Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC

B-417465 Jul 16, 2019 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC (Harmonia), of Blacksburg, Virginia, protests the issuance of a sole-source order to The MIL Corporation, of Bowie, Maryland, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1331L5-19-S-1350-0001, issued by the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, for the completion of ongoing application development services. Harmonia contends that the agency's decision to issue the order on a noncompetitive basis as a logical follow-on to a previously issued order was unreasonable. 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: Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC File: B-417465 Date: July 16, 2019 Emily J. Chancey, Esq., W. Brad English, Esq., J. Andrew Watson, III, Esq., J. Dale Gipson, Esq., and Michael W. Rich, Esq., Maynard Cooper & Gale PC, for the protester. Paul F. Khoury, Esq., Samantha S. Lee, Esq., and Lindy C. Bathurst, Esq., Wiley Rein LLP, for The MIL Corporation, the intervenor. Jonathan Baker, Esq., Department of Commerce, 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 challenging the issuance of a noncompetitive logical follow-on order under a Federal Supply Schedule contract is denied where the order was reasonably issued to the incumbent in the interest of economy and efficiency pursuant to the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation § 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C). DECISION Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC (Harmonia), of Blacksburg, Virginia, protests the issuance of a sole-source order to The MIL Corporation, of Bowie, Maryland, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1331L5-19-S-1350-0001, issued by the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, for the completion of ongoing application development services.1 Harmonia contends that the agency's decision to issue the order on a noncompetitive basis as a logical follow-on to a previously issued order was unreasonable. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND Regulatory Framework Harmonia challenges an order issued on a time-and-materials basis to The MIL Corporation under Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70 of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, Follow-On Order, at 4. Pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), orders and blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) placed under the FSS are exempt from the competition requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) and its implementing regulations in FAR part 6. FAR § 8.405-6; Noble Supply & Logistics, B-417269, Apr. 30, 2019, 2019 CPD ¶ 167 at 8. Rather, such acquisitions are subject to the specific competition rules set forth in FAR subpart 8.4. Id. Subpart 8.4 of the FAR establishes several authorities pursuant to which a sole-source order placed under the FSS may be justified. See FAR § 8.405-6(a), (b). Here, the agency's decision to issue the order to The MIL Corporation on a noncompetitive basis was made pursuant to the authority set forth in FAR § 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C). This authority provides that a noncompetitive order is justified if: In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures. FAR § 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C). In other words, to issue an order on a noncompetitive basis under this authority, three criteria must be met: (1) the new work must be a logical follow-on to the prior order; (2) the prior order may not have been issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures; and (3) the decision to issue the follow-on order on a noncompetitive basis must be made in the interest of economy and efficiency. Harmonia does not dispute that the first two criteria have been met.2 Accordingly, we focus our attention on the reasonableness of the agency's conclusions regarding the final criterion. Previously Issued Order In 2014, the International Trade Administration began the process of modernizing, migrating, and replacing outdated legacy applications with modern scalable solutions.3 COS at 1, 13; Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 1-2. To support this effort, an order was issued in March 2014 to The MIL Corporation on a competitive basis under GSA's IT Schedule 70.4 AR, Tab 3, Order No. D14PD00310, at 1, 3; Tab 4, Federal Procurement Data System Report, at 1-2.