Leach Management Consulting Corporation, B-292493.2, October 3, 2003

B-292493.2 Oct 03, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Where evaluation report stated both that protester's lack of federal government experience was a weakness (erroneously) and that government experience was a strength (correctly). There is no basis for questioning the award. 2. Protest challenging evaluation of protester's proposal is denied where record shows that agency evaluated proposal in accordance with the solicitation criteria. That its conclusions were reasonable. Vendors were to complete all work within 60 days of award. The agency extended the performance timeframe: the review/evaluation of DCMA's existing activities and processes and the comparison of those processes and activities to the private sector were to be provided within 45 days of award. View Decision Leach Management Consulting Corporation, B-292493.2, October 3, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Leach Management Consulting Corporation protests the issuance of a purchase order to Booz Allen Hamilton under request for quotations (RFQ) No. DCMA01-03-Q-0003, issued by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), for customer relations management (CRM) services. Leach contends that the agency misled it regarding price and improperly evaluated its proposal. We deny the protest. On March 27, 2003, DCMA posted a combined synopsis/solicitation (the RFQ) on the Federal Business Opportunities website, calling for the review and evaluation of DCMA's existing customer outreach and satisfaction measurement activities and processes; the comparison of DCMA's practices and procedures with those of the private sector; and, the development of an integrated customer relations process for DCMA. Under the original timeline, vendors were to complete all work within 60 days of award. Under amendment No. 2, the agency extended the performance timeframe: the review/evaluation of DCMA's existing activities and processes and the comparison of those processes and activities to the private sector were to be provided within 45 days of award, and the development of the integrated customer relations process was to be completed within 90 days of award. In response to a 2-part question asking for the government estimate and "what budget has been in place in the past for these services," the agency responded in amendment No. 3 that "there has been no specific budget for the services. The original estimate was well under $100,000. As a result of revising the requirement to add an additional performance period of 30 days the estimate is still under $100,000." RFQ, amend. No. 3, at 1. The record shows that the original estimate for the 60-day performance period was $65,000, and the revised estimate for the extended 90-day performance period was $90-$95,000. Agency Report (AR), Tab A, Contracting Officer's Statement, at 4. The solicitation stated that simplified acquisition procedures applied to the procurement, see Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 13, that vendors should provide price and technical proposals, and that a fixed-price award would be made on a "best value" basis, and identified the following evaluation factors, in addition to price: (1) technical, including, a description of the approach for preparing and conducting an organizational assessment of DCMA customer satisfaction and CRM, a plan of action and milestone plan for developing an integrated customer relations process, a proposed process for analyzing current methods of data gathering, analysis and reporting, and an overall analysis of how methods can be improved; (2) proposed personnel, including key personnel resumes showing knowledge and experience of customer satisfaction and CRM methods used with private organizations, federal agencies and Department of Defense (DOD) agencies, experience performing organizational assessments, and knowledge and experience with organizational modeling and benchmarking; and, (3) corporate past experience, including three references showing similar customer satisfaction and CRM assessment and analysis, prior organizational studies, presentations, and benchmarking. RFQ at 3. A color-coded evaluation scheme was to be used. As relevant here, a green rating on technical capabilities and personnel indicated excellence in all respects, with a good probability of success and an overall low degree of risk. A pink rating on these factors indicated that overall quality could not be determined because of errors, omissions or deficiencies which were not capable of being corrected without a major rewrite or revision of the proposal; this rating reflected a very high degree of performance risk. A color rating scheme was also used for past performance. As relevant here, white denoted a neutral rating, to be assigned where information was not available or the past performance questionnaires were not returned by a vendor's references.