Agency Not Required to Evaluate Compensation Plan Using Methodology Not Contemplated by RFP; COFC No. 16-1000C, CSC Government Solutions LLC v. United States

Protest challenging the agency’s cost realism analysis is denied, where the agency considered the awardee’s pricing for option years and found it reasonable and where the agency examined the realism of the offerors’ direct labor rates, despite the protester’s assumption to the contrary; and protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the offerors’ compensation plans is denied, where the agency was not required to conduct a two-step analysis comparing proposed compensation to the salaries paid by the incumbent contractor, as this type of analysis was not contemplated by the solicitation nor required by the FAR; and protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s transition and staffing approach is denied, where the agency concluded the awardee’s compensation plan was sufficient to attract incumbent personnel and other qualified staff, and where the awardee’s transition plan was otherwise sufficient; and protest challenging the agency’s past performance evaluation is denied, where the agency ensured that the past contracts reviewed fit within the specification of the solicitation and where there was no evidence the agency knew of negative past performance information about the awardee’s work on a contract from several years prior; and protest arguing the agency’s discussions were misleading is denied, where the protester, not the government, proposed cost increases, and where the protester used its discretion to accept other adjustments suggested by the agency.