GAO decision rejects incumbent bids for $7.8B SSA contract
By
Nick Wakeman
GAO rejects a series of protests by incumbents Accenture and CSRA and new bidder DXC Technologies against the Social Security Administration's $7.8 billion IT contract awards. That leaves CGI Federal, Leidos and Northrop Grumman as the winners.
The Social Security Administration has cleared the decks of the bid protests involving its $7.8 billion Information Technology Support Services Contract also known as ITSSC.
SSA made awards in August to Leidos, Northrop Grumman and CGI Federal. Accenture, CSRA and DXC Technologies then filed protests with the Government Accountability Office. Booz Allen Hamilton and IBM Corp. also filed protests but later withdrew them.
Now GAO has denied the protests by Accenture, CSRA and DXC Technologies to clear the way for winners to start work.
GAO's decision must sting for Accenture and CSRA as both were incumbents on the predecessor contract.
The contract covers IT support such as software development and web interfaces, databases and data administration, software engineering, systems administration and security.
SSA needs the support as it prepares for an increased workload as more Baby Boomers retire. The contract has a two-year base period and two four-year options.
GAO handed down the denial late last week and has not released a public version of the decision. That will come after a negotiation process between all parties, including SSA.
Accenture, CSRA and DXC challenged SSA's evaluation of technical and price proposals as well as how best value was determined. They also raised questions about past performance and how the Lockheed Martin IT business was restructured when it was acquired by Leidos in 2016.