NEB II JEFO redacted

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO)
– RFO 16.507-7

Date: September 15, 2026

PR Number: 20153637

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition (OA), Information Technology Contracting Division, and the Office of Information and Technology, Enterprise Infrastructure and Operations Directorate (EIOD), Network Architecture & Engineering Division (NAED), prepared this brand name Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity.
2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. CBP intends to solicit brand-name specifications among holders of Cisco, Meraki, Palo Alto, and IBM stock keeping units (SKUs) and selective annual maintenance, for the FY26 Network Equipment Buy requirement.
CBP requires that brand name delivery orders be awarded for the procurement of Infrastructure Network Equipment and associated licensing. Fair opportunity will be limited to contract awardees under the NASA SEWP indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ), Small Business socio-economic category, who are authorized resellers of Cisco, Meraki, Palo Alto, and IBM products or who have a business relationship with authorized resellers that permit them to provide the required products.
3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value and the period of performance).
This procurement is for infrastructure network equipment (switches, routers, and other networked hardware) required to implement equipment upgrades at multiple CBP sites throughout the United States. This package is an assortment of equipment required from various manufacturers.
The acquisition will also include any required manufacturer support, software maintenance, licensing, and lifecycle replacement components necessary to ensure the equipment remains operational, secure, and compliant with DHS and CBP technical standards. CBP’s minimum requirements are for network equipment and related support that: x Meets CBP enterprise network standards and is compatible with the existing CBP network architecture, management tools, and security requirements. x Maintains operational continuity for mission-critical CBP systems and facilities, including environments that require high availability, resiliency, and reliable network performance.

In this document, citations to RFO Part 16 are citations specifically to Federal Acquisition