Court rejects protests over $450M DHS BPA awards

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Nick Wakeman By Nick Wakeman,
Editor-in-Chief, Washington Technology

By Nick Wakeman

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The Customs and Border Protection can now start using the blanket purchase agreements to acquire enterprise IT and application development services from small businesses.

The battle over a set of blanket purchase agreements worth up to $450 million combined is over now that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled in favor of the Homeland Security Department.

Nine companies filed lawsuits at the court to raise their concerns about debriefings, plus how DHS and the Customs and Border Protection agency evaluated proposals.

The nine protesters were:

  • Alpha Omega Integration
  • Arch Systems
  • AttainX
  • Chakrabarti Management Consultancy
  • Constellation Inc.
  • Ekagra Partners
  • Garud Technology Services
  • Logistics Systems
  • Unissant

More specific details on the allegations are sparse because the filings are heavily redacted. The only indicator of the decision is a posting on the docket stating that the protesters’ motions for judgment have been denied.

At the same time, the judge granted the motion for judgment in favor of the government and five of the companies that won the BPAs in question: Novilo Technology Solutions, CAN Softech, Niyam IT, Catalina Solutions and Chevo Consulting.

They joined the case a so-called “Intervenors” because as winners of the BPA, they had a vested interest in the outcome of the case.

What we can gather from the redacted filings are allegations of mistakes by DHS, including one company saying they received a debriefing intended for another unsuccessful bidder.

DHS also was critical of subcontractors, which drew complaints from the protesters.

The court rejected all of the arguments and DHS is free to begin using the BPAs to purchase business, program management and other enterprise support services. The program is known as the Enterprise Small Business BPA. 

The BPAs have two tracks, one for IT services and enterprise application development. They run for five years and is set aside for small businesses.

The winners of the IT track are:

  • Chevo Consulting
  • Cybermedia Technologies
  • Diginari
  • Flatter
  • ZanTech IT Services
  • Savee Consulting

The enterprise application development winners are:

  • Centrifuge
  • InDev
  • Niyam IT
  • Novilo Technology Solutions
  • Tarkik Solutions

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