GAO tells Air Force to re-evaluate $121.4M Trace Systems contract

The Government Accountability Office wants the Air Force to rethink its award of a $121.4 million contract to Trace Systems Inc.

MicroTech and SMS Data Products Group both challenged aspects of how the Air Force evaluated proposals to provide communications support to Air Force Central Command.

The Air Force awarded the contract as a task order under the Army Responsive Strategy Sourcing for Services vehicle, also known as RS3.

Each company’s protest looks at related, but slightly different aspects of the Air Force’s evaluation of proposals. GAO has not released its March 4 decision yet.

MicroTech challenged how the Air Force conducted discussions, as well as how the Air Force evaluated Trace’s labor rates for non-professional employees and proposed compensation for professional employees. MicroTech also took issue with the Air Force’s evaluation of price risk.

GAO ruled in favor of the company on all of those challenges, but denied MicroTech’s allegation that Trace had unequal access to information because of an organizational conflict-of-interest.

SMS challenged the agency’s evaluation of the professional compensation and evaluation of price risk. The company also challenged the Air Force’s evaluation of technical proposals.

As with MicroTech, GAO agreed that there were problems with how the Air Force evaluated compensation and price risk. But GAO denied the challenge to the evaluation of technical proposals.

GAO essentially agreed with enough of the protestors' arguments to send the contract back to the Air Force for a re-evaluation of proposals.

GAO also recommended that the Air Force conduct a new best-value tradeoff and make a new source selection decision.