More join DHS FLASH protests

Two more companies have joined the companies complaining that they were not picked for the $1.5 billion Homeland Security Department FLASH contract.

This brings the total number of protests to seven.

DHS named 11 small businesses as primes when it made its second attempt to award the contract.

The department wants to use the contract to buy a variety of services geared to creating a more digital operation. These services include collaboration tools, code development, integration support, DevOps, configuration management and data migration.

DHS made 13 awards in November but pulled those awards when it got hit with protests. It made a second attempt when it named 11 winners earlier this month and again was hit with protests.

The department kept 11 of the 13 original winners but in an unusual move for a multiple award contract left off two from the first group.

One of those, EDC Consulting, has filed a protest and many of the original protesters have also filed.

The two companies that joined most recently are Citizant Inc. and Ventera Corp. A decision from GAO is expected in June.