Protests trigger quick reaction from IRS

There must be some serious issues with how the Internal Revenue Services’ decision to choose Accenture Federal Services over two competitors for a $73.3 million analytics services contract.

Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton both challenged the decision, claiming that the evaluation was flawed. They are all bidding on a Alliant 2 task order for “return review program, data and analytics services.”

Arguing an evaluation is flawed is a common claim in bid protests. Not as common is the speed with which the IRS responded and how they didn't even try to defend their decision.

Just days after the protests, the IRS pulled the plug on the award to Accenture.

The agency told the Government Accountability Office that it would rescind the award, re-open discussions, get revised proposals and evaluate whether the solicitation needs to be amended.

That’s a lot to say and also very quick.

Once a protest is filed, an agency has 30 days to respond with a filing. We usually see a corrective action around that 30-day mark, after the agency has reviewed the protest and done some research on the contract award as well as the legal claims made in the protest.

But whatever was in those protests, it sure hit a nerve.

Remember though, this isn’t an automatic loss for Accenture. They are still in the competition. But given the extent of the corrective action, everyone else is getting another turn at bat.