Enterprise Resource Performance, Inc. (36C10X22R0023)

B-420714 Jun 07, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Enterprise Resource Performance, Inc. (ERPi), of Fairfax, Virginia, protests the terms of task order request for proposals (RFP) No. 36C10X22R0023, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA or agency) for supply chain and logistics support services. The protester challenges the solicitation's evaluation methodology. We dismiss the protest as untimely. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Enterprise Resource Performance, Inc. File: B-420714 Date: June 7, 2022 Seth H. Locke, Esq., and Brenna D. Duncan, Esq., Perkins Coie LLP, for the protester. Jason A.M. Fragoso, Esq., Linh N. Adams, Esq., and Catherine R. Gilabert, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Heather Self, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the tiered set-aside evaluation approach of a task order solicitation is dismissed as untimely because the solicitation for the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract established use of the challenged approach as mandatory for all future task order solicitations. DECISION Enterprise Resource Performance, Inc. (ERPi), of Fairfax, Virginia, protests the terms of task order request for proposals (RFP) No. 36C10X22R0023, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA or agency) for supply chain and logistics support services. The protester challenges the solicitation’s evaluation methodology. We dismiss the protest as untimely. BACKGROUND In 2016, the VA issued its Veteran Enterprise Contracting for Transformation and Operational Readiness (VECTOR) solicitation. Req. for Dismissal at 1. The VECTOR solicitation was intended to provide the VA with “a department-wide vehicle for a broad range of general management and business support services and solutions” organized into the following six “service groups”: (1) management and improvement; (2) analysis; (3) training; (4) outreach; (5) supply chain; and (6) human resources and staffing. Agency Report (AR), Tab 4, VECTOR RFP at 211.[1] The VECTOR solicitation contemplated award of approximately ten indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts per service group under which task orders would be issued on either a fixed‑price or labor-hour basis. Id. at 211, 257. The solicitation provided that the base IDIQ contracts would be awarded on a best-value tradeoff basis considering technical capability and price, and that the evaluations and best-value determinations would “be completed for each Service Group, independent of the other groups.” Id. at 257. Additionally, the VECTOR IDIQ solicitation established that the agency would evaluate proposals under the technical capability factor using a tiered approach. VECTOR RFP at 258. This approach essentially was a tiered set-aside, also sometimes referred to as a cascading set-aside. The set-aside tiers were: Tier 1 - service-disabled veteran‑owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) that team or subcontract exclusively with other SDVOSBs and veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs); Tier 2 - SDVOSBs that team or subcontract with small businesses (other than SDVOSBs or VOSBs), and joint ventures that include small businesses; and Tier 3 - SDVOSBs that team or subcontract with large businesses, and joint ventures that include large businesses. Id. The VECTOR IDIQ solicitation provided that the agency would evaluate Tier 1 proposals first, and “if a number of awards can be made that will support adequate competition in a service group, no additional tiers will be reviewed.” VECTOR RFP at 258. Only if additional awards were needed to support competition in a particular service group after the agency made awards based on Tier 1 proposals would the agency then evaluate any proposals submitted by Tier 2 offerors. Id. Similarly, only if additional awards were still needed after the agency made awards based on Tier 1 and 2 proposals would the agency then evaluate any proposals submitted by tier 3 offerors. Id. In response to a question from a potential offeror, the agency explained that this tiered evaluation approach “may result in awards to only Tier 1 offerors, or it [may] result in awards from multiple Tiers.” Id. at 165. The solicitation further set forth that while each task order solicitation issued to VECTOR IDIQ contract holders would “have a unique evaluation approach” detailed in its individual solicitation, the tiered set-aside evaluation approach set forth in the VECTOR solicitation would “be mandatory for all subsequent Task Orders Proposal Requests.” VECTOR RFP at 119, 165, 258.