Notice of Intent - Firewall and Switch Systems

The Department of Education, Federal Student Aid is acquiring a firewall and switch system from Cisco Systems, Inc., 170 West Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134. In accordance with FAR Part 8.4, the Government issued an RFQ (RFQ748120) for a hardware and software on eBuy. The resulting solicitation included open market line items incidental to the overall acquisition. In accordance with FAR 8.401(f), this posting serves as public notice of the Government's intent to issue a Federal Supply task order under an existing GSA Schedule that will include open market line items for the following: Cisco Firewall: ASA 5505 UNLIMITED U AIP-SSC-5 SW SEC PLUS 3DES/AES US ONLY 24X7 IPS SVC AR ASA5505-U-AIP5P-K9 Cisco Switch: 26 PORT 10/100/1000 2PORT COMBO MINI-GBIC 3YR 24X7 4HR SBS4 SMALL BUSINESS PRO RAPID The CO has made a reasonable determination that the inclusion of these line items on the task order best satisfies the needs of the Government. Competitive quotes were received, and a fair and reasonable determination was made for the open market portion of this task. Attached to this Notice of Intent is the Brand Name Justification for the open market items. This Notice of Intent is NOT a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for competitive quotes. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.