Please read the ENTIRE synopsis before submitting any response. The 10th Mission Support Group, Directorate of Contracting, United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Colorado has a Brand Name Only requirement for the purchase of Commvault Back-Up, Restoral and Archival System (see attached for configuration). This notice document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-40, 23 March 2010. The North American Industry Classification System Code [NAICS] is 423430 and the size standard is 100 employees. The 10th Communication Squadron (10 CS) has a requirement for a Back-Up/Restoral/Archiving (BURA) solution. 10 CS currently uses EMC Networker for back-ups and restoral. Current solution only does back-up and restoral. 10 CS is looking to upgrade capabilities to support changes in future IT solutions. 10 CS conducted extensive market research into BURA solutions. In their market research, they evaluated EMC Networker, Commvault Simpana, Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM), CA Arcserve, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, HP Dataprotector and Symantec NetBackup. Based upon this research, 10 CS found Commvault is the only BURA capable of providing a single integrated solution that will support object level back-ups and restores of Active Directory, Exchange and Sharepoint objects. Over the last three years, 10 CS has had objects and Organizational Units (OU) deleted from active directory domain. They have also been asked to restore message(s) at least weekly from Microsoft Exchange. Current solution requires a complex process to restore the active directory database. 10 CS efforts to restore deleted objects have been about 50% successful. During the restoral, network operations are degraded while authoritative restores are done to the domain. Restoring single messages in Exchange are just as complicated. Process requires restoring entire database and using utilities to merge restored messages with production databases. This takes a great deal of manpower and time to restore each message. Commvault's ability to provide object level restores of both AD and Exchange messages will significantly reduce complexity of restores and reduce the manpower required. Symantec NetBackup supports these features, IBM Tivoli, HP Dataprotector and Microsoft DPM support some of these features, but not all. 10 CS found that Commvault integrates data deduplication without an add-on product. Without data deduplication, files that are backed up repeatedly use excess numbers of tapes and slowing backups down. An analysis performed in CY 2009 showed 81% of USAFA network drive data had not changed in 6 months. A data deduplication capability would reduce back-up times and reduce the cost of tapes correspondingly. All products, with the exception of Microsoft DPM, indicate they support data deduplication. 10 CS found Commvault supports custom definable administrator rights so users only have permissions to back-up and restore data on systems they are authorized to. USAFA has other data centers besides those operated by 10 CS. Those data centers use other products for back-up and restoral. This feature will allow USAFA to merge all BURA capabilities into one vendor and reduce costs by eliminating multiple tape libraries and support license agreements. The only other solution indicating they supported this capability was CA Arcserve. Commvault supports image level back-up of VMWare ESX, Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris. 10 CS is transitioning from a single server per application environment to one based upon servers running on virtual machines in both a Microsoft HyperV or VMWare ESX virtual server environment. Native support for virtual OS's is important to disaster recovery in the event 10 CS has to recover servers to alternate data centers in a short period of time. Restoring the virtual machine with data intact is much faster then re-imaging the virtual server OS and then restoring data. All products, with the exception of Microsoft DPM, indicate they support virtual back-ups. Microsoft DPM only supports HyperV. EMC Networker requires the purchase of another product called Avamar to support. Commvault supports content-based data reports based upon Clinger-Cohen act queries. Because of several incidents at USAFA, 10 CS had to pull together reports of e-mails and files pertaining to certain legal actions against USAFA leadership. The ability to conduct directed searches for messages and files meeting search criteria will reduce time and manpower necessary to respond to these inquires plus ensure all data is provided. 10 CS believes Commvault is the only BURA solution on the market that provides all of these capabilities in a single, integrated solution. Commvault is also approved to run on Air Force networks. Additionally, Commvault is in use on the usafa.af.mil portion of USAFA network as well as is the standard used by AFNETOPS for BURA of the AFSPC.af.mil portion of the AF network. 10 CS has already received training on operations of Commvault and support. Having a single common BURA solution between .mil and .edu networks will reduce training costs to 10 CS as well as allow support for any issues from AFNETOPS sources. Delivery is to be made to IT Accountability 5136 Community Center Drive East Loading Dock at the U.S. Air Force Academy. FOB: Destination. This synopsis is for notification purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation for bids or proposals. DO NOT SUBMIT A QUOTE AT THIS TIME. Any offerors believing they can provide an equal product that meets all of the features and functionality of the Commvault Back-Up, Restoral and Archival System may provide evidence for consideration. Evidence must support the offeror's claim they can provide an equal product. It is the offerors responsibility to prove their product is an equal by demonstrating their product, at a minimum, has the same features and functionality of the brand name product. Providing brochures, specifications and/or quotes alone is not enough for the Government to make a decision. The offeror should provide an understandable comparison between the two products. The Government is not responsible for developing the comparison from insufficient information provided. All qualified sources may submit a response, which if timely received, will be considered by this agency. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a brand name or equal procurement can be conducted. A determination that equal products exist based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses must be received NLT 12:00 pm NOON on 26 April 2010. Responses received after this will be considered late IAW FAR 52.212-1(f) and will not be evaluated. The Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this synopsis. Contractors must have a current registration with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) at http://www.ccr.gov and with Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at http://orca.bpn.gov. Questions should be addressed to the Primary POC Karen Jackson, Contract Specialist, (719) 333-4060 or sent via e-mail to
[email protected]. Alternate POC is Leslie Ryan, Contracting Officer, (719) 333-3961,
[email protected]. 5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (AUG 2005) (a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, concerned parties may contact the USAF Academy Ombudsmen, Kelly Snyder 8110 Industrial Drive, Ste 103 USAFA, CO 80840 Telephone number 719-333-2074 FAX 719-333-9018 email:
[email protected] Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the MAJCOM/DRU level, may be brought by the concerned party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (703) 588-7004, facsimile number (703) 588-1067. (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer. (End of clause)