Battle for $15B Alliant 2 Small Business goes to court

Like its large business counterpart, the General Services Administration's $15 billion Alliant 2 Small Business contract for IT product and services will move to the judicial arena as one disappointed bidder is seeking another avenue to gain a spot on this lucrative vehicle.

Rockwell, Maryland-based Integral Consulting Services has filed a lawsuit against GSA in U.S. Court of Federal Claims on July 9, nearly four months after the company first filed a bid protest to the Government Accountability Office .

In its 41-page court complaint, Integral claims that it would have been selected for Alliant 2 SB if GSA did the evaluation properly. Integral also is objecting to GSA's assertion that not all information the agency asked for regarding the company's proposal was verified.

GSA officials declined WT's request for comment on the new lawsuit and representatives of Integral did not respond to requests for comment.

GAO received dozens of protests after GSA's initial award of 81 spots in February on the potential 10-year contract. All outstanding post-award protests were dismissed by GAO on July 12, given that Federal Claims Court has greater jurisdiction over bid protests than GAO does.

The $50 billion large business track of Alliant 2 also was taken to Federal Claims Court by four disappointed bidders. But GSA in June won a favorable court ruling and earlier this month opened up that unrestricted piece of the vehicle, which has 61 awardees.

Both the unrestricted and small business tracks of Alliant have a five-year base period followed by a five-year option period.