B3H Corporation, B-280374, September 23, 1998

B-280374 Sep 23, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protester's speculation that a competing firm has an incentive to falsely conclude that certain items being acquired by agency are not compatible with firm's software used to process the items. Agency is not required to structure solicitation requirements to eliminate competitive advantages allegedly possessed by a contractor by virtue of its particular circumstances. Protest that agency engaged in allegedly improper communications with the prospective awardee is denied where the record does not support allegations. The protester principally argues that Spectrum should have been found ineligible for consideration due to an alleged conflict of interest. The footprints are based on statistical evaluations of historical "bomb-drop" data. View Decision Matter of: B3H Corporation File: B-280374 Date: September 23, 1998 * Redacted Decision DIGEST Attorneys DECISION B3H Corporation protests the issuance of a purchase order to Spectrum Sciences & Software, Inc., under request for quotations (RFQ) No. F44650-98-T0130, issued by the Department of the Air Force for certain weapon safety descriptors, also known as "footprints." The protester principally argues that Spectrum should have been found ineligible for consideration due to an alleged conflict of interest. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The footprints being acquired consist of graphical representations of weapon impact probability predictions. Each footprint describes a weapon delivery by a particular type of aircraft, using a particular weapon, within a specific range of delivery parameters such as airspeed and dive angle. The footprints are based on statistical evaluations of historical "bomb-drop" data, the professional judgment of evaluators regarding the sufficiency of that data, and complex computer modeling of impact effects, such as ricochet. These footprints are used to determine what types of missions may be conducted at various size ranges. A software program entitled "Hazard" is used by the Air Force to process the footprint data into a usable format so that the footprints can be manipulated on digitized range maps in order to make a decision as to whether it is safe to conduct a given mission on a particular range. Spectrum independently developed the Hazard software program and owns proprietary rights to the source code. Previous acquisitions of these footprints were accomplished by the agency under a contract for advisory and assistance services (CAAS) on which B3H was a prime contractor and Spectrum was its subcontractor, under which B3H's proposal received an award based on its inclusion of Spectrum's Hazard methodology. /1/ Agency Report, Tab 6. In April 1997, the agency issued a Commerce Business Daily notice that it intended to purchase additional footprints, software and site licenses from Spectrum on a sole source basis. B3H then filed an agency level protest on May 9, in which it asserted that a sole source award for the entire requirement was not valid, because only the software and related licenses were truly proprietary to Spectrum, and that development of the footprints and related items could be accomplished by any other firm, working in conjunction with Spectrum. Agency Report, Tab 8. On August 6, the Command Competition Advocate denied the activity request to procure additional footprints, software, and site licenses from Spectrum on a sole source basis, stating that there were at least four possible sources for this procurement, including Spectrum. Agency Report, Tab 9. As a result, on September 29, the agency determined to purchase only the rights to use the Hazard software program from Spectrum. On April 20, 1998 the agency issued the present RFQ as a small business set-aside for the development of 80 footprints. The RFQ, which required that quotations be submitted by May 8, contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price purchase order to the vendor whose quotation represented the best value to the government. RFQ Sec. 52.212-2 at 9. The solicitation included the requirement for all footprints developed under this contract to be "certified" by the contractor. /2/ RFQ Sec. 4.1.4 at 3. In addition, the RFQ required that the contractor ensure that the footprints are "completely compatible" with the Hazard program. RFQ Sec. 4.3.1 at 6. To this end, section 4.3.2 of the RFQ contained the following requirement: Footprints shall be independently verified and validated by software contractor, Spectrum Sciences and Software, Inc., to ensure they are properly integrated into Hazard software.