Notice of Intent to Sole Source Thinkmate Hardware

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, the Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on a sole source basis to Thinkmate to purchase SuperServer 221HE-FTNR, qty 10; RAX XH24-22S4, qty 6; RAX XH12-22S4, qty 4; RAX XH12-22S4 qty 2; and SuperServer 111E-FWTR, qty 6. NETL has used Thinkmate RAX/Supermicro platforms for over 15 years to deploy mission-critical server infrastructure across the Science and HPC networks.

Selection of these platforms allows us to deploy updated versions of existing equipment while maintaining interoperability between existing spare parts and support supply lines, furthering hardware standardization and minimizing deployment efforts. This purchase is to upgrade the capabilities of this mission-critical server infrastructure on the Science and HPC networks used to move, store, and process large-scale datasets with the reliability and performance of the Thinkmate RAX/Supermicro platforms.

This is considered a sole source to Thinkmate because, to the best of the NETL’s knowledge, based on market research conducted, Thinkmate is the only known source that can provide this type of product. No known potential alternate sources exist which could exactly satisfy NETL's requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for quote/proposal.

Any interested party that believes it is capable of meeting the NETL requirement described herein may identify themselves and must provide evidence of their capability to fulfill the requirement being requested by 4:30 PM EDT on June 21, 2024. Responses must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Specialist, Stefanie Page, via email at stefanie.page@netl.doe.gov no later than the time and date noted above. Telephone responses and requests will not be received.

A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.