Protest Spotlight

(This regular feature highlights protests decided by the Government Accountability Office.)

Agency: Navy

Awardee: Celeris Systems

Protester: INDUS Technology

What GAO found: INDUS protested the Navy's issuance of a task order to Celeris for engineering, technical and business support services, challenging the way the Navy evaluated past performance and cost realism.

INDUS's evaluated cost estimate for the solicitation, which was set aside for small businesses, was $31.8 million, while Celeris was $33.3 million.

"The [source-selection authority] concluded that, after considering the various strengths and weaknesses, as well as the cost risks involved in INDUS’ proposal, the advantages offered by Celeris’ proposal warranted the associated $1,445,724 (4.5 percent) evaluated cost premium," GAO wrote.

GAO noted that it "considered all the issues raised by INDUS and find that none warrant sustaining its protest."

The decision: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/674032.pdf