A protest of the government's decision to permit a contractor to award software subcontracts in place of a proposed direct procurement was sustained by the Court of Federal Claims because the government failed to justify the decision and to consider the effect on competition as required by the Competition in Contracting Act. The protest concerned an information technology project where the government first issued requests for information from potential software vendors but then chose to procure the requirements through an existing Government Wide Acquisition Contract task order. The GWAC contractor then awarded subcontracts to software vendors. The protesters contended the decision to combine two separate proposed direct software procurements and task them to the GWAC contractor deprived them of an opportunity to compete without any rationale.
(The news featured above is a selection from the news covered in the Government Contracts Report Letter, which is published weekly and distributed to subscribers of the Government Contracts Reporter. )