ViON Corporation, B-283804.2, January 24, 2000

B-283804.2 Jan 24, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest that agency improperly issued federal supply schedule delivery order to other than the lowest overall cost alternative vendor is denied where record shows that. Award was made to the low-cost vendor. Protester's assertions regarding evaluation of quoted prices are simply incorrect. 2. Agency's obtaining information from one vendor concerning purchase from Federal Supply Schedule without seeking similar information from other vendors was unobjectionable. The five areas where the agency sought information were: (1) maintenance of the 31 existing EMC storage devices. (3) an estimated 10-15 percent increase in capacity by the year 2001 (approximately 4-6 terabytes (TB) of useable capacity (one TB is equivalent to 1. View Decision Matter of: ViON Corporation File: B-283804.2 Date: January 24, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION ViON Corporation protests the issuance of a delivery order by the Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), to EMC Corporation under federal supply schedule (FSS) contract No. GS-35F-5177H, for a quantity of data storage devices. ViON asserts that PTO violated various procurement statutes and regulations. We deny the protest. On May 17, 1999, PTO published a request for information (RFI) in the Commerce Business Daily concerning several requirements (both short- and long-term) relating to the maintenance and enhancement of its primary computer system's data storage devices. The five areas where the agency sought information were: (1) maintenance of the 31 existing EMC storage devices, as the warranty maintenance on the equipment expired over a staggered schedule beginning in June 1999; (2) information on the currently-available technology in the area of storage area networks (SAN); (3) an estimated 10-15 percent increase in capacity by the year 2001 (approximately 4-6 terabytes (TB) of useable capacity (one TB is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes (GB) of storage space)), and maintenance for the new equipment; (4) up to an additional 100-percent increase in capacity beginning at the end of 2001 and proceeding through early 2002 for purposes of constructing a second data center for the agency (along with warranty/maintenance services for the new devices); and (5) related support services that would be needed in connection with the agency's move to a new location and/or equipment configuration. RFI at 1-2. Vendors were instructed to submit a capabilities statement to PTO within 10 days; at the time, no cost or pricing information was sought or provided. At the time the RFI was issued, EMC was the primary incumbent large-scale storage device vendor, having sold and maintained some 31 storage devices to PTO with a combined capacity of approximately 37.5 TB of useable storage space. /1/ RFI at 1. In February 1999, prior to the RFI, EMC submitted an [deleted] proposal offering a 5-year extended maintenance plan for PTO's existing devices, SAN technology, and the hardware and software that would be required for PTO to construct its second data center. Statement by the Director of PTO's Office of Acquisition Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer (Director's Statement) at 1. It was this [deleted] submission--and the apparent magnitude of the undertaking--that prompted PTO to issue its RFI in an effort to obtain comparable information from other vendors. In response to the RFI, a large number of vendors, including EMC and ViON, submitted capabilities statements. Among the non-incumbent vendors, several, including ViON, submitted capability statements that are described in the record as "total solutions" to the agency's requirements. Director's Statement at 3. ViON presented a plan to meet the agency's short-term post-warranty maintenance requirements by replacing the current EMC storage devices with its own devices on a staggered schedule that coincided with the schedule under which warranties would expire on the EMC equipment. /2/ (ViON also submitted a plan--not relevant here--that responded to the agency's requirements relating to the acquisition of a small amount of additional storage space in the near term, the provision of SAN technology and the supply of a large amount of additional equipment in the longer term.) EMC's plan, similar to its unsolicited proposal, involved extended maintenance for the devices that had expiring warranty coverage. The agency took no action in response to the information obtained until September. On September 6, EMC transmitted a letter to PTO that outlined what the firm referred to as its maintenance refresh option plan (MROP). Letter from EMC to PTO (Sept. 6, 1999).