NetCents 2 protests grow by one

Just a quick update on the NetCents 2 Network Operations and Infrastructure contract. The $5.8 billion contract is now under protest by four companies.

The protests seem to be trickling in pretty slowly since the March 27 announcement of the 12 winners of the contract. The Air Force had received 29 bids, so the number of potential protesters is 17.

We’ll know in another week how many protests there will be. It all depends on when companies get their debriefing by the Air Force. The debriefing kicks off a 10-day window for protests to be filed.

The first protest was filed Monday by Intelligent Decisions. The next day, Abacus Technology and D&S Consultants filed with the Government Accountability Office.

The fourth and latest to file is EMW Inc., which filed on Thursday. EMW is an incumbent on the current NetCents contract and provides services such as system engineering and technical assistance, operations and maintenance, IT and the cloud and infrastructure.

If the number of protests stays low, it gives the Air Force flexibility in how they resolve the issue and gets the contract up and running. With a small number of protesters, the Air Force could just as easily take a corrective action and give awards to the protestors and move on.

With a large number, it’s doubtful the Air Force would take quick action. They’d either fight through the 180-day window for GAO to go through its investigation, or they’d take a corrective action that involves a more thorough re-evaluation.

We’ll have to wait and see.