General Atomics, B-287348; B-287348.2, June 11, 2001

General Atomics, B-287348; B-287348.2, June 11, 2001 TITLE: General Atomics, B-287348; B-287348.2, June 11, 2001 BNUMBER: B-287348; B-287348.2 DATE: June 11, 2001 ********************************************************************** General Atomics, B-287348; B-287348.2, June 11, 2001 Decision Matter of: General Atomics File: B-287348; B-287348.2 Date: June 11, 2001 Nancy O. Dix, Esq., and Matthew C. Bernstein, Esq., Gray Cary, for the protester. Richard B. Oliver, Esq., McKenna & Cuneo, for Engineering & Software System Solutions, an intervenor. John M. Hewins, Esq., and Thedlus L. Thompson, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. David A. Ashen, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest of evaluation of protester's proposal as equal, rather than superior, to awardee's for past performance is denied where (1) protester's proposal was reasonably downgraded for failure to include past performance information required by solicitation amendment, and (2) since awardee was a new company, agency could reasonably consider awardee's key personnel's experience in evaluating awardee's past performance. DECISION General Atomics (GA) protests the General Services Administration's (GSA) issuance of a task order to Engineering & Software System Solutions (ES3) under request for proposals (RFP) No. 01RT0447, for upgrades and enhancements to the Spare Parts Production and Reprocurement Support system (SPARES) at Hill Air Force Base (Hill AFB), Utah. GA challenges the evaluation of past performance and cost. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND SPARES provides an integrated computer-based information management system that supports the acquisition of military aircraft replacement parts through digitizing of data which currently exists in paper format, implementing a computer-managed workflow environment, and improving access to technical data, from both legacy and new data bases. See GA Technical Proposal at E-1; . The contract for the original SPARES prototype was awarded to GA in 1990; in 1997, another contract was awarded to GA for further enhancements to the system (SPARES II). In June 2000, GSA issued a request for quotations (RFQ) for additional enhancements to SPARES (SPARES III); however, the task order subsequently issued to ES3 under its Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Multiple Award Schedule contract was canceled in August 2000 when it was determined (after a protest by GA) that inclusion of hardware under the RFQ was beyond the scope of the FSS schedule that had been used. (Two subsequent RFPs for the same requirement also were canceled, the second after a protest from GA.) The current RFP, for SPARES III, was issued on January 12, 2001 to five FSS, Schedule 70, Information Technology (IT) Services, contract holders, and also was posted on GSA's IT Solutions Shop Internet web site. The RFP contemplated issuance of a time-and-materials (level-of-effort) task order for a base year, with 2 option years, for the application of existing, proven information system technology for weapon system support and part reprocurement through the integrated management of the part technical data and activities which review, modify, and manage the technical data. The RFP included a detailed statement of work (SOW) describing: (1) tasks to be accomplished, including upgrades to the SPARES repository system and new repository applications, evaluation of alternatives to the current SPARES work flow, upgrading the work flow and implementation of specified new work flow applications, implementation of database improvements, integration of SPARES into the agency's new D203 procurement system software, and system maintenance and support; (2) the required approach to software development, upgrade and modification; and (3) the overall required knowledge and skills of contractor personnel. The RFP specified the estimated number of hours for total contract performance as "within a range of 47,000 and 51,000 hours per year" (but did not list specific technical labor categories), and estimated the cost as "within the range of $4,650,000 to $4,950,000 per year" (not including the cost of software upgrades/maintenance and travel). RFP at 2. As amended (through amendment No. 02), the solicitation generally requested offerors to "[s]ubmit proposals in accordance with your GSA FSS IT Schedule"; it also specifically requested submission of "a technical proposal detailing your approach to this [SOW], identification of specific skills for each task to be accomplished in the SOW and a cost proposal that identifies the skill levels proposed, as contained in the Offeror's GSA [FSS]." Id. at 1. Offerors were further instructed--in amendment No. 03, dated January 31 but reportedly posted on the IT Solutions Shop web site on January 30--to submit certain past performance information. RFP amend. No. 03.