Meridian Knowledge Solutions, LLC (24322622R0003)

B-420808.3 Dec 05, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Meridian Knowledge Solutions, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. 24322622R0003, issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for learning system licenses or software subscriptions to support OPM's USALearning program. The requester contends that the agency failed to take prompt corrective action in response to clearly meritorious protest grounds. Although OPM agrees to reimburse the requester for the costs related to several of Meridian's initial and supplemental protest grounds, it does not agree to reimburse Meridian for the cost of pursuing an issue on which the agency took prompt corrective action and an issue that was not timely raised. We deny the request. 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: Meridian Knowledge Solutions, LLC--Costs File: B-420808.3 Date: December 5, 2022 Lucas T. Hanback, Esq., Rogers Joseph O’Donnell, PC, for the requester. James Muetzel, Esq., Office of Personnel Management, for the agency. Uri R. Yoo, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Request that GAO recommend reimbursement of protest costs is denied where the agency did not unduly delay taking corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest. 2. Request that GAO recommend reimbursement of protest costs is denied where the protest issue was untimely raised; a prerequisite to the recovery of protest costs related to agency corrective action is a timely filed protest allegation. DECISION Meridian Knowledge Solutions, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. 24322622R0003, issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for learning system licenses or software subscriptions to support OPM’s USALearning program. The requester contends that the agency failed to take prompt corrective action in response to clearly meritorious protest grounds. Although OPM agrees to reimburse the requester for the costs related to several of Meridian’s initial and supplemental protest grounds, it does not agree to reimburse Meridian for the cost of pursuing an issue on which the agency took prompt corrective action and an issue that was not timely raised. We deny the request. BACKGROUND On May 16, 2022, OPM issued the RFP as a small business set-aside for value-added resellers to provide learning-system licenses or software subscriptions to support customer agencies using services offered under OPM’s USALearning program. B‑420808, Agency Report (AR), Exh. 22, RFP at 1, 2. The RFP contemplated the award of “approximately ten” indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts to offerors with the lowest-price, technically acceptable proposals, using the streamlined procedures for commercial items in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6 in conjunction with FAR part 15. Id. at 2. The RFP required offerors to provide learning system licenses or software subscriptions to support various training and education requirements within USALearning customer agencies. Id. A technically acceptable offeror was required to “demonstrate its ability to provide the required Learning System Licenses as a small business reseller of the manufacturer.” Id. at 6. Specifically, the RFP required the offeror to be a value‑added reseller under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code 541519, Information Technology (IT) Value Added Reseller[1], and be authorized to represent and sell two or more of the specific licenses listed in the RFP’s table of 17 “Applicable Software Brands.” Id. at 2-3, 8‑9. The RFP described the listed software licenses as follows: These licenses . . . are commercial vendor hosted annual subscription services, provide virtual licenses for live and virtual instructor-led events, content learning portals and platforms, talent & learning management systems, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) eLearning content libraries, assessment and survey software, collaboration, asynchronous instructor led platforms and other as required. Id. at 2. The agency included as part of the RFP a class justification and approval (J&A) for other than full and open competition to support limiting the required licenses to the 17 brand-name products listed in the solicitation. See AR, Exh. 22i, RFP attach. 9, J&A.