ICS Nett, Inc. (HQ0857-24-R-0001)

B-422575 Jul 24, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights ICS Nett, Inc., a small business of Chantilly, Virginia, protests its exclusion from consideration for award under request for proposals (RFP) No. HQ0857-24-R-0001, issued by the Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), for agency information management and software services (AIMSS). The protester contends that the agency should have accepted its proposal because the delay in submission was due to a system failure of the agency's online portal designated for submission of proposals. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: ICS Nett, Inc. File: B-422575 Date: July 24, 2024 Kaiser Gill, Esq., Gill Law Firm, for the protester. Andrew Smith, Esq., Lieutenant Colonel Michael Tregle, Major Brittney Montgomery, and Major Brandon Mark, Missle Defense Agency, for the agency. Suresh S. Boodram, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging agency's decision to reject the protester's proposal as late is denied where the proposal was not timely received by the agency in a manner consistent with the terms of the solicitation and there is no evidence of systemic failure of the online portal authorized for submission of proposals. DECISION ICS Nett, Inc., a small business of Chantilly, Virginia, protests its exclusion from consideration for award under request for proposals (RFP) No. HQ0857-24-R-0001, issued by the Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), for agency information management and software services (AIMSS). The protester contends that the agency should have accepted its proposal because the delay in submission was due to a system failure of the agency's online portal designated for submission of proposals. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, which was issued on November 6, 2023, and subsequently amended five times, sought proposals for AIMSS as a “follow-on” contract to continue providing data management support after the expiration of MDA's incumbent contract. Agency Report (AR), Tab 8b, RFP at 1;[1] Contracting Officer's Statement (COS) at 2, 4. The RFP contemplated award of a single indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with resulting task orders having varied pricing arrangements including cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-fee, and cost. AR, Tab 8b, RFP at 49, 77. Relevant here, the RFP instructed that proposals had to be submitted via the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) Solicitation Module.[2] Tab 8c, RFP at 6. The RFP, as amended, established the deadline for receipt of proposals as 5:00 p.m. central standard time (CST) on January 17, 2024. Id. at 1. In order to submit a proposal using the PIEE Solicitation Module, offerors must upload documents into the system, enter a PIN number, and request a One-Time Password (OTP) that the system automatically generates and emails to the proposal manager. AR, Tab 17, PIEE Program Tutorial at 6-8. The OTP is automatically generated and sent to the email address of the offeror's proposal manager once all proposal documents are uploaded and the proposal manager clicks the signature button indicating that they are ready to transmit the offeror's proposal. AR, Tab 21, PIEE Information Technology (IT) Specialist Declaration at 2 (internal citation to PIEE training materials omitted). While an OTP is valid for 15 minutes, it will be invalidated if a subsequent OTP is requested and issued. Id. at 4. A proposal is not considered submitted in PIEE until an offeror enters the PIN number and OTP. Id. The RFP also included a statement that “CAUTION – LATE Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals: See Section L, Provision No. 52.214-7 or 52.215-1.” AR, Tab 8b, RFP at 1; see also AR, Tab 8c, RFP, Section L, at 7 (emphasis in original omitted) (“Note: If the proposal is not received by the due date and time specified, the offeror's proposal is considered late in accordance with far 52.215-1.”). Relevant here, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors--Competitive Acquisition, provides that: Any proposal, modification, or revision received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is “late” and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and – (1) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m.