Protest troubles keep growing for ITES-3H

The Army’s $5 billion ITES-3H contract continues to draw protests from companies excluded from the final round of the competition.

The number of protestors is now 19 and includes such heavyweights as Dell Federal Systems and Hewlett-Packard Co.

The Army is conducting a two-phase procurement for the hardware contract, where it selects a group of bidders in phase one and those bidders compete in phase two for the final awards.

This is the second time the Army has tried to move from phase one to phase two. Earlier this year, it made its down select and was with 17 protests. The Army then decided to take a corrective action and re-evaluate all the bids.

Now with this second attempt, the Army is running into similar issues – a large number of disappointed bidders protesting that they didn’t make it to the final round.

Attempts to reach the Army have fallen flat, but you have to believe that this procurement is in trouble. The delays alone should be cause for concern.

ITES-2H has been extended twice, and its ceiling was raised by nearly $500 million. It now runs through June 30, 2015. The Army says it will make eight awards for ITES-3H by spring of 2015.

The protests are expected to be resolved by the Government Accountability Office between Nov. 10 and Dec. 1, based on when the individual protests were filed.

But even if GAO rules in the Army’s favor, it still faces the prospect of more protests after the final awards are made.

In other words, the odds are against the Army getting ITES-3H up and running before ITES-2H expires.

And if the Army decides to take a corrective action again, there will be even more delays.

I’m not sure what the specific issue is with ITES-3H, and so far, the Army isn’t talking. I’ve put in a request so if I hear anything, I’ll update the blog.

In the meantime, here is a list of the 19 protesters. As I said, there are plenty of familiar names:

• Advanced Computer Concepts
• Blue Tech Inc.
• Carahsoft Technology Corp.
• CounterTrade Products Inc.
• Dell Federal Systems
• Dynamic Systems
• FCN Inc.
• Hewlett-Packard
• iGov
• Integration Technologies Group
• Mercom Corp.
• MicroTech
• New Tech Solutions
• Presidio Networked Solutions
• Red River Computer Co.
• Strategic Communications LLC
• Technica Corp.
• Technology Integration Group
• Telos Corp.