Protests put brakes on Lockheed work for Army AKO portal

The Army has announced that Lockheed Martin Corp. will not perform any work associated with the Army Knowledge Online portal until protests challenging the award of the contract are resolved by the Government Accountability Office.

Lockheed's Integrated Systems and Solutions Division in Gaithersburg, Md., won the $152 million contract to manage the Army's online network and was due to start work in a few weeks, managing the help desk and hosting the Army home page.

Computer Sciences Corp. and Science Applications International Corp. are subcontractors to Lockheed.

But Kevin Carroll, the Army's program executive officer for enterprise information systems, said the work would be temporarily halted pending the outcome of the protests.

"A notice to proceed will not be issued to Lockheed Martin until the protest is resolved," Carroll said.

When asked to describe the nature of the protests filed by competitors CherryRoad Technologies Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., and EDS Corp., Carroll said: "The Army believes, based upon the information we have seen, that the protests have no merit."

GAO has 100 days to rule on the protest, and then the Army must decide whether to follow the audit agency's recommendations, one of which could be reopening the contract to bidders.

Dawn S. Onley is a senior writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.