SEWP VI protests climb to eight
Gettyimages.com/Utamaru Kido
By
Nick Wakeman
The Government Accountability Office will not make rulings until late May, which may force NASA to extend the current version of the popular IT vehicle.
Three more protesters have joined the ranks of those objecting to how NASA kicked them out of the competition for a spot on the $60 billion SEWP VI vehicle for IT products and services.
NASA has not named the winners yet, but has informed some companies that they are no longer in the running.
Eight companies filed protests with the Government Accountability Office between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20. We previously reported on five of those protests.
GAO expects to make its rulings between May 28 and June 1, unless NASA takes a corrective action first.
Filing protests so far are:
- Blazar Technology Solutions
- Blue Obsidian Solutions
- Bridges Systems Integration
- E-Logic
- METGreen Solutions
- Professional Information Systems
- Sudofy LLC
- Z SofTech Solutions
These protests potentially could delay SEWP VI awards, which NASA was pushing to make before SEWP V expires on April 30.
NASA can extend the SEWP V contract again if the protests are not resolved by then. For NASA, the best case scenario is that it gets a ruling in favor of the decision to eliminate the protesters.
GAO could also rule against NASA and tell the agency to re-evaluate proposals. Worst case scenario is GAO telling NASA to rework parts of the solicitation.
NASA also faces the prospect of the General Services Administration taking over the SEWP program, which NASA launched in 1993.
GSA officials have talked about the takeover as a mandate from President Trump’s executive order “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement."