ITES-3S risks delays because of pre-award protests
By
Nick Wakeman
Two small businesses are arguing that they have been unfairly eliminated from the competition for the $12 billion Army ITES-3S contract, which could push awards into 2017.
Awards for the Army’s $12 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3-Services contract aren’t expected until December at the soonest, but a pair of protests might delay the awards into 2017.
Two small businesses have filed protests after being eliminated from the competition for the ITES-3S contract.
This is the third iteration of the ITES contract, a vehicle the Army uses to buy a wide range of IT services and support. The Army also has a version for hardware.
Filing protests are Focused Management Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned company, and Smartronix, a former 8(a) small business that still qualifies as a small business under a variety of NAICS codes, according to its Small Business Administration registration.
Smartronix filed it protest on Sept. 21 and Focused Management filed Sept. 23. A GAO decision is expected Dec. 30 for Smartronix and Jan. 3 for Focused Management.
The companies are claiming that they should still be in the competition for the multiple award contract.
While the protests are pending, the Army can continue to evaluate proposals, but it cannot make awards.