LinTech Global, Inc. (N0018920R0023)

B-419107 Dec 10, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights LinTech Global, Inc., of Farmington Hills, Michigan, protests the award of a contract to Nexagen Networks, Inc., of Marlboro Township, New Jersey, under request for proposals (RFP) No. N0018920R0023, issued by the Department of the Navy, for support services. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of proposals and selection decision. 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:  LinTech Global, Inc. File:  B-419107 Date:  December 10, 2020 Michelle F. Kantor, Esq., and William J. Beckley, Esq., McDonald Hopkins LLC, for the protester. Kendall Enyard, Esq., Paul R. Hurst, Esq., Caitlin T. Conroy, Esq., Steptoe & Johnson LLP, for Nexagen Networks, Inc., the intervenor. Leslie Jefferson, Esq., Dana Smith, Esq., James P. Winthrop, Esq., and Philip Rappmund, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Young H. Cho, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging award of a contract to a higher technically rated, lower-priced offeror is denied where the record shows that the agency’s evaluation and source selection were reasonable and consistent with the solicitation. DECISION LinTech Global, Inc., of Farmington Hills, Michigan, protests the award of a contract to Nexagen Networks, Inc., of Marlboro Township, New Jersey, under request for proposals (RFP) No. N0018920R0023, issued by the Department of the Navy, for support services.  The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of proposals and selection decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation was issued on May 7, 2020, as a small business set-aside under Federal Acquisition Regulation parts 12 and 15, contemplating the award of a fixed-price single indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a 5-year ordering term for support services for several programs of the Naval Information Forces.  Agency Report (AR), exh. 1, RFP at 1, 18, 61-63.[1]  Award was to be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, and the procurement was to be conducted in two phases.  Id. at 18.  Phase I consisted of evaluation under the facility security clearance evaluation factor.  Offers assigned an “acceptable” rating in phase I would move on to Phase II.  Id.  Under Phase II, proposals were to be evaluated on the following evaluation factors:  technical approach, past performance, and price.  The technical approach evaluation factor consisted of two equally weighted subfactors:  Development, Security, and Operations (DevSecOps) framework support plan; and information technology service management (ITSM) approach.[2]  Id. at 19.  The solicitation advised that the technical approach factor was more important than the past performance factor and that, within Phase II, the non-price evaluation factors would be considered significantly more important than the price evaluation factor in the agency’s tradeoff decision.  Id.  The agency received four offers, including from LinTech and Nexagen.  A technical evaluation board (TEB) evaluated the proposals under the technical evaluation factor and the contracting officer evaluated the proposals under the past performance and price evaluation factors.  Contracting Officer’s Statement and Legal Memorandum (COS/MOL) at 9.  The results of the agency’s evaluation is as follows:[3]    LinTech Nexagen Facility Clearance Acceptable Acceptable Technical Approach Good Outstanding DevSecOps Framework Support Plan Good Outstanding ITSM Good Outstanding Past Performance  Substantial Confidence Satisfactory Confidence Price $ 53,001,067.01 $ 50,956,347.61   AR, exh. 14, Business Clearance Memorandum (BCM) at 21. The contracting officer, who served as the source selection authority (SSA) for this procurement, considered the TEB’s evaluation results, performed a detailed comparative assessment, and made a best-value tradeoff decision.  Id. at 48-50.  As a result, the SSA found that Nexagen’s proposal represented the best value to the government because it offered the lowest price and had the highest rated non-price proposal.  The SSA found the other two higher priced offers, including LinTech’s, did not provide any advantage that justified the price premium.  Id.