Solutions71, LLC

B-423671.2 Dec 30, 2025 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Solutions71, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to DDC IT Services LLC, a small business of Scottsdale, Arizona, under Fair Opportunity Proposal Request (FOPR) No. FA8771-25-R-0004, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for sustainment support for an enterprise level geographic information system. The protester contends that the agency's investigation of the awardee's alleged organizational conflicts of interest was unreasonable. We sustain 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: Solutions71, LLC File: B-423671.2 Date: December 30, 2025 W. Benjamin Phillips, III, Esq., Wiley Rein LLP; and John R. Prairie, Esq., Mayer Brown LLP, for the protester. Edward Coleman, Esq., Colonel Justin A. Silverman, Hector M. Rivera-Hernandez, Esq., and Erika Whelan Retta, Esq., Department of the Air Force, 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 investigation of awardee's alleged unfair competitive advantage is denied where there is no evidence that information gained by former federal employee during the course of federal employment would be competitively useful to awardee in preparing proposal for the current requirement. 2. Protest challenging agency's investigation of awardee's alleged unequal access to information is denied where the record shows that access to non-public competitively useful acquisition information was not shared with awardee of the current requirement. 3. Protest challenging agency's investigation of impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest is sustained where agency did not meaningfully consider conflict created by award of task order to awardee when awardee's corporate affiliate holds a related contract that will require affiliate to provide recommendations and review awardee's work under the protested task order. DECISION Solutions71, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to DDC IT Services LLC, a small business of Scottsdale, Arizona, under Fair Opportunity Proposal Request (FOPR) No. FA8771-25-R-0004, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for sustainment support for an enterprise level geographic information system.  The protester contends that the agency's investigation of the awardee's alleged organizational conflicts of interest was unreasonable.  We sustain the protest.   BACKGROUND On November 5, 2024, using the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5, the agency issued the solicitation as a set-aside to 8(a) firms with indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts under the General Services Administration's (GSA) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) III governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) vehicle.[1] Agency Report (AR), Tab 28, FOPR at 1, 39.[2] The agency sought services to maintain its geospatial engineering operations mapping and analysis portal (GEOMAP).[3] Id. at 3. Specifically, the Air Force sought support necessary to maintain and enhance “the fielded baselines (software, technical, and online repositories), Help Desk Tier II, and III services, and Data Stewarding activities necessary to sustain the . . . GEOMAP application and its components.” Id. at 7. The solicitation anticipated the issuance of a fixed-price task order comprising one base year and four 1-year options.  Id. at 36. The FOPR identified three evaluation factors: experience, technical, and price. Id. at 39. With regard to the basis for award, the FOPR advised the following: The Government's objective is to award to a contractor whose proposal submission rates Reasonably Priced, Exceptional in Experience and Substantial Confidence in Technical. If this objective is not obtained, the minimum standards of acceptability would be ratings of Reasonably Priced, Satisfactory in Experience and Satisfactory Confidence in Technical.[4] Id. at 39. The FOPR was issued in two phases. The phase I FOPR was released to all STARS GWAC holders on November 5, 2024. AR, Tab 20, FOPR Phase I Letter at 1. On January 31, 2025, the agency issued the phase II FOPR to contract holders that had submitted a completed statement of interest form during phase I. Id. at 2. The agency received 10 proposals from offerors in response to phase II of the FOPR. AR, Tab 4, Fair Opportunity Decision Document (FODD) at 7; COS at 3. The Air Force determined that DDC IT had a reasonable price with ratings of exceptional under the experience factor and substantial confidence under the technical factor. AR, Tab 4, FODD at 12‑13.