Heartland Technology Group, LLC

B-412402.2 Sep 29, 2016 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Heartland Technology Group, LLC, of Overland Park, Kansas, protests the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) award of a contract to Ace Info Solutions, Inc., pursuant to request for quotations (RFQ) No. AG-3144-S-15-0018, to provide various information technology (IT) services. Heartland protests that the agency failed to properly perform a price realism evaluation and failed to make a reasonable best-value tradeoff determination. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision 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:  Heartland Technology Group, LLC File:  B-412402.2 Date:  September 29, 2016 Joseph L. Fuller, Esq., Stephen M. Sorett, Esq., L. Elise Dieterich, Esq. Nicole P. Moriarty, Esq., and Brittney R. McClain, Esq., Kutak Rock LLP, for the protester. John E. Jensen, Esq., Alexander B. Ginsberg, Esq., and Selena M. Brady, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, for Ace Info Solutions, Inc., the intervenor. Antonio T. Robinson, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Agency reasonably evaluated awardee’s price as realistic where the agency determined that the awardee’s rates were lower than the average market rates, but considered the nature of the solicitation requirements and the location where the higher-risk labor categories would be performed, and concluded that the awardee could successfully perform the contract. 2.  Protest that agency failed to properly perform a best-value tradeoff is denied where the agency’s source selection decision compared the vendors’ strengths and weaknesses and concluded that the protester’s higher-rated quotation was not worth its substantially higher price. DECISION Heartland Technology Group, LLC, of Overland Park, Kansas, protests the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) award of a contract to Ace Info Solutions, Inc., pursuant to request for quotations (RFQ) No. AG-3144-S-15-0018, to provide various information technology (IT) services.  Heartland protests that the agency failed to properly perform a price realism evaluation and failed to make a reasonable best‑value tradeoff determination.  We deny the protest.  BACKGROUND In June 2015, the USDA issued the solicitation, via the General Services Administration (GSA) e-Buy system, to holders of GSA’s 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services II (STARS II) contract.[1]  The solicitation contemplated award of a hybrid fixed-price, time-and-materials task order to provide IT services in five functional areas[2] for the USDA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Enterprise Application Services (EAS).[3]  RFQ, at 14, 31.  The solicitation reflected the agency’s assumption that work under the task order will be performed at either Fort Collins, Colorado, or Washington, D.C., and established various labor categories, along with estimated hours, for which vendors were required to proposed fixed-price labor rates.[4]  RFP at 39-40,  The solicitation provided for a best-value award and established the following evaluation factors:  past performance,[5] management/technical approach,[6] and price.[7]  RFQ at 15. The solicitation stated that past performance and management/technical approach were each more important than price and that, combined, those factors were significantly more important than price.  Id. at 15-16.  On or before the August 20, 2015 closing date, the agency received 16 quotations, including those submitted by Ace and Heartland.[8]  On October 19, Heartland was notified that award had been made to Ace.  On October 26, Heartland filed a protest with this Office.  In that protest, Heartland asserted, among other things, that the agency had failed to perform a price realism analysis and failed to make a reasonable best-value determination.  Heartland Protest, Oct.