FBI to rethink troubled IT services contract

The FBI’s effort to field a series of blanket purchase agreements for IT services has apparently run into enough trouble that the agency is now reworking parts of the procurement.

The agency already has taken several corrective actions after facing protests by ManTech International, IntelliBridge and BAQ Solutions that mainly dealt with pricing.

When the FBI adjusted the pricing part of the solicitation, more complaints emerged about the agency not allowing companies to adjust other parts of their proposals.

The FBI even beat back one protest by ManTech that claimed the revisions were too limited.

A fresh set of protests by the three companies has led the FBI to make another corrective action. This time, the agency amending the objectives because its needs have changed.

But this is not a complete overhaul. The FBI is allowing bidders to only revise the staffing and pricing aspects of proposals, after which the agency will conduct new evaluations.

The corrective action is very similar to the earlier one that ManTech protested and lost.

Despite all the changes, the goal of the BPAs has not changed. The FBI wants to have teams of people in place that can deliver digital and IT services to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.

The FBI wants five teams each assigned to a different area: law enforcement support, biometric services, the National Crime Information Center, shared services and operational programs.

Each BPA will have a one-year base and four one-year options. An estimated value for the BPAs has not been disclosed.