Decision released in protest denial of DISA Cybersecurity support services RFQ

DIGEST

1. Protest that the agency unreasonably evaluated quotations is denied where the record reflects that the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation and applicable statutes and regulation.

2. Protest that the agency engaged in unequal treatment is denied where the differences in the evaluation stemmed from differences between the vendors’ quotations.

2. Protest challenging agency’s best-value tradeoff decision is denied where the decision was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation.

DISCUSSION

Delviom, the incumbent contractor for the instant requirement, challenges the agency’s evaluation of its quotation under the staffing/recruitment/retention/key personnel subfactor, arguing that the agency’s failure to assign it a strength for Delviom’s retention rate was unreasonable and based on an unequal evaluation.  The protester also asserts that because its quotation received two strengths under this subfactor and the awardee’s quotation received only one strength, the agency’s evaluation of the vendors’ quotations as being of equal value to the government under this subfactor was unreasonable.  In addition, Delviom challenges the evaluation of its quotation under the security engineering subfactor, arguing that the agency engaged in disparate treatment by failing to assess its quotation a strength for demonstrating Delviom’s ability to apply complex system security baselines.  Finally, the protester maintains that the best-value tradeoff was unreasonable because the agency improperly failed to perform a meaningful comparative assessment of the vendors’ quotations and unreasonably determined that Delviom’s slightly higher-rated quotation was not worth a price premium.  For the reasons discussed below, we find no basis to sustain the protest.5  Where, as here, an agency issues an RFQ to Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) vendors under FAR subpart 8.4 and conducts a competition, we will review the record to ensure that the agency’s evaluation is reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation…

DECISION

Delviom, LLC, a small business of Ashburn, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to Crest Security Assurance, LLC, a small business of Woodbridge, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 1562894, issued by the Department of Defense, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for cybersecurity support services.  The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of its technical quotation and argues that the evaluation reflects disparate treatment.  The protester also challenges the agency’s best-value tradeoff determination.    We deny the protest.

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