“For practically the entire summer of 2021, we observed (and commented on) NIH’s numerous amendments to its long-awaited CIO-SP4 solicitation after it was finally issued in May 2021. By the time the deadline for proposals finally came, it had been amended eleven (!) times. Even with all those amendments, however, it appears that at least one offeror still had serious concerns about the final version. As it turns out, at least some of their concerns were warranted, per GAO, and has recommended the agency to amend the solicitation or revise its evaluation criteria.
Computer World Services Corporation (CWS) filed a protest regarding CIO-SP4 arguing that the solicitation’s self-scoring evaluation is unduly restrictive concerning offerors who compete as a mentor-protégé joint venture where the mentor is a large business, among other contentions. Specifically, CWS noted the solicitation limited such joint ventures to using the experience of the large business mentor for no more than two of the three possible experience examples for each area of experience…”
“GAO then explained its reasoning. ‘SBA’s small business mentor-protégé program allows small or large business firms to serve as mentors to small business protégé firms in order to provide “business development assistance” to the protégé firms and to “improve the protégé firms’ ability to successfully compete for federal contracts.”’ 13 C.F.R. § 125.9. After going through the various experience example requirements of CIO-SP4, GAO looked at 13 C.F.R. § 125.8(e), which prohibits agencies from requiring ‘the protégé firm to individually meet the same evaluation or responsibility criteria as that required of other offerors generally.’…” Read the full article here.
Source: GAO Finds CIO-SP4 Unduly Restrictive; Recommends Amendment – By John Holtz, December 9, 2021. SmallGovCon.
