Avocent Switch Repair - Notice Of Intent

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract under statutory authority 10 USC 2304(c)(1), set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements." United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), 7701 Tampa Point Blvd, Tampa, FL 33621, requires the repair and maintenance for two Avocent switches. The 6th Contracting Squadron intends to make an award to to Avocent Huntsville Corporation located at 4991 Corporate Dr. NW, Huntsville, AL 35805. Interested parties may e-mail stephen.colton@macdill.af.mil or fax 813-828-5111, Attn: Stephen Colton, not later than Tuesday, 26 August, 2008, 4:00 p.m. EST. Per FAR Part 5.207-13(e) Fed Biz Ops Numbered Note 22 applies and is modified to read: The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all proposals received within five days after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE CONTRACTORS UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES THE USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED ABOVE (APPLICABILITY OF AUTHORITY) The Avocent AMX 5010 switches are used to manage the HQ USSOCOM Command LAN networks. The switches provide the LAN System Engineers the capability of accessing any one of the over 700+ servers from their workspace. The HQ USSOCOM Command LAN utilizes a network of approximately 25 Avocent AMX 5010s, as well as additional Avocent devices and switches. Similar switches retail for for $11,495.00 and greatly exceed the Government estimate for the repair of the current switches. In addition, other switches offers similar features to the Avocent switch, but the user interface is different. HQ USSOCOM already utilizes over 20 Avocent switches and replacing the Avocent devices would require extensive engineering, programming, cabling and design to work with the existing equipment and would be cost prohibitive. Additionally, Avocent protects their intellectual property rights by invoking the benefits of the patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and unfair competition laws of the United States and certain foreign countries. No other vendor has the resources to repair these switches.