Abacus Technology Corporation

B-416390.5 May 07, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Abacus Technology Corporation (Abacus), of Chevy Chase, Maryland, protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. HSSCCG-17-R-00010, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), for information technology services. The protester contends that the agency lacked a reasonable basis to cancel the solicitation and that the cancellation was a pretext to avoid defending against a possible future 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:  Abacus Technology Corporation File:  B-416390.5 Date:  May 7, 2019 Gregory R. Hallmark, Esq., and Elizabeth N. Jochum, Esq., Holland & Knight LLP, and Alexander B. Ginsberg, Esq., and Meghan D. Doherty, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, for the protester. Holly A. Roth, Esq., Elizabeth G. Leavy, Esq., and Lawrence P. Block, Esq., Reed Smith LLP, for Salient CRGT, Inc., the intervenor. John Cornell, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. Elizabeth Witwer, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest alleging that the agency improperly cancelled a solicitation for the issuance of a task order is denied where the record demonstrates that the expiration date of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract prevented the agency from issuing a task order with a period of performance that adequately met its needs. DECISION Abacus Technology Corporation (Abacus), of Chevy Chase, Maryland, protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. HSSCCG-17-R-00010, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), for information technology services.  The protester contends that the agency lacked a reasonable basis to cancel the solicitation and that the cancellation was a pretext to avoid defending against a possible future protest. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On June 27, 2017, USCIS issued the solicitation pursuant to the provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5 to firms holding DHS Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions (EAGLE) II indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts in Functional Category (FC) I.  RFP at 1.[1]  See also Contracting Officers’ Statement (COS) at 1.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a single task order, referred to as the National Area and Transnational Information Technology Operations and Next-Generation Support Services (NATIONS) II task order, to fulfill a requirement of USCIS’s Office of Information Technology to provide a broad range of information technology support services to agency end users.  RFP at 22.  The performance work statement required the contractor to provide service desk support, field services, service center services, account management services, hardware incident resolution, and continuity of operations coordination.  Id. at 22-23. The solicitation contemplated the award of a hybrid fixed-price-award-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, and cost-reimbursement task order with a period of performance of a base year followed by up to three option years or until “the end of the period of performance of the underlying EAGLE II FC I Master Contract.”  Id. at 1, 3, 13.  The solicitation anticipated award on a best-value tradeoff basis considering the following factors:  management approach, technical approach, past performance, and cost/price.  Id. at 17.  Proposals were due by July 21.  Id.