QuickHire, LLC, B-293098, January 30, 2004

B-293098 Jan 30, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Evaluation of protester's technical quotation as technically unacceptable was unobjectionable where agency reasonably concluded that quotation failed to demonstrate that it met solicitation requirements. The acquisition contemplated an award under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) and was conducted pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8. The subscription service was required to provide an extranet delivery system. Quotations were to be evaluated on the basis of four factors. Quotations were rated using a color-coded system of blue (exceptional). Award was to be made on a "best value" basis. Advised vendors that it was critical that quotations be fully responsive to the RFQ. View Decision QuickHire, LLC, B-293098, January 30, 2004 * REDACTED DECISION DIGEST Attorneys DECISION QuickHire, LLC protests the award of a contract to Allied Technology Group, Inc. under request for quotations (RFQ) No. SECHQ1-03-Q-0093, issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Internet-based automated staffing services. QuickHire challenges the evaluation of its technical quotation. We deny the protest. /1/ The RFQ sought quotations for a commercial, off-the-shelf, Internet-based subscription service integrating position classification, staffing, and recruitment processes into a single, automated, electronic solution for human resources (HR) and workforce management at the SEC. The acquisition contemplated an award under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) and was conducted pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8. The subscription service was required to provide an extranet delivery system, eliminating the need for the SEC to create, staff, and maintain its own information technology (IT) infrastructure. All operations pertaining to the service had to be performed "server-side," without the use of cookies, downloads of code, or client-side software. RFQ Sec. C.1.0.2. The RFQ contemplated award of a fixed-price contract for a base year with 4 option years. Quotations were to be evaluated on the basis of four factors, listed in descending order of importance--technical capability corporate experience/past performance, key personnel, and business quotation (price). Quotations were rated using a color-coded system of blue (exceptional), green (acceptable), yellow (marginal), and red (unacceptable). Award was to be made on a "best value" basis. The RFQ reserved the agency's right to make award on the basis of initial quotations, without discussions, and advised vendors that it was critical that quotations be fully responsive to the RFQ, without exception to any provision. QuickHire and Allied submitted the only quotations submitted in response to the solicitation. In the technical evaluation, the Source Evaluation Board (SEB) rated QuickHire's quotation red under the technical capability and key personnel factors and neutral under the experience factor. Allied's quotation was rated green under the technical capability factor and blue under the experience and key personnel factors. Based on QuickHire's unacceptable technical quotation, the SEB did not evaluate its business quotation, but used it for price comparison purposes. The SEB recognized that QuickHire's quotation of [deleted] was lower than Allied's, but found Allied's quotation of $3.5 million to be fair and reasonable, and recommended award to Allied. The contracting officer, as the source selection official, adopted the SEB's recommendation and awarded the contract to Allied. After receiving a debriefing, QuickHire filed this protest, asserting that the agency's evaluation of its technical quotation was flawed; in the protester's view, its quotation was fully acceptable as submitted. In reviewing a protest of an agency's evaluation of quotations, it is not our role to reevaluate quotations. Rather, we will consider only whether the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation and applicable statutes and regulations. CWIS, LLC, B-287521, July 2, 2001, 2001 CPD Para. 119 at 2. The record shows that QuickHire's quotation was evaluated as unacceptable for a number of reasons, as detailed in the technical evaluation memo and the debriefing. /2/ QuickHire challenges virtually all of the agency's reasons for rejecting its quotation. We have reviewed all of the allegations and find that none has merit. We address the more significant allegations below. WEB-BASED SYSTEM The SEB found that QuickHire's quotation did not make clear that it had provided a totally Internet web-based solution. Agency Report (AR), Tab 8, at 2.