Z SofTech challenges how NASA delivered its SEWP VI elimination notice
By
Nick Wakeman
The company says NASA's July notice never reached its established point of contact and that the Government Accountability Office should still look at the protest.
Z SofTech Solutions is pushing back on the Government Accountability Office’s dismissal of its SEWP VI protest.
GAO ruled that Z SofTech filed its protests well after the window for raising objections and a second part of the company's protest was insufficiently detailed.
In Z SofTech's request for reconsideration, President Letitia Alexander says they want GAO to take a second look at the entire decision to dismiss the protest.
SEWP VI is the recompete of NASA's popular government-wide contract for IT services and solutions.
On the point of untimeliness, Alexander said NASA sent the notice of z SofTech’s elimination to an unmonitored email address instead of the point contact included in the company’s proposals. The notice was also not accessible through the SEWP portal, Alexander said.
It was nearly two months before Z SofTech discovered the email and then filed its protest with NASA, which dismissed the challenge for being untimely. The company then filed a protest with GAO, which also dismissed it because it was too late.
“The timing of our filings reflects when we had actual notice of the Agency’s actions and when supporting information was developed and submitted, including through a supplemental filing that provided additional detail and documentation referenced in the initial protest,” Alexander said.
NASA eliminated the company because its past performance volume did not meet the solicitation's requirements. Z SofTech argues that it followed NASA’s Q&A guidance on where those materials should be placed.
The company is also raising a consistency issue but it used the same approach to submit past performance in category A and category C. Category C was eliminated but Category A was not.
“That same structural approach was not treated as an issue in Category A, which is part of the broader evaluation consistency question,” Alexander said.
On the point of insufficient detail, Alexander said the focus is on whether the initial decision fully accounted for supporting materials that were part of the record. This includes a detailed CLIN listing and how Z SofTech’s proposal aligned with NASA’s Q&A guidance.
The company also has an ongoing Freedom of Information Act request to gain access to its evaluation record and other communications.
Z SofTech filed its reconsideration with GAO on April 13. GAO expects to make a decision by July 22.
Separately, there are three other protests pending at GAO. NASA plans to extend SEWP V through Sept. 30, 2026.
SEWP V also has option periods that could push the end date out to April 30, 2027.