Datacomm Management Sciences, Inc.

B-261089 Aug 08, 1995 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest that agency improperly made award to firm whose automated matrix switching control system was not equal to the brand name system specified in the solicitation is denied where agency reasonably determined that awardee's product was functionally equivalent to the specified system. REDACTED DECISION A protected decision was issued on the date below and was subject to a GAO Protective Order. Datacomm contends that Telenex's offered system is not equal to the protester's brand name system. Were received. While the evaluators were required to rate the three alternate system offers as technically unacceptable since these systems' individual components were not equal on an item-by-item basis to the specified Datacomm components. View Decision Matter of: Datacomm Management Sciences, Inc. File: B-261089 Date: August 8, 1995 *REDACTED DECISION Protest that agency improperly made award to firm whose automated matrix switching control system was not equal to the brand name system specified in the solicitation is denied where agency reasonably determined that awardee's product was functionally equivalent to the specified system. Attorneys REDACTED DECISION A protected decision was issued on the date below and was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been redacted or approved by the parties involved for public release. DECISION Datacomm Management Sciences, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Telenex Corporation under request for proposals (RFP) No. N00140-94-R-BA60, issued by the Department of the Navy for a "brand name or equal" automated matrix switching control system for the Technical Control Facility at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Cutler, Maine. Datacomm contends that Telenex's offered system is not equal to the protester's brand name system. We deny the protest. On August 11, the Navy issued the RFP, which contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract to the lowest-priced, technically acceptable offeror. As initially issued, the RFP requested a switching control system "comprised of items brand name or equal [emphasis in original] to the following Data[c]omm Management Sciences, Inc. items [emphasis added]." Under this description, the RFP's pricing schedule listed 14 sub-contract line item numbers (sub-CLINs), identified by 14 corresponding Datacomm component part numbers, each of which required a separate unit price. The RFP provided that all system components would be purchased from one offeror, since different equipment items from different manufacturers use unique and proprietary interfacing language--or software--to operate as a system. By the September 19 closing date, four proposals--including the protester's--were received; only Datacomm proposed the specified 14-item brand name system. In performing the technical evaluation, the agency discovered that although the other three offerors proposed alternate switching control systems comprised of different component architectures and configurations, these systems could, in fact, meet the Navy's functional requirements as set forth in section C of the RFP. As a result, while the evaluators were required to rate the three alternate system offers as technically unacceptable since these systems' individual components were not equal on an item-by-item basis to the specified Datacomm components, the evaluators nevertheless recommended that the three alternate offers be kept in the competitive range--along with Datacomm's--and that the solicitation be reviewed to remove unnecessary technical requirements. On December 7, the agency issued amendment No. 0002 which eliminated some of the component interfacing requirements, and afterwards conducted written discussions with each offeror. On February 3, 1995, as a result of these discussions, the agency issued amendment No. 0003 to the RFP which provided that: "All systems proposed must comply with all salient characteristics identified in Section C. Offerors are permitted to propose a system with a configuration different from the configuration identified above so long as the proposed configuration complies with all salient characteristics. Offerors proposing other than the brand name system shall identify, for each component, the manufacturer part number." [Emphasis added.] In addition, the Navy modified the RFP's brand name or equal clause to require a switching control system "brand name or equal [emphasis in original], to the Datacomm Management Sciences, Inc. system [emphasis added]"; in this regard, while the RFP's pricing schedule still listed the 14-component items of the Datacomm system, the corresponding 14 sub-CLINs, pricing blanks, and component quantities were eliminated.