NTT Data Services Federal Government, LLC (75D301-20-R-67883)

B-419197.2 Jul 06, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights NTT Data Services Federal Government, LLC, of Herndon, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Perspecta Enterprise Services LLC, also of Herndon, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RFTOP) No. 75D301-20-R-67883, which was issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for cloud computing services. NTT argues that the agency unreasonably evaluated the protester’s and awardee’s prices and technical proposals. 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:  NTT Data Services Federal Government, LLC File:  B-419197.2 Date:  July 6, 2021 John E. Jensen, Esq., Meghan D. Doherty, Esq., Toghrul Shukurlu, Esq., and Robert Starling, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, for the protester. Daniel R. Forman, Esq., Christian N. Curran, Esq., and Alexandra L. Barbee-Garrett, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for Perspecta Enterprise Services LLC, the intervenor. Daniel J. Barry, Esq., Dana J. Petti, Esq., Elise Harris, Esq., and Jared C. Bruff, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., and John Sorrenti, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenging the evaluation of the protester’s price is denied where the agency reasonably found that the protester’s price was not fair and reasonable, and therefore the protester was not eligible for award. 2.  Protest challenging the evaluation of the awardee’s price is denied where the solicitation did not require a price realism evaluation. 3.  Protest that the agency should have rejected the awardee’s proposal as technically unacceptable is denied where agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 4.  Protester is not an interested party to challenge the evaluation of its technical proposal where the agency reasonably found that the proposal was ineligible for award because its price was not fair and reasonable. DECISION NTT Data Services Federal Government, LLC, of Herndon, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Perspecta Enterprise Services LLC, also of Herndon, Virginia, under request for task order proposals (RFTOP) No. 75D301-20-R-67883, which was issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for cloud computing services.  NTT argues that the agency unreasonably evaluated the protester’s and awardee’s prices and technical proposals.  We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The CDC issued the RFTOP on July 1, 2020, seeking proposals to provide hybrid private and public cloud computing services for the CDC’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 31, RFTOP amend. 3 at 1, 15.[1]  The solicitation was issued pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5, to firms that hold Chief Information Officer--Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts, which were awarded by the National Institutes of Health.  Id. at 15.  The solicitation anticipated the issuance of a task order with fixed-price and time-and-materials contract line item numbers (CLINs), with a base period of 3 years, with two 1-year options.  Id. at 4-9. The performance work statement (PWS) stated that “[t]he broad objective of the CDC cloud initiative is to advance CDC [information technology (IT)] capabilities through modernization and innovation to further enable the CDC’s core mission of protecting the science of public health.”  Id. at 15.  The “specific objectives” of the task order are to “[p]rovide a hybrid private and public cloud environment that enables CDC to leverage the latest infrastructure and platform technologies,” “[p]rovide, operate, and manage a private cloud service in a CDC Licensed Space,” “[b]roker and manage public cloud services from multiple CDC-contracted Cloud Service Providers (CSPs),” and “[a]s requested, assist CDC modernization efforts by planning and executing legacy application migrations to private or public cloud services.”  Id.  The PWS identified 10 tasks that the successful offeror[2] will be required to perform:  (1) general management, (2) hardware and software services, (3) tools software administration, (4) middleware administration, (5) cloud brokerage, (6) cloud migration support, (7) cloud services, (8) database services, (9) transition services, and (10) disaster recovery.  Id.