820 CHANDLER STREET FORT DETRICK MD 21702-5014
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MCMR-AAA-G
17 September 2006
MASAl Technologies Corporation ATTN: Mr. Troutman 1003 West 7thStreet, Suite 504 Frederick, MD 21701 SUBJECT: Solicitation W81XWH-06-T-0285 TEWLS Sustainment Support Possible Conflict of lnterest Dear Mr. Troutman: 1. Thank you for your inquiry in regards to a possible Organizational Conflict of lnterest (OCI) concerning solicitation W81XWH-06-T-0285. 2. In your e-mail dated 5 September 2006, to Laura Tomitz, you expressed concerns about a possible OCI and requested an inquirylcorrection if your concerns were accurate. In your e-mail you stated that MTC believes a current TEWLS bidder presents a FAR 9.505 OCI and that MTC was made aware that Bearing Point is a subcontractor or teaming partner under a Hub Zone quoter for the TEWLS sustainment RFQ. 3. As requested in your e-mail, I have investigated the matter and discussed it with legal counsel. In your email, you raised the following concerns: a) Bearing Point was the (2005 - present) contract winner of a TEWLS FQ SAP contract to provide DMLSS and TEWLS Program Management Office (PMO) SAP support. The RFQ 36132 was procured via GOV Works for the JMLFDC organization on Fort Detrick. Section 2.2 of the RFQ (enclosed) clearly states that "contractor shall work closely with TEWLS PMO..." b) It is reasonable to believe that over this I-year period that Bearing Point has been made privy to TEWLS unique SAP administrative management, TEWLS unique system, TEWLS unique configuration, and TEWLS unique customization knowledge that was not made privy to the publiclother bidders. c) SAP software is a commercial off-the-shelf package I agree, however, the unique customization and configuration makes the solution unique to the characteristics of the MRMC's TEWLS solution, and proprietary. The tool is in public domain; however, its configurationlcustomization is specific to the customer that is implementing it. This provides Bearing Point a clear advantage over other bidders.
ATTACHMENT 1 Case 1:07-cv-00714-GWM
Document 18-4
Filed 10/19/2007
Page 2 of 5
As you know, TEWLS is a multifaceted developmental effort and both the Army and the DMLSS Program Office have sponsored procurements and awarded contracts to perform work required for their piece of the TEWLS program. The Joint Medical Logistics Functional Development Center (JMLFDC) contract with Bearing Point (BP) was awarded by GOV Works, not by USAMRAA. Because of your concerns, I reviewed the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the JMLFDC contract and discussed the requirement with COL Harrington, the Director of JMLFDC. BP under the JMLFDC contract is responsible for subject matter expertise and functional representation in the conduct of tests of action items, problem reports, refinement of functional specifications for problem reports and resolving System Change Requests. All of this refers to maintaining the existing application, including addressing customer problems with the existing system's performance, configuration or errors in the existing configuration or corrections to the existing system. This contract is functionally focused on existing system functionality and not sustainment. Furthermore, JMLFDC specifically blocks access to the TEWLS production system for BP and they are only allowed to work in the test environment. BP does not have visibility of or access to system configuration, architecture in the production system capability. They work only in the test environment at the direction of PMO TEWLS. When BP completes their work they pass it to the TEWLS PMO or SAP personnel for integration and implementation in the production environment. I also talked with Mr. David Ray, Competency Center Director & Deputy Program Manager for TEWLS and he confirmed that the PWS of the new solicitation, RFQ No. W81XWH-06-T-0285, is for a contractor to conduct SAP technical development focused on programming, configuration, and enhancement of functionality of the existing system. This contract will be technically focused on new functionality. The JMLFDC contract is a separate contract under a different organization and has no relation to the current RFQ No. W81XWH-06-T-0285. In addition, Bearing Point had no involvement in developing the Performance Work Statement for RFQ No. W81XWH-06-T-0285. There is no incumbent for the current solicitation. The JMLFDC contract is completely separate from this solicitation. This solicitation, RFQ No W81XWH-06-T0285, is for new work and included all the information deemed necessary by the Government for a prospective quoters to provide a response. The solicitation asked for questions and interested contractors, including MTC, submitted questions that were answered in the Amendment. None of the contractors that submitted quotes protested any of the requirements of the PWS or any other terms and conditions of the solicitation before the closing date. All three of your concerns relate to the question of incumbency. Although there is no incumbent for the new RFQ No W81XWH-06-T-0285, if there was, the General
ATTACHMENT 1 Case 1:07-cv-00714-GWM
Document 18-4
Filed 10/19/2007
Page 3 of 5
Accounting Office (GAO) in a very recent decision, B298297, Lakota Technical Solutions, ruled two things: (1) Incumbency alone does not give an offeror an "unfair competitive advantaqe" that a contracting agency needs to neutralize, and (2) the solicitation should provide all relevant information that any offeror needs to submit an offer. If the offeror believes that the solicitation was deficient in some way, the offeror should 1) raise questions, and 2) protest before offers are due. In conclusion, there is no incumbent on this solicitation and if there were, incumbency alone does not give a quoter an "unfair competitive advantage" that has to be neutralized by the Contracting Officer; Bearing Point's incumbency on another contract has no relevance; and the new RFQ No. W81XWH-06-T-0285 included all the information necessary to prepare a quote. Therefore, I find no basis to support your concerns of an Organizational Conflict of Interest in respect to this procurement. Thank you for your interest in the requirements of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
Contracting Officer
Case 1:07-cv-00714-GWM
Document 18-4 Filed 10/19/2007 ATTACHMENT 2
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Hello Laura, This message is expressing a concern and a request for an inquiry/correction if this situation is accurate. MTC believes a current TEWLS bidder presents a FAR 9.505 OCI. MTC was made aware that BearingPoint is a subcontractor/teaming partner under a HubZone bidder that for the TEWLS sustainment RFQ submitted on Aug 24, 2006.
Here describes the FAR 9.505 OCI situation: ============================== a) BearingPoint was the (2005 - present) contract winner of a TEWLS RFQ SAP contract to provide DMLSS and TEWLS Program Management Office (PMO) SAP support. The RFQ 36132 was procured via GOVWorks for the JMLFDC organization on Fort Detrick. Section 2.2 of the RFQ (enclosed) clearly states that "contractor shall work closely with TEWLS PMO..." (see attached) b) It is reasonable to believe that over this 1-year period that BearingPoint has been made privy to TEWLS unique SAP administrative management, TEWLS unique system TEWLS unique configuration, and TEWLS unique customization knowledge that was NOT made privy to the public/other bidders. c) SAP software is a commercial off-the-shelf package I agree, HOWEVER, the unique customization and configuration makes the solution unique to the characteristics of the MRMC's TEWLS solution, and proprietary. The tool is in public domain, however, its configuration/customization is specific to the customer that is implementing it. THIS provides BearingPoint a clear advantage over other bidders.
MTC has a strong concern regarding this matter. I look forward to any clarification that the government can/will offer.
Kind Regards, Masai Troutman , PMP MASAI Technologies Corporation (DBA: MTC Integration) an 8(a) & HuBzone firm
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Case 1:07-cv-00714-GWM
Document 18-4 Filed 10/19/2007 ATTACHMENT 2
Page 2 of 2 Page 5 of 5
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