Library of Congress' $150M cloud contract faces challenges

The Library of Congress is moving forward with a $150 million contract for cloud services but at least two potential bidders are unhappy with the way the contract is shaping up.

Oracle and Mythics filed protests against the terms of the solicitation on the same day proposals were due on June 1.

Both protests at the Government Accountability Office came just five days after the Library of Congress amended parts of the solicitation and extended the due date. Since May 20, the agency has extended the deadline for proposals three times.

In the last extension on May 27, the Library of Congress also made changes to Section B on supplies or services and prices/costs, and Section C that contains the statement of work. Section L on pricing instructions also had changes.

The Library of Congress said the changes were to “clarify” parts of those sections. In Sections B and C, the clarification dealt with the platform requirement language.

Oracle and Mythics are objecting to the Library of Congress calls for brand names -- Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google -- or equivalents without justification or approval.

This is a new contract, so there is incumbent. The Library of Congress expects to make an award to one company that will manage cloud services from a cloud service provider.

It isn’t clear how much these protests will delay the award but it could be weeks to months. GAO could rule that the protests are premature and cover issues that should be raised after an award, or could say that the government needs to make changes now.

The Library of Congress could also pull the solicitation back and make adjustments.

Decisions from GAO are expected on Sept. 9.