B-298854; B-298854.2, Advanced Technology Systems, Inc., December 29, 2006

B-298854; B-298854.2, Advanced Technology Systems, Inc., December 29, 2006 TITLE: B-298854; B-298854.2, Advanced Technology Systems, Inc., December 29, 2006 BNUMBER: B-298854; B-298854.2 DATE: December 29, 2006 ************************************************************************** B-298854; B-298854.2, Advanced Technology Systems, Inc., December 29, 2006 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Advanced Technology Systems, Inc. File: B-298854; B-298854.2 Date: December 29, 2006 William A. Roberts, III, Esq., Richard B. O'Keeffe, Jr., Esq., Michael S. Caldwell, Esq., and Jon W. Burd, Esq., Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP, for the protester. John Bell, Esq., John Bell Law Office, for Binary Information Technology, Inc., an intervenor. Faisal Siddiqui, Esq., Export-Import Bank of the United States, for the agency. Paula A. Williams, Esq., and Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging evaluation of quotations for information technology (IT) services is denied where the record establishes that the agency's evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the evaluation criteria and the record supports the agency's source selection decision. DECISION Advanced Technology Systems, Inc. (ATS) protests the issuance of a task order by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank)[1] to Binary Information Technology, Inc. (BIT) under that firm's General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract, pursuant to request for quotations (RFQ) No. EXIM-06-Q-0019 to obtain IT support services.[2] ATS challenges the agency's evaluation of quotations and the subsequent decision to issue a task order to BIT, a vendor submitting a higher technically rated, higher priced quotation. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On July 28, 2006, the Ex-Im Bank issued RFQ No. EXIM-06-Q-0019 to vendors holding FSS contracts for IT services, stating that the agency intended to award a fixed-price, labor-hour, level-of-effort task order for a base year with four 1-year option periods. A primary objective of the solicitation is to obtain IT support services for "EXIM Online"--that is, the agency's recently-developed "fully integrated web-based transaction processing system for the insurance and medium term guarantee business."[3] RFQ SOW, at 2. The solicitation reflected a combination of requirements previously performed under other contracts by three vendors: ATS, BIT, and BearingPoint, Inc. BearingPoint built and developed the EXIM Online system under a contract that ran from September 2001 to September 2006; BIT and ATS are each incumbent contractors that have performed various IT services for the Ex-Im Bank, including: Oracle database administration support, software quality assurance (QA) services, J2EE (Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition) development and workflow support for the EXIM Online system, Lotus Notes efforts, and website support. The solicitation's SOW described the principal objectives of this requirement as follows: (1) to acquire system development life cycle (SDLC) support to sustain and enhance the agency's unique and custom-designed EXIM Online system; and (2) to provide programming, maintenance and enhancement support for the content of Ex-Im Bank's internal and external websites. RFQ SOW, at 2. The SOW advised vendors that the anticipated scope of work would cover three software development environments: (1) Java applications,[4] including the primary application J2EE and four Documentum applications;[5] (2) Lotus Notes applications; and (3) Ex-Im Bank's internal and external websites. Id. at 2-3. The SOW required vendors to propose personnel, materials, and equipment to perform the following functions--transition, SDLC support, [6] web maintenance, and QA testing--and provided the following estimated levels of effort projected for each function: Function Hours 1. J2EE 13440 2. Lotus Notes 3840 3. Web Maintenance 3360 4.