United International Engineering, Inc.

B-257607.3 Sep 12, 1995 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest of high performance risk rating in procurement for software engineering support of battlefield automated systems is denied where. Is denied where solicitation requested information with respect to contracts for similar work and expressly provided for consideration of offerors' relevant and recent experience under a number of evaluation factors. Which was described as "most important. " all of which were of equal importance. The evaluation of which is at issue here. This assessment will focus on relevant and recent . . . contractual activity performed since 1 Jan 91. . . .". The solicitation required offerors to describe government contracts "received or on-going since 1 Jan 1991 . . . which are similar to the effort required by this solicitation. View Decision Matter of: United International Engineering, Inc. File: B-257607.3 Date: September 12, 1995 Protest of high performance risk rating in procurement for software engineering support of battlefield automated systems is denied where, although protester proposed to subcontract 37 percent of effort to subcontractors with good performance records, the agency received reports of past performance problems and demonstrated inadequate software engineering capabilities on the part of the protester, and reasonably determined that there existed a significant risk that the protester lacked the technical expertise necessary in order to effectively manage the performance of its subcontractors in the software area. Protest that agency improperly considered as an advantage incumbent's superior experience with, and resulting knowledge of, software in weapons systems to be supported under contemplated contract, and as a disadvantage protester's relative lack of experience in this regard, is denied where solicitation requested information with respect to contracts for similar work and expressly provided for consideration of offerors' relevant and recent experience under a number of evaluation factors. Attorneys DECISION United International Engineering, Inc. (UIE) protests the award of a contract to EER Systems Corporation under request for proposals (RFP) No. DAAH01-94-R-R008, issued as a small disadvantaged business (SDB) set-aside by the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Army Missile Command (MICOM), for battlefield automated systems engineering support (BASES). UIE challenges the evaluation of past performance and experience and the overall cost/technical trade-off. We deny the protest. The solicitation contemplated award of a cost-plus-award-fee contract for 1 base year with 6 option years for engineering support of the software engineering directorate (SED), research, development and engineering center, MICOM, in providing total life cycle support of battlefield automated systems, including: (1) acquisition and development of mission critical computer resources; (2) software verification and validation; (3) command, control and communications engineering and interoperability testing; (4) requirements definition for, and development of, software tools; (5) software quality assurance; and (6) configuration and data management. The solicitation established 16 required labor categories, setting forth minimum educational and experience requirements and anticipated levels of effort for each. The solicitation generally provided for award to be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal offered the best value to the government. The RFP listed four specific evaluation factors: (1) technical, including technical approach and resumes, which was described as "most important, and significantly more important than" (2) performance risk, (3) management and (4) "price," all of which were of equal importance. With respect to performance risk, the evaluation of which is at issue here, the solicitation provided that the agency would "make a performance risk assessment based upon each offeror's and his subcontractor's current and past records of performance as they relate to the probability of successful completion of the required effort. This assessment will focus on relevant and recent . . . contractual activity performed since 1 Jan 91. . . ." The solicitation required offerors to describe government contracts "received or on-going since 1 Jan 1991 . . .