58 -- INDIVIDUAL CLASS WAIVER OF THE NONMANUFACTURING RULE FOR BLADE SERVER TECHNOLGY

SPAWARSYSCEN Charleston has a need for Blade Technology. SPAWARSYSCEN Charleston is soliciting information from potential small business manufacturers to determine the source for this technology. The results of this survey will be used to determine if the resultant solicitations for these manufactured items are to be issued as a 8(a) or small business set-aside, or if no small business manufacturers can reasonably be expected to offer a product meeting the specifications of a solicitation, including the period of performance, whether there is sufficient justification in accordance with FAR 19.102(f)(5), to request an individual nonmanufacturing rule waiver from the Small Business Administration for these requirements. If granted, the waiver would allow otherwise qualified regular dealers to supply the products of any domestic manufacturer on a Federal contract set aside for small business. Definition of manufacturer: "A Manufacturer of the end product being acquired is the concern that, with its own forces, transforms inorganic or organic substances including raw materials and/or miscellaneous parts or components into the end product." The requirement Blade Technology is defined with the following functionality: (1) Servers Blades - high density computing engines with multiple processor memory; (2) Blade PCs, workstations and Virtual PCs personal or client computer in a blade form factor; (3) Blade Chassis - enclosures with integrated power and racks for housing server blades, communication blades and connections to external peripherals and inter-chassis; links (other components/processors can also be added into one integrated chassis); (4) Communication Blades - integrated blades with Ethernet, InfiniBand or other communication adapters and switches; (5) Power and Cooling Systems - centralized power distribution components that power the blade chassis and components; (6) Storage Subsystems - hard disk and tape storage subsystems including capability to support/interface with Storage Area Network (SAN); (7) Specialized Applications such as Information Assurance - includes adding firewall, intrusion detection/prevention modules in to an integrated platform; (8) Software Management Tools - management software that enables server administrators to deploy, control and monitor server resources; (9) Virtualization Software - software that enables maximum usages of server resources by creating virtual server resources that tap physical resources as needed by the application usage. These items will be added to the other items being procured under Solicitation N65236-08-R-0087 that already have a nonmanufacturing rule class waiver. Firms are invited to submit the appropriate documentation, literature, brochures, and references to establish the source of the product items and manufacturers status. Maximum page limitation is ten (10) pages on data submitted. Responses shall be submitted to SPAWARSYSCEN Charleston, via e-mail to robin.rourk@navy.mil. Responses must include the following: (1) name and address of firm; (2) size of business, including: number of employees; (3) ownership, indicating whether: Large, Small, Small Disadvantaged, 8(a), Women-Owned, HUBZone, Veteran-Owned Business, and/or Service-Disabled-Veteran- Owned; (4) number of years in business; (5) two points of contact, including: name, title, phone, fax, and e-mail address; and (6) DUNS Number (if available). NOTE REGARDING SYNOPSIS: This synopsis is for information and planning purposes ONLY, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is NOT a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement, or any follow-up information requests. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. Based on the analysis of the responses hereto, the Government reserves the right to consider a Small Business set-aside or 8(a) set-aside. The applicable NAICS code is 334210 with a size standard of 750 employees. The Closing Date for responses is 11 April 2008.