Protests drive HHS to redo cloud contract

The Health and Human Services Department was planning to issue a series of blanket purchase agreements for cloud computing services, but has pulled the solicitation following complaints.

Oracle and Mythics filed protests with the Government Accountability Office and argued the terms of the solicitation would restrict competition.

Both protests were filed April 5. Eight days later, HHS said it was canceling the solicitation. That means there is now nothing to protest, so GAO dismissed the protests without ruling on the merits of the claims.

Given how quickly HHS reacted to the protests, the two companies obviously struck a chord at the agency.

No word on a timetable of when a new solicitation will be issued, or what specifically in the old solicitation was restrictive to competition.

HHS is working with the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service to develop the group of cloud BPAs.

Oracle and Mythics also were involved in protest last year of a cloud contract at the Library of Congress was trying to issue. They successfully challenged the solicitation, arguing that it limited competition by specifying that the winner had to support AWS, Microsoft or Google.