BIG-IP Switches and Service

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THIS SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR SUBPART 13.5 TEST PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-53. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 423430 with a small business size standard of 100 employees. This acquisition is 100% set-aside for small business. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) has begun implementation of a load balancing architecture designed to distribute application load across a farm of servers at Gaithersburg as well as across server farms at Gaithersburg and Boulder. This architecture is based on the F5 BigIP product line. BigIP Local Traffic Managers (LTM) appliances have already been purchased and have been configured to distribute application load across a farm of financial servers at Gaithersburg. This is a brand name only requirement. BigIP Global Traffic Managers (GTM) appliances have already been purchased and are being configured to distribute application load across server farms at NIST sites in Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO. This procurement is for the purchase of additional BigIP LTM appliances to balance application load for public-facing web servers. When a remote user starts up one of these balanced applications, the GTM appliance has to determine the health of the servers at both Gaithersburg and Boulder before directing the user to the appropriate server at the appropriate site. The GTM appliance performs this health check of the servers by querying the LTM appliances at each site with the F5 proprietary "i-query" language. The procurement of the equipment required by this solicitation must be purchased on a brand name only basis because only Big-IP, manufactured by F5, will meet the Government's minimum need. The software and hardware are both proprietary to F5. LTM and GTM are software modules that run on the BIG-IP product. NIST requires the BigIP equipment so that the new units will interoperate with the existing units and that NIST's existing spare F5 hardware can be used to replace a unit if it fails. The Big-IP runs on proprietary hardware and software. Because of this, the BigIP appliance is the only brand that can communicate with the existing, installed base of BigIP LTM and GTM appliances. Responsible quoters shall provide pricing for all of the following line items: LINE ITEM 0001: Quantity 3 each BIG-IP Switch: Local Traffic Manager 3600 4GB ROHS, Model Number FT-BIG-LTM-3600-4G-R; LINE ITEM 0002: Quantity 4 each BIG-IP Switch: Local Traffic Manager 6900 8GB FIPS (Max TPS) ROHS, Model Number F5-BIG-LTM-6900-F-R. Of these four parts, two are for production and two are spares. OPTION LINE ITEMS LINE ITEMS 0003 & 0004 Line Items 0003 & 0004 are option line items. The Contractor shall provide pricing for these option line items. The prices quoted for Option Line Items 0003 and 0004 shall remain in effect throughout the period of the manufacturer's warranty on the switches. The Government may exercise any or all of these option line items, at its discretion, at the time of award or at any time prior to expiration of the manufacturer's warranty on the switches. Reference FAR 52.217-7 Option for Increased Quantity-Separately Priced Line Items. LINE ITEM 0003: Quantity 1 Year of service for three (3) BIG-IP Switches, Model Number FT-BIG-LTM-3600-4G-R. Service shall include, at a minimum, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week coverage; Access to Ask5F Knowledge Base; Access to WebSupport Portal; 1 hour telephone response to "site down" or "site at risk" calls; RMA Advanced replacement of hardware failures. Service must be provided to both the NIST Gaithersburg, MD and NIST, Boulder, CO sites. LINE ITEM 0004: Quantity 1 Year of service for four (4) BIG-IP Switches, Model Number FT-BIG-LTM-6900-F-R. Service shall include, at a minimum, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week coverage; Access to Ask5F Knowledge Base; Access to WebSupport Portal; 1 hour telephone response to "site down" or "site at risk" calls; RMA Advanced replacement of hardware failures. Service must be provided to both the NIST Gaithersburg, MD and NIST, Boulder, CO sites. WARRANTY The manufacturer's standard warranty shall apply to all switches. TRADE-IN CREDIT The Government has the following equipment available for trade-in credit: Quantity 1 each F5 BigIP 6400, Serial Number big213038s; and Quantity 1 each F5 Big IP 6400, Serial Number big236637s. All equipment functions to manufacturer's specifications. The Contractor may provide a trade-in credit for any or all of this equipment. A trade-in credit is not required, however, proposed trade-in credit shall be applied to the total amount of the quotation during price evaluation. DELIVERY Delivery shall be completed in accordance with the Contractor's commercial schedule. Delivery shall be made to NIST, Shipping and Receiving, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Delivery terms shall be FOB Destination. The Contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the purchase order, be responsible for loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA NIST will inspect all equipment to ensure that the required equipment has been provided. Equipment must perform to all manufacturer's specifications. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BASIS FOR AWARD Award will be made to the quoter who is an authorized reseller, provides all required products and services and quotes the lowest price. Price will be evaluated inclusive of any proposed trade-in credit. REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS All quoters shall submit the following: 1) An original and one copy of a technical quotation which addresses all products and services being delivered and provides FOB Destination pricing for products and services; 2) Documentation that the quoter is an authorized reseller; 3) An original and one copy of a price quotation for all products and services including the trade-in credit, if quoted; 4) This is an Open-Market Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for equipment as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this Combined Synopsis/Solicitation that will include the terms and conditions that are set forth herein. In order to facilitate the award process, ALL quotes shall include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows: The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition." OR The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following: Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s) Please note that this procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror's FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation. 5) If the quoter is not registered at www.orca.bpn.gov, a completed copy of FAR 52.212-3 OFFERORS REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS. DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS All quotations shall be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition Management Division, Attn: Carol A. Wood, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640. All offerors shall ensure the RFQ number is visible on the outermost packaging. Submission must be received not later than 3:30 p.m. local time on August 30, 2011. FAX quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted. An e-mail quotation shall be considered received when it is received in the electronic inbox of Carol Wood. Because of heightened security, FED-EX, UPS, or similar delivery methods are the preferred method of delivery of hard copies of quotes. If hard copies are hand delivered, delivery shall be made on the actual due date through Gate A, and a 48 hour (excluding weekends and holidays) prior notice shall be provided to Carol Wood, Contract Specialist on +1 (555) 000-0000. NIST is not responsible for late delivery due to the added security measures. In addition, quoters who do not provide 24-hour notification in order to coordinate entrance to the NIST campus shall assume the risk of not being able to deliver quotes on time. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at www.acqnet.gov/far. The following provisions apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial; 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items. 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options; In accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items, offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at http://orca.bpn.gov. If paragraph (j) of the provision applies, a written submission is required; The following clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items including subparagraphs: 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government; 52.209-6, Protecting Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended or Proposed for Debarment; 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns; 52.219-28, Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation; 52.222-3, Convict Labor; 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies; 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans; 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act; 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification; 52.223-18, Contractor Policy to Ban Text Message While Driving; 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases (E.O. 12722, 12724, 13059, 13067, 13121, and 13129; and 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer--Central Contractor Registration; Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer is also incorporated. It can be downloaded at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm; and 52.217-7 Option for Increased Quantity-Separately Priced Line Items.