Protester seeks second chance at $1.5B Microsoft support contract
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By
Nick Wakeman
CIYIS claims the Navy did not follow the solicitation when it evaluated and rejected its proposal to be part of the Microsoft Enterprise Services program.
A $1.5 billion contract for broad Microsoft product support has been hit with a protest by a company that believes it should have been one of several small business winners.
In late June, the Navy awarded eight companies spots on the five-year Microsoft Enterprise Services II contract for enterprise support and engineering services for Microsoft products and cloud services.
MES II is part of the larger Defense Department Enterprise Software Initiative, which the Pentagon uses to consolidate commercial software purchases into DOD-wide vehicles.
After the Navy made awards, CIYIS went to the Government Accountability Office with complaints about how the Navy evaluated its proposal. CIYIS claims the Navy did not follow the parameters in the solicitation.
CIYIS filed its protest on July 24. GAO will rule on the allegations by Nov. 3.
The Navy received 15 bids for the contract, which is reserved for small businesses. Services will include enterprise-wide and organization-specific architectural planning, implementation, deployment and infrastructure optimization services.
While the Navy is managing the contract, it is open to all DOD organizations and the Coast Guard. The MES II contract will also be used for developing strategies, as well as for prototyping and development of solutions.