Protests hold up $13B Air Force small biz contract
By
Nick Wakeman
A $13 billion Air Force small business contract continues to be plagued by bid protests even before awards have been made.
A $13 billion Air Force small business contract continues to be plagued by bid protests even before awards have been made.
The Air Force’s Small Business Enterprise Applications Solutions contract is for a wide range of IT network-centric services. The services are used to support IT systems, software development, operations, cybersecurity, configuration management, training and analytics.
Version one of the contract was awarded to 12 small businesses in 2012 and SBEAS is a follow-on vehicle to that one.
So far, five pre-award protests have been filed with the Government Accountability Office. One by Global Consulting International was dismissed in December. Another by CEdge Software Consultants LLC was withdrawn in March.
Still pending are protests by Datum Software, Technology Wings and Veteran Technology Integrators LLC.
Veteran Technology Integrators filed its protest in March and a decision is expected June 20.
Datum and Technology Wings filed their protests on April 16, so decisions for that pair are due July 25.
Pre-award protest generally falls into one of two categories: either there is something in the solicitation that a bidder objects to, or a bidder has been eliminated from the competition.
Either way, pre-award protests slow down the award process. An agency can continue to evaluate bids but cannot make an award until the protests are resolved.
Delays to this award have led the Air Force to increase the ceiling on the current contract. They now expect an award to be made in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.