Alpha Data Corporation, B-291423, December 20, 2002

B-291423 Dec 20, 2002 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Agency was not required to compare sample task prices to government baseline to determine price reasonableness. Which was issued on January 11. That the mission capability subfactors were listed in descending order of importance. Offerors were to make oral presentations addressing the first two mission capability subfactors and the requirements of each of three sample tasks. Only MTC was not a small business. There were distinctions in technical quality even among proposals that had been assigned the same color and risk ratings. The majority of whose contracts were rated very relevant. The remainder of whose contracts were rated relevant. Whose experience was limited to military aircraft and only one of whose subcontractors had SOF aircraft experience in all four program elements. View Decision Alpha Data Corporation, B-291423, December 20, 2002 * REDACTED DECISION DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Alpha Data Corporation (ADC) protests the failure of the Department of the Air Force to award it a contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. F09603-02-R-61087, for special operations forces (SOF) support services. The protester argues that the Air Force erred in evaluating its past performance and that the agency failed to evaluate offerors' cost proposals adequately. We deny the protest. The RFP, which was issued on January 11, 2002, provided for the award of up to four indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, each for a base period of 5 years and two 5-year option periods. The solicitation provided for award of one of the contracts on the basis of full and open competition and for the remainder as small business set-asides. The RFP provided for the evaluation of proposals on the basis of the following factors and subfactors: 1. Mission Capability a. Special Operation Forces (SOF) Sustainment b. Reaction Capability c. Team Structure 2. Proposal Risk 3. Past Performance 4. Cost/Price The solicitation advised that the first three factors would be of equal importance in the evaluation; that the three nonprice factors, when combined, would carry significantly more importance than cost/price; that the mission capability subfactors were listed in descending order of importance; and that proposal risk would be evaluated at the mission capability subfactor level. Offerors were to make oral presentations addressing the first two mission capability subfactors and the requirements of each of three sample tasks. The RFP instructed offerors to submit labor rates for a variety of labor categories and provided for a reasonableness analysis of the proposed rates. The RFP also provided for a realism analysis and probable cost calculation of offerors' sample task prices. Six offerors--the protester, Innovative Technologies Corporation (ITC), Offeror A, Modern Technologies Corporation (MTC), Support Systems Associates, Inc. (SSAI), and TCS Design & Management Services (TCS)--submitted proposals by the February 14 closing date. Of the six offerors, only MTC was not a small business. After conducting discussions and receiving final proposal revisions, the agency evaluators assigned the proposals the following ratings: /1/ Offeror SOF Reaction Team Confidence Probable . Sustainment Capability Structure Rating Cost ADC Green/Low Green/LR Green/LR Very Good/ $213,293 . Risk (LR) Significant ITC Green/LR Green/LR Green/LR Very Good/ $249,315 . Significant Offeror A Green/LR Green/Medium Green/LR Very Good/ $228,291 . Risk Significant MTC Blue/LR Green/LR Green/LR Very Good/ $244,449 . Significant SSAI Blue/LR Green/LR Green/LR Exceptional/ $104,239 . High TCS Blue/LR Green/LR Green/LR Very Good/ $156,187 . Significant In performing his best value analysis, the Source Selection Authority (SSA) determined that under the most important mission capability subfactor, SOF sustainment, there were distinctions in technical quality even among proposals that had been assigned the same color and risk ratings. The SSA ranked the proposals under the subfactor in the following order: MTC, SSAI, TCS, ITC, ADC, and Offeror A. /2/ The SSA also ranked the proposals under the performance confidence factor, noting that "subtle differences" existed among the five offerors with ratings of Very Good/Significant Confidence. The SSA ranked MTC and ITC, the majority of whose contracts were rated very relevant, and the remainder of whose contracts were rated relevant, tied for first; TCS, which had one subcontractor with no experience with either SOF or military aircraft, third; ADC, which, as the prime contractor lacked experience with SOF or military aircraft, fourth; and Offeror A, whose experience was limited to military aircraft and only one of whose subcontractors had SOF aircraft experience in all four program elements, last. Id.