Sprint Communications Corporation, L.P.

Sprint Communications Corporation, L.P. BNUMBER: B-271035; B-271035.2 DATE: June 10, 1996 TITLE: Sprint Communications Corporation, L.P. ********************************************************************** DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE 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. Matter of:Sprint Communications Corporation, L.P. File: B-271035; B-271035.2 Date:June 10, 1996 Anthony L. Cogswell, Esq., and Ronald L. Fouse, Esq., for the protester. Rand L. Allen, Esq., and David A. Vogel, Esq., Wiley, Rein & Fielding, for [REDACTED], an intervenor. George M. Kingsley, Esq., Madeline Shay, Esq., and Joseph Cox, Esq., for the agency. C. Douglas McArthur, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging agency's refusal to grant request for change to benchmark script (to allow protester to defer until after award demonstration of its ability to switch data display from full screen to teletype format without leaving the application) is denied since waiver of the type protester requests would be inconsistent with the purpose of the benchmark--to require offerors to demonstrate, before award, their capability to meet mandatory solicitation requirements. 2. Protest that requirement for offeror to demonstrate dual mode emulation during benchmark is unduly restrictive of competition because agency has no valid requirement for dual mode emulation is untimely where the requirement was stated in the solicitation but protest was not filed until well after time set for receipt of initial proposals. 3. Protest that agency improperly waived for one offeror a mandatory solicitation requirement--for use of a commercial operating system--is denied where record shows that the offeror's proposed operating system is available commercially. DECISION Sprint Communications Company, L.P. protests the agency's actions under request for proposals (RFP) No. DACW31-94-R-0145, issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for information processing services. Sprint contends that the Army improperly and unreasonably rejected its request for modification of a benchmark test. Sprint also alleges that the agency improperly waived a mandatory solicitation requirement for another offeror, [REDACTED]. We deny the protests. BACKGROUND On November 1, 1994, the agency issued the RFP for software, hardware, and telecommunications to support the agency's Programming, Administration and Execution (PAX) system for a base year, with four 1-year options. Through various program management applications sponsored by the agency, the PAX system provides international teleprocessing support for the Army's military construction program, as well as service to a variety of military and civilian agencies.[1] The solicitation provided for evaluation of proposals in three stages. Stage I, which is now complete, involved evaluation of proposals by a technical evaluation committee to determine whether they met the mandatory requirements of the statement of work (SOW). Offerors whose proposals were found to comply with the SOW requirements then must perform a benchmark demonstration, stage II of the evaluation, the terms of which are at issue in this protest. In stage III, offerors who pass the benchmark will submit price proposals. Selection of a contractor, presuming that offerors meet mandatory criteria and pass the benchmark, will be based on price and technical factors, including soundness of approach, the results of a user survey, and the offeror's FTS2000 Network Design. Paragraphs C.3 and M.2.1 of the RFP provide that an offeror must satisfy all requirements of the SOW to be technically acceptable. Paragraph 6.2.1 of the SOW requires the contractor to convert the four major PAX applications, which have been written in a modified version of the International Business Machines Corporation's (IBM) VM/ESA operating system known as VMTI/ESA.[2] The Army made available to offerors, in a reading room, a document describing the incumbent's functional modifications to the operating system, including a feature known as dual mode emulation.[3] This feature allows a user to switch back and forth between teletype (display of one line at a time) mode and full screen mode without leaving an application. Amendment No. 0001 to the RFP, dated November 4, 1994, advised offerors that the benchmark package would be made available on November 8; however, the agency had begun to suspect certain problems with the benchmark package. Specifically, it appeared that [REDACTED] meeting the mandatory requirement for dual-mode emulation through "calls" to proprietary codes.