Oready LLC (1305M324Q0286)

B-422910.2 Jun 18, 2025 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights OReady, LLC, a woman-owned small-business of Las Vegas, Nevada, protests the award of a contract to ULU Hi-Tech, Inc., a small business of Honolulu, Hawaii, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1305M324Q0286, issued by the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for Linux system support services. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably excluded OReady from the competition for failing to meet the solicitation's technical requirements. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: OReady, LLC File: B-422910.2 Date: June 18, 2025 Michael Faro, for the protester. Laetitia Hua, Esq., and Marlene Egierski, Esq., Department of Commerce, for the agency. Emily R. O’Hara, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging agency’s technical evaluation of protester’s quotation is denied where evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest alleging that agency was required to seek clarifications before finding protester’s quotation to be unacceptable is denied where agency was under no obligation to do so. DECISION OReady, LLC, a woman-owned small-business of Las Vegas, Nevada, protests the award of a contract to ULU Hi-Tech, Inc., a small business of Honolulu, Hawaii, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1305M324Q0286, issued by the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for Linux system support services. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably excluded OReady from the competition for failing to meet the solicitation’s technical requirements. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The agency issued the solicitation as a small business set-aside on July 19, 2024, using the simplified acquisition procedures for commercial products and services set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 13 and subpart 12.6. Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, RFQ at 1, 3.[1] The agency sought Linux system support services for the National Weather Service (NWS), including services to install, support, secure, and troubleshoot its Linux systems for the NWS Pacific Region offices. Id. at 1. The RFQ contemplated the award of a hybrid fixed-price and time-and-materials contract, for one base year and four 1-year options. Id. at 3-5, 79. The solicitation provided that award would be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering the following evaluation factors: technical capability, management approach, staffing plan, and price. Id. at 81-82. The non-price factors, when combined, were approximately equal in importance to price. Id. at 81. The solicitation required vendors to submit quotations in two volumes: a technical quotation and a price quotation. Id. at 51. Further, the RFQ warned vendors that only “quotes that address and meet all requirements set forth in this solicitation will be considered acceptable,” and failure to provide required information may result in the quotation being “excluded from further evaluation and rejected without further notification to the [vendor].” Id. at 53. The agency received quotations from 16 vendors, including the protester. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 5; AR, Tab 5, Feb. 12 Unsuccessful Offeror Notice at 1. On August 30, 2024, NOAA made award to ULU High-Tech, Inc. COS at 6. That award decision resulted in a protest to our Office from Tatra Solutions, Inc., an unsuccessful vendor. Id. In response to Tatra’s protest, the agency notified our Office that it would take corrective action by reevaluating the non‑price factors of vendors’ quotations and making a new source selection decision. Tatra Sols., Inc., B-422910, Oct. 10, 2024 (unpublished decision). As a result of the agency’s proposed corrective action, our Office dismissed the protest as academic on October 10. Id. On February 26, 2025, the agency notified all vendors, including OReady, of the result of the reevaluation. COS at 8. In the agency’s notice to OReady, NOAA advised the protester that its quotation had failed to meet the solicitation requirement to provide a draft quality control plan. AR, Tab 8, OReady Unsuccessful Vendor Notice at 1. OReady filed an agency-level protest on February 28, contending that NOAA had unreasonably evaluated its quotation. AR, Tab 9, Agency-Level Protest. On March 26, NOAA denied the agency-level protest. AR, Tab 10, Agency-Level Protest Decision at 8. OReady, subsequently, filed a timely protest with our Office on April 1. DISCUSSION The protester argues that NOAA unreasonably evaluated its quotation.