Information Ventures, Inc., B-293743, May 20, 2004

B-293743 May 20, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Information Ventures, Inc. protests the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) decision to procure SPACELINE database bibliographic services under request for offer (RFO) No. 04-HAD-001, issued to vendors holding a current Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) under Schedule 70, Special Item Number (SIN) 132-51. We sustain the protest. View Decision B-293743, Information Ventures, Inc., May 20, 2004 Decision Matter of: Information Ventures, Inc. File: B-293743 Date: May 20, 2004 Bruce H. Kleinstein for the protester. Karen M. Reilley, Esq., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Thedlus L. Thompson, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agencies. Edward Goldstein, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency's issuance of solicitation to procure services using Federal Supply Schedule procedures was improper where the services were not within the scope of the chosen schedule. DECISION Information Ventures, Inc. protests the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) decision to procure SPACELINE database bibliographic services under request for offer (RFO) No. 04-HAD-001, issued to vendors holding a current Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) under Schedule 70, Special Item Number (SIN) 132-51. We sustain the protest. The SPACELINE database was established through an agreement between NASA and the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NLM) in order to –collect, organize, and make available to the scientific and educational communities and to the public, electronic references to the scientific literature of the space life sciences.— Contracting Officer's (CO) Statement at 1. Currently, the SPACELINE database is maintained by NLM, and NASA is responsible for identifying the bibliographic references for inclusion in the database. On March 15, 2004, NASA issued the subject RFO for SPACELINE bibliographic services, for a period of performance through December 31, 2004, to four vendors identified under GSA's list of FSS contractors for Schedule 70, –General Purpose Commercial Information Technology Equipment, Software, and Services,— SIN 132-51, –Information Technology Services.— [1] As described in the RFO, the services to be provided are: monitoring the literature of the space life sciences and selecting publications for inclusion in NLM databases; creating new records for publications; adding unique data required by NASA to database records; working with NLM staff to ensure continued technical development and quality control of the bibliographic data; and conducting outreach activities to foster database usage. RFO, Statement of Work, at 1. The contracting officer decided to use the FSS procedures to procure the SPACELINE requirements after reviewing the various schedules and determining that the SPACELINE requirements, as identified in the RFO's statement of work, were within Schedule 70, SIN 132-51, the scope of which is described as follows:[2] Information Technology Services -- SUBJECT TO COOPERATIVE PURCHASING[.] Includes resources and facilities management, database planning and design, systems analysis and design, network services, programming, millennium conversion services, conversion and implementation support, network services project management, data/records management, subscriptions/publications (electronic media), and other services. Agency Report, Tab 7, GSA Schedule Descriptions. In its protest, Information Ventures maintains that using FSS procedures to procure the SPACELINE services described above was improper because they are outside the scope of the schedule and SIN identified by the agency. As explained below, we agree. As a general rule, contracting agencies are required to obtain full and open competition in the procurement of supplies and services. 41 U.S.C. 253(a)(1)(A) (2000); Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.101. The FSS program, directed and managed by GSA, provides agencies with a simplified process for obtaining commonly used commercial supplies and services. FAR 8.401(a). The procedures established for the FSS program satisfy the requirement for full and open competition. 41 U.S.C. 259(b)(3); FAR 6.102(d)(3); OMNIPLEX World Servs. Corp., B-291105, Nov. 6, 2002, 2002 CPD 199 at 4. Non-FSS products and services, however, may not be purchased using FSS procedures; instead, their purchase requires compliance with the applicable procurement laws and regulations, including those requiring the use of competitive procedures. See FAR 8.401(d); OMNIPLEX World Servs.