NTT DATA Services Federal Government, LLC (75D301-23-R-72589)

B-421708.3,B-421708.4 Nov 27, 2023 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 Digital Management, LLC, (DMI) of Bethesda, Maryland, under request for task order proposals (RFTOP) No. 75D301-23-R-72589, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for on-site software application hosting services. NTT contends that the agency unreasonably and disparately evaluated proposals and made a flawed best-value tradeoff analysis. 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-421708.3; B-421708.4 Date: November 27, 2023 John E. Jensen, Esq., Toghrul M. Shukurlu, Esq., Robert C. Starling, Esq., and Aleksey R. Dabbs, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, for the protester. Adam Bartolanzo, Esq., Lauren S. Fleming, Esq., Alfred M. Wurglitz, Esq., and C. Peter Dungan, Esq., Miles & Stockbridge P.C., for Digital Management, LLC, the intervenor. Jared Bruff, Esq., Elise Harris, Esq., and DeAnna Arcement, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Christine Milne, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that the agency unreasonably evaluated the proposals of the protester and the awardee is denied where the record shows that the evaluation was consistent with the content of the firms’ proposals, and with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest that the agency disparately evaluated the proposals of the protester and the awardee is denied where the record shows that the agency equally evaluated the proposals in accordance with the terms of the solicitation. 3. Protest that the agency conducted a flawed best-value tradeoff analysis is denied where the record shows that the selection authority’s comparisons were meaningful and reasonably based on the agency’s evaluation of the competing proposals DECISION NTT DATA Services Federal Government, LLC, of Herndon, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Digital Management, LLC, (DMI) of Bethesda, Maryland, under request for task order proposals (RFTOP) No. 75D301-23-R-72589, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for on-site software application hosting services. NTT contends that the agency unreasonably and disparately evaluated proposals and made a flawed best-value tradeoff analysis. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On March 6, 2023, the CDC issued the RFTOP to procure on-site software application hosting and monitoring services for its data centers in Atlanta, Georgia, under the General Services Administration’s Alliant 2 multiple award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. Agency Report (AR), Exh. 16, RFTOP amend. 2 at 1, 7; Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1.[1] For the last six years and over the course of two previous task orders, NTT has been the incumbent contractor. COS at 18. The solicitation’s performance work statement (PWS) explained that the CDC is an information intensive organization, and its dependence on information technology (IT) systems, electronic communications, and digital media is growing rapidly. AR, Exh. 16, RFTOP amend. 2, PWS ¶ 1.2. As a result, the PWS emphasized that the CDC is undergoing IT modernization to continue to support public health programs. Id.; PWS ¶ 1.4. Currently, 80 percent of the CDC’s IT portfolio exists in its on-premises data centers. PWS ¶ 1.4. However, the CDC is in the process of reducing its dependence on these data centers and moving some of its IT portfolio to a public cloud server as its first step towards creating the technological infrastructure it needs. Id. Consequently, the requirements in this task order regarding the modernization and innovation of the CDC’s on-site application hosting services are significantly different from the requirements in the last two task orders. COS at 18. The RFTOP contemplated the issuance of a task order to be performed over an 8-month transition-in period, a 1-year base year, and two 1-year option periods. RFTOP at 73. Award was to be made to the contractor offering the best value to the government considering two factors: technical and cost/price. Id. at 79-80. The technical factor included four subfactors, in descending order of importance: application hosting approach; staffing plan; similar experience; and transition-in plan. Id. at 80. The technical factor was evaluated based on an adjectival rating scale of outstanding, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable, and cost/price was evaluated for balance and reasonableness. Id.