Guidehouse Inc. (B-423156.2)

You should not care.

Category: Past performance, best value determination, process issue

Date: 22 May 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423156.2

Guidehouse Inc. protested DHS’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) task order award to BDO Public Sector, LLC, for internal control assessment and remediation management support services under an RFQ issued via the GSA Multiple Award Schedule. Guidehouse, the incumbent, alleged flaws in the evaluation of both its and BDO’s past performance and asserted the agency’s best value tradeoff was improper—primarily challenging the “low risk” assessment for BDO and arguing that price was overemphasized. Ultimately, GAO denied the protest, finding the agency’s evaluation reasonable and consistent with solicitation criteria. The protest was straight-forward, focusing on agency discretion in weighing technical merit and price; GAO essentially deferred to the agency’s well-documented evaluation and found no grounds for imposing a higher past performance rating than the solicitation allowed.

Protest denied. The agency adhered to RFQ criteria and provided adequate documentation; there was no prejudicial misapplication of process. For both industry and government, this is another case confirming agency discretion in the business judgments underpinning best-value decisions, especially when all parties have reached the ceiling of the technical/past performance ratings available.

Digest

Protest challenging the evaluation of the protester’s and awardee’s past performance is denied where the agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. Protest that the agency performed a flawed best-value determination is denied where the agency’s tradeoff was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation.