterprise management tools, hardware maintenance, security update tools & processes, auditing tools, and asset management of WAN, datacenter and facility LAN equipment are designed to support existing systems and infrastructure, which are based upon use of the Cisco platform of equipment, protocols and functionality. VA requires a solution compatible with existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability within Region 5. Cisco utilizes Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) which is a proprietary redundancy protocol for establishing a fault-tolerant default gateway if the primary gateway should become inaccessible. HSRP requires two Cisco routers in order to transfer information and is not compatible with other vendors' hardware. Additionally, only Cisco brand name equipment will fit in the existing Cisco network equipment and be fully interoperable and compatible with the existing VA network infrastructure and support system. For security and system stability Cisco equipment and Cisco's IOS software is required. Devices need to run Cisco Internal Operating System (IOS) software in order to achieve complete interoperability with the existing network infrastructure. If a network wide patch is deployed and there is non-Cisco brand equipment it may disrupt network communication. The use of another brand name would introduce an unacceptable level of risk to the VA network infrastructure and support processes which rely on seamless hardware and IOS compatibility and interoperability. VA can neither jeopardize on-line collaboration nor the integrity and speed of WAN/LAN data packet transmissions by purchasing incompatible equipment. Having incompatible equipment in the network will result in delays in the relaying of data packets between devices due to the protocols of different IOSs for packet integrity checking, possibly even to the point of data loss. This is unacceptable on a network that supports business-critical applications dealing with patient information and the care given to our Veteran patients. In addition, Cisco will only provide warranty support on equipment that is delivered and installed by an authorized reseller. 6.Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. Based on this research, it was determined that limited competition is anticipated for this proposed action. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.3 the DO award will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) web site. In addition, this Justification & Approval (J&A) will be made publicly available on the FBO web site. 7.Actions to Increase competition: Although the Government is limiting competition as a result of specifying a brand name item, there are multiple authorized resellers of the brand name items on the NASA SEWP IV GWAC. Limited competition among these vendors is anticipated. The J&A and Request for Quotations will be submitted to all four NASA SEWP IV GWAC groups in order to fully notify all interested parties. Any quotations received will be evaluated. Furthermore, in order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for this requirement, the agency will work with the program office to perform additional market research in a timely manner so that other solutions can be considered. 8.Market Research: Market Research was performed to comply with FAR and to ensure the Government receives the best value for this procurement. Cisco hardware must be compatible and functional with components currently in place. In February 2011, the Government's technical experts reviewed network hardware with similar capabilities to the aforementioned Cisco hardware via the Internet. Based on this market research, the hardware provided by Blackbox and Brocade could not meet VA's requirements. Specifically, other brand name hardware would not be compatible with pre-existing Cisco hardware because Cisco utilized HSRP which is proprietary and requires two Cisco routers to transfer information. As such, any hardware purchased from other providers would not be compatible with the existing infrastructure and would adversely affect VA's mission to support the Veterans. 9.Other Facts: Market research in March 2011 utilizing the NSAS SEWP IV GWAC Manufacturer Lookup tool determined seven (7) authorized resellers of the Cisco brand name items are current contract holders. Additionally, these seven (7) contract holders also can provide the required support services. Therefore, limited competition is expected for this proposed action.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/f4e85bac2c7e14ebf3038fcd2ed47549)
 

Document(s)

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

File Name: NNG07DA32B VA118A-11-F-0148 NNG07DA32B VA118A-11-F-0148_BNJ POSTING.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=255554&FileName=NNG07DA32B-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=255554&FileName=NNG07DA32B-000.docx

 

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

Record

SN02573595-W 20110915/110913235630-f4e85bac2c7e14ebf3038fcd2ed47549 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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