Onix Networking Corporation

B-411841 Nov 09, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Onix Networking Corporation, of Lakewood, Ohio, protests the issuance, by the Peace Corps, of a modification to a delivery order previously issued to En Pointe Gov, Inc., of Gardena, California, to acquire an e-mail as a service (EaaS) product. Onix maintains that the modification is outside the scope of the delivery order originally issued to En Pointe, and that it amounts to an improper sole-source award for the agency's requirements. We sustain the protest. We sustain the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Onix Networking Corporation File:  B-411841 Date:  November 9, 2015 Michael D. McGill, Esq., Thomas L. McGovern, Esq., Brendan M. Lill, Esq., and Ogechi C. Achuko, Esq., Hogan Lovells US LLP, for the protester. Katherine Colleen Wallace, Esq., Peace Corps, for the agency. Scott H. Riback, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest alleging that agency issued an improper, out-of-scope, sole-source modification to a previously-awarded Federal Supply Schedule delivery order is sustained where record shows that the modification contemplates providing a product that was never sought during the original acquisition, and there was no reasonable basis for firms to know that the agency would use the delivery order to acquire the product in question. DECISION Onix Networking Corporation, of Lakewood, Ohio, protests the issuance, by the Peace Corps, of a modification to a delivery order previously issued to En Pointe Gov, Inc., of Gardena, California, to acquire an e-mail as a service (EaaS) product.  Onix maintains that the modification is outside the scope of the delivery order originally issued to En Pointe, and that it amounts to an improper sole-source award for the agency’s requirements. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND En Pointe is an authorized reseller of Microsoft products and services; Onix is an authorized reseller of Google products and services.  The EaaS product that the agency is acquiring is a “cloud based” e-mail service, as opposed to the e-mail functionality currently possessed by the agency.  The current e-mail functionality is comprised, in relevant part, of a collection of computing hardware, wide-area network and local area network capabilities, and Microsoft software products licensed, installed and maintained in that computing environment.  See generally, Agency Report (AR) Exh. 4, Request for Information, attach. 1 (Draft Requirements Document); attach. 2 (Infrastructure Architecture).  In 2013, the Peace Corps issued En Pointe a delivery order under its Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract.  That delivery order was for the renewal of the agency’s enterprise licensing agreement (EA) to provide software licenses, software maintenance services, and technical support services for the agency’s existing suite of Microsoft products for a base year and four 1-year option periods.  AR, exh. 2, En Pointe FSS Delivery Order.[1]  That delivery order was issued after the agency conducted a limited, brand-name product competition confined to contractors holding FSS contracts that also were authorized resellers of Microsoft products and services.  The agency justified its limited competition as follows: Microsoft software is a core component of the Peace Corps IT [information technology] infrastructure.  The Microsoft suite of software tools was selected as the standard for Peace Corps for several reasons, including the wide range of Microsoft products that support business requirements across all office automation and application support arenas, ease of use of the software products for end users and IT professionals alike, simple integration across products in the suite, common tools in the market place making it easier to recruit and retain staff to support the environment, and more.  Microsoft is the sole proprietor of the source code and copyright of the software, which restricts other vendors from developing and implementing the brand's upgrades and bug fixes. AR, exh. 3, Limited Source Justification, at 1-2.  The RFQ sought to acquire these license renewal and technical support services for a discrete number of software licenses owned by the Peace Corps, and also specified a discrete number of technical support service hours to be provided.  AR, exh.