NCS Technologies, Inc.

B-413500.2 Feb 14, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights NCS Technologies, Inc., of Gainesville, Virginia, protests the corrective action being taken by the United States Marine Corps, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. M67854-16-Q-4068, for commercially available deployable servers in support of Program Management Office, Marine Air-Ground Task Force Command, Control and Communications for the U.S. Marine Corps. NCS maintains that the agency's corrective action is improper. 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:  NCS Technologies, Inc. File:  B-413500.2 Date:  February 14, 2017 Thomas K. David, Esq., Kenneth D. Brody, Esq., and Katherine A. David, Esq., David, Brody & Dondershine, LLP, for the protester. Kevin Patrick Mullen, Esq., W. Jay DeVecchio, Esq., Steven W. Cave, Esq., and James A. Tucker, Esq., Morrison & Foerster LLP, for DRS Network & Imaging Systems, LLC, for the intervenor. Steven R. Hall, Esq., and Brendan M. Klapak, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Amy B. Pereira, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest of the scope of the agency’s corrective action in response to a prior protest wherein the agency limited proposal revisions is denied where the record shows that the agency reasonably limited proposal revisions to remedy the concern that caused the agency to take corrective action.  DECISION NCS Technologies, Inc., of Gainesville, Virginia, protests the corrective action being taken by the United States Marine Corps, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. M67854-16-Q-4068, for commercially available deployable servers in support of Program Management Office, Marine Air-Ground Task Force Command, Control and Communications for the U.S. Marine Corps.[1]  NCS maintains that the agency’s corrective action is improper. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFQ, issued on July 5, 2016, contemplated the issuance of a fixed-priced delivery order for a certain number of deployable servers with an option to purchase an additional amount.[2]  The solicitation established three evaluation criteria--price, technical and past performance--and stated that a task order award was to be made on a lowest‑priced, technically acceptable basis.  RFQ at 17.  The solicitation provided that only the lowest-priced quotation would be evaluated for technical and past performance acceptability.  Id.  If the lowest-priced quotation was not found acceptable for those factors then the agency would progress to the next lowest‑priced quotation until a quotation was determined to be acceptable under both non‑price factors.  Id. The solicitation identified various minimum performance capabilities and characteristics.  Id. at 2-5.  The solicitation did not specify that vendors utilize a specific form or format to show that their products met those requirements.  Of relevance to this protest, the RFQ required that the deployable servers meet the operating temperature parameters of 32ºF to 104º (0ºC to 40ºC), and that the processor “operate at [the] highest temperature range at full capacity without throttling down to a lower speed.”  Id. at 3.  The solicitation also provided that the servers meet the non-operating temperature parameters of -40ºF to 140ºF (-40ºC to 60ºC).  Id.  The RFQ closed on July 6, and on July 21, the agency awarded a delivery order to DRS Networking & Imaging Systems LLC (DRS) valued at $12,785,945.88.[3]  Protest at 4. NCS filed a protest in our Office challenging the propriety of the award to DRS.  NCS alleged that the product literature for the deployable server that DRS proposed showed that those servers did not meet the temperature parameters specified in the RFQ.  NCS Initial Protest at 4.  The agency filed a request for summary dismissal in which it argued that whether or not DRS’ proposed server meets the performance specifications laid out in the RFQ is a matter of contract administration and, therefore, not for review by our Office.  Agency Request for Summary Dismissal (Aug. 24, 2016), at 3.  The agency’s request for summary dismissal included the actual quotation submitted by DRS.  Agency Request for Summary Dismissal, Tab 3, DRS Quotation.  On August 31, NCS responded to the agency’s request for summary dismissal, and filed a supplemental protest.  In its supplemental protest NCS argued that DRS’ quotation affirmed that its proposed product would meet every solicitation specification except the required “operating temperature” range for the servers.  NCS Response to Agency Summary Dismissal Request and Supplemental Protest (Aug.