OPPORTUNITY QUALIFICATION SUMMARY

BACKGROUND

The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information & Technology (OI&T) is to provide benefits and services to Veterans of the United States. In meeting these goals, OI&T strives to provide high quality, effective, and efficient Information Technology (IT) services to those responsible for providing care to the Veterans at the point-of-care as well as throughout all the points of the Veterans’ health care in an effective, timely, and compassionate manner. A Veteran-focused enterprise, OI&T seeks to provide a seamless, unified Veteran-experience through the deployment of technology and associated services that will enable the VA to provide the services, care, and benefits our Veterans have earned. The requirements described herein shall support the IT needs of VA programs, Initiatives, and other requirements throughout the VA enterprise, while simultaneously supporting other government agencies with their respective IT Hardware Commodity Product needs.

VA maintains a complex IT enterprise architecture. Accordingly, VA is seeking to establish the Commodity Enterprise Contract – Next Generation (CEC-NG) vehicle through which it will acquire and ensure standardization of commercial IT hardware and associated installation, configuration, warranty, maintenance, and technical support services solutions across the VA enterprise. A Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Multi-Agency Contract (MAC), CEC-NG seeks to build-upon the successes and business practices established, and the cost and schedule efficiencies realized, by VA through the use of the existing CEC contract. The product and task requirements for CEC-NG seek to not only ensure standardization, but interoperability with existing hardware infrastructure, while promoting the adoption of open standard products and leveraging the Government’s purchasing power as a large enterprise. The IT Hardware Commodity purchases contemplated for this effort are as follows: end user devices (e.g., laptops, desktops, zero clients, and tablets); servers; networking and security appliances (e.g., switches, routers, wireless access points, controllers, and firewalls); storage arrays/storage appliances (e.g., backup tapes); converged virtualization infrastructure; and supporting technologies (e.g., printers, multi-functional devices, telephony, and video teleconference equipment). CEC-NG laptop and desktop procurements will be consistent with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Category Management Policy 15-1: Improving the Acquisition and Management of Common Information Technology: Laptops and Desktops. Incidental hardware, software, and services required for successful implementation of integrated solutions may also be acquired via the CEC-NG contracts. Finally, as VA’s enterprise architecture continues to evolve, changes and/or updates to the products offered may be necessary to ensure compliance with VA Enterprise Architecture approved initiatives in accordance VA Directive 6051 and 6551. These changes and updates will be incorporated into CEC-NG through unique Technology Refresh, Technology Insertion, and/or Technology Retirement provisions used on the current CEC contract.

SCOPE OF WORK

VA requires commercial IT solutions (comprised of hardware, incidental services, and incidental software) to improve efficiency and productivity. VA seeks to take advantage of technological advances and new business practices that promise to increase productivity and/or reduce costs while ensuring interoperability with VA’s existing hardware infrastructure. The requirements described herein shall support the IT needs of VA programs, Initiatives, and other requirements throughout the VA enterprise, while simultaneously supporting other government agencies with their respective IT Hardware Commodity Product needs. The IT Hardware Commodity Products included in this acquisition consist of end user devices (e.g., desktops, laptops and zero clients, and tablets); servers; networking and security appliances (e.g., switches/routers, wireless access points, controllers, and firewalls); storage arrays/storage appliances (e.g., backup tapes); converged virtualization infrastructure; and supporting technologies (e.g., printers, multi-functional devices, telephony, and video teleconference equipment); all of which are discussed in Section 6.0 and detailed in the applicable technical specifications attached hereto. In addition to these IT hardware commodities and the incidental services that support them, any resulting contract shall include the ability to provide advance logistics services in order to ensure all commodities are properly delivered and received. Advance logistics services may include temporary storage of hardware for just-in-time implementation, pre-configuration or imaging, advanced delivery notifications, data about assets being procured, and barcoding to automate VA receipt processes. Incidental hardware, software, and services required for successful implementation may be acquired via any resulting Delivery Order (DO) and are detailed in Sections 9.0, and 10.0 of this document. VA and any other governmental agencies may purchase IT Hardware Commodity Products or total IT solutions. As VA’s Enterprise Architecture continues to evolve, changes and/or updates to the products offered may be necessary to ensure compliance with Enterprise Architecture approved initiatives. These changes and updates will be incorporated into CEC-NG through Technology Refresh, Technology Insertion, and/or Technology Retirement which are discussed in paragraphs 5.1.9, 5.1.10, 5.1.11, respectively.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

This is a competitive acquisition for the award of multiple IDIQ MACs from which Firm Fixed Priced (FFP) DOs shall be competed and issued, unless an exception to fair opportunity is otherwise justified. While it is anticipated that DOs will be predominantly FFP, the use of a Time and Materials (T&M) pricing for select DOs or portions of select DOs is explicitly within the scope of this contract. Any T&M requirements will be defined within the individual DO.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The ordering period for the IT Hardware Commodity Products and services described herein shall be for five (5) years from date of award. However, because performance of each DO awarded prior to Contract expiration may require continued warranty and technical support services as described in Section 9.0, warranty technical support services may be performed for a maximum of years after the expiration of the five (5) year ordering period.

Any work at any designated Government site in individual DOs shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO).

There are Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that the Government follows. These Congress Declared holidays or Observed days are listed on Office of Personnel Management (OPM) site: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federal-holidays/.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The IT Hardware Commodity Products will be delivered to, and used at, Government locations throughout the Continental United States (CONUS), as well as those Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS). Incidental services required under any resulting DOs may be performed at any Government facility throughout these CONUS and OCONUS locations. Although government locations may vary depending upon the requiring agency and its specific IT Hardware Commodity Product requirements, a listing of specific VA locations, for informational purposes, only, may be found at http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isFlash=1.

Delivery locations will be specified in any resulting, individual DO. However, please be advised that delivery locations may be subject to change after award via a modification, as agreed to by the respective parties.