MindPetal Software Solutions, Inc. (140P2121R0011)

B-420070,B-420070.2 Nov 18, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights MindPetal Software Solutions, Inc., a small business of Rockville, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to SourceLab, Inc. doing business as GuideOne Mobile, a small business of Brooklyn, New York, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 140P2121R0011, issued by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), for digital support services for the NPS mobile application. The protester argues that the agency improperly and unequally evaluated proposals and made a flawed best- value 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:  MindPetal Software Solutions, Inc. File:  B-420070; B-420070.2 Date:  November 18, 2021 Devon E. Hewitt, Esq., Protorae Law PLLC, for the protester. William B. Blake, Esq., Department of the Interior, for the agency. Christine Milne, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the agency unreasonably and unequally evaluated proposals is denied where the record shows that the agency evaluated the proposals in accordance with the terms of the solicitation, and did not treat offerors unfairly. DECISION MindPetal Software Solutions, Inc., a small business of Rockville, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to SourceLab, Inc. doing business as GuideOne Mobile, a small business of Brooklyn, New York, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 140P2121R0011, issued by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), for digital support services for the NPS mobile application.  The protester argues that the agency improperly and unequally evaluated proposals and made a flawed best- value decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP was issued on May 3, 2021, as a combined synopsis/solicitation of commercial items in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 12.6 and part 13.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFP at 3.  The NPS manages approximately 31 park-specific applications, and recently launched its first consolidated NPS application (called the “NPS App”) to easily connect visitors with all parks and provide service-wide information.  AR, Tab 4, RFP, attach. 1, Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 2, 5.  Through this solicitation, the NPS sought support for development, user experience/interface, and maintenance services for the NPS App.  Id. at 5. The RFP contemplated the award of a combined fixed-priced/labor hour contract to be performed over a 1-year base period and a 6-month option period.  RFP at 2.  Award would be made to the firm whose proposal was the most advantageous to the agency, considering non-price evaluation factors and price.  Id. at 4-5.  The non-price factors, in descending order of importance, were:  technical capability, overall experience, key personnel, management capability/company resume, and past performance.  Id.  The technical capability factor included two subfactors:  operations and maintenance, and design/development/documentation.  Id. at 4.  The non-price factors, when combined, were more important than price.  Id. at 10-12.  The agency received proposals from 17 firms by the May 21 closing date.  Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 2.  GuideOne’s proposal did not include separate sections titled “overall experience” or “management capability/company resume,” but did include a section titled “work samples.”  AR, Tab 10, GuideOne Technical Proposal at 14-16.  During the course of the evaluation, the NPS asked GuideOne whether the “work samples” section was meant to represent its company resume and GuideOne replied in the affirmative.  AR, Tab 18, GuideOne Clarification Request and Response.  The technical evaluation panel (TEP) found that only the proposals of GuideOne and MindPetal were technically acceptable.  Both firms were asked to reduce their prices and both submitted final proposal revisions (FPRs).  The final evaluation results were:   MindPetal GuideOne Technical Capability Operations & Maintenance Design/Development/Documentation Acceptable Acceptable Good Good Overall Experience Good Good Key Personnel Good Outstanding Management Capability Good Good Past Performance Acceptable Outstanding Overall Rating Acceptable Good Price $1,594,997 $1,585,000   AR, Tab 21, TEP Consensus Report at 3, 7-8.  The narrative in the TEP’s consensus document focused almost exclusively on the past performance of the two firms, both of whose work was known to the agency.  The contracting officer explained that MindPetal developed the technical architecture for the NPS App and, as a subcontractor, provided actual development of th...