An agency cannot buy “Open Market” items from a Federal Supply Schedule vendor when the same items are readily available under another vendor’s FSS contract–even if the vendor selling Open Market items offers them as a discounted bundle and the FSS vendor does not.
In a recent decision, GAO held that it was improper for an agency to buy bundled software packages as Open Market items when another vendor sold the same licenses on its FSS contract as four separate items.
You’ve submitted a great proposal, but then you get the bad news – you lost. As most seasoned contractors know, an unsuccessful offeror often can ask for a debriefing from the agency and in doing so, hopefully get some valuable insight into its decision-making process. Many also understand that the benefits of asking for a debriefing may include extending the timeline for filing a GAO bid protest.
But not all solicitations are subject to the same debriefing regulations, and depending on how the procurement was conducted, an offeror might not be entitled to that extended deadline–as one company recently learned the hard way in the context of a GSA Schedule procurement.
When the SBA evaluates a size protest, it is not required to investigate issues outside of those raised in the size protest itself.
A recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals demonstrates the importance of submitting a thorough initial size protest–and confirms that the SBA need not investigate issues outside of the allegations raised in the protest.
It’s hard to believe that August is already here. Before we know it, the end of the government fiscal year will be here–and if tradition holds, a slew of bid protests related to those inevitable last-minute contract awards.
In our first SmallGovCon Week In Review for August, two big-wig executives who previously plead guilty to charges of conspiracy now face civil claims, some helpful tips on how to prepare for the year-end contracting frenzy, Schedule 70 looks to be improved, a major roadblock for the ENCORE III IT service contract, and much more.
An agency’s spam filter prevented an offeror’s proposal from reaching the Contracting Officer in time to be considered for award–and the GAO denied the offeror’s protest of its exclusion.
A recent GAO bid protest decision demonstrates the importance of confirming that a procuring agency has received an electronically submitted proposal because even if the proposal is blocked by the agency’s own spam filter, the agency might not be required to consider it.
It’s been a wild week in the world of federal government contracting. Yesterday the Supreme Court issued two major decisions affecting contractors: Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States and Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar. If you’re a regular SmallGovCon reader, you know that I’ve been following Kingdomware closely for years, and we will have a separate post later today with reaction to Kingdomware from around the country. But Escobar is an important decision too, so don’t miss out on the coverage of that case.
In addition to coverage of Escobar, this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review features a major new rule prohibiting contractors from discriminating on the basis of sex, GSA adding a new category on IT Schedule 70, the indictment of a former GSA director and many more.
Next week I will be in Washington, DC to sit in on the Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States oral arguments. I will be following that up with a blog post on Monday afternoon, a live Twitter Q&A session at 10am EST on Tuesday, February 23 and a free webinar at noon EST (also on Tuesday) detailing what I heard at the hearing.
If you are interested in joining the webinar you can register here and if you want to partake in the Twitter Q&A you can tweet your questions to me @StevenKoprince. On Monday and Tuesday, it’s all about Kingdomware. In the mean time we bring you our weekly dose of news from around the nation. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week in Review, we take a look at how humans in lieu of technology are leading the charge against procurement fraud, Federal News Radio shines light on the frustrations with GSA, a four-year jail sentence in a kickback scheme, and more.