Brocade Remote Technical Support

Justification and Approval Limited Source Acquisition 1. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY: Department of the Air Force, 647th Contracting Squadron/LGCZ, 90 G Street, Building 1201, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii 96853-5230. 2. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED: Justification for brand name purchase for seventeen (17) Brocade FastIron network backbone switches remote support renewal for one year. 3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY'S NEEDS: Renewal of remote warranty support is essential for maintaining critical functional services for Asia-Pacific for Security Studies (APCSS) network technology division. APCSS network infrastructure currently uses Brocade FastIron Switches as the network backbone connectivity switches between buildings with no problems. Remote support provides a single point of contact for hardware and software support, remote diagnostics and troubleshooting with the product vendor. Renewal of the Brocade warranty support is estimated at $8080. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: Per 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) and FAR 6.302-1, the supply or services required by the agency are available from one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirement. 5. DEMONSTRATE THAT THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED: FAR 6.302-1 provides for use of brand name descriptions when the requirement can only be met by one brand name product as in this case. The APCSS network utilizes Brocade FastIron Switches in the existing network infrastructure. The requested purchase will work seamlessly in the existing infrastructure. The switch management software used for Brocade switches is the same that is currently used. This will minimize the learning curve and/or education needed to bring the new switches online. This will also minimize the administrative costs to manage the switches since there will be only one interface to manage the existing and requested Brocade switches and only one vendor to call should a trouble call be needed. This will guarantee that there will be no conflicts in hardware and firmware and prevent the situation of vendors "pointing the finger at each other" should the switches encounter operational problems. Having one vendor to contact for support services minimizes potential downtime, speeds up resolution time for incident management, and maximizes reliability and efficiency of network infrastructure. 6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS DEEMED PRACTICABLE: N/A 7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE: The proposed price will be compared to previous buys for the same service. The Brocade switches are commercially available and the existing market provides for fair and reasonable pricing. In addition, the item is offered on the GSA schedules and in accordance with FAR 8.404(d) GSA has already determined the prices of items under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. However, the commercial market price is lower than the prices offered on GSA. The Brocade brand represents the best value to the Government and will result in the lowest overall cost alternative than award to other brands. 8. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET SURVEY CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON A MARKET SURVEY WAS NOT CONDUCTED: Market research in the form of a web search shows that no other source of this nature is available. Brocade is a unique, one of a kind system and service. There are no other reasonable sources for this requirement. 9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: N/A 10. A LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING ANY INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION: None. No prospective offerors have expressed, in writing, an interest in providing an offer for this requirement. Based on the aforementioned, no sources are available to fulfill this requirement as in accordance with paragraph 8 above. 11. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE MAKING SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED: All actions have been taken to provide competition for the commercially available item within the brand name limitation. APCSS will continue to seek additional sources that become available in the commercial market for this particular requirement. 12. TECHNICAL / REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate.