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B-211645, MAY 18, 1984

B-211645 May 18, 1984
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DIGEST: EVEN IF PROTESTER COULD HAVE REDUCED ITS PRICE BY $2.2 MILLION HAD PROTESTER KNOWN OF RELAXED REQUIREMENTS ALLEGEDLY APPLIED TO SELECTED VENDOR. GAO IN CAMERA REVIEW DISCLOSES THAT PROTESTER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPETITIVE. PROTESTER THEREFORE WAS NOT PREJUDICED AND PROTEST IS ACADEMIC. MASS STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE. WHEN INFORMATION IN THE LIBRARY IS NEEDED. THE PARTICULAR TAPE IS REMOVED FROM THE LIBRARY AND THE INFORMATION ELECTRONICALLY TRANSFERRED TO A DISK OR OTHER DEVICE DIRECTLY ACCESSIBLE BY THE COMPUTER. MASSTOR COULD NOT HAVE SATISFIED THE MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SOLICITATION. WHICH NASA CONCEDES MAY HAVE BEEN RELAXED IN ITS EVALUATION OF MASSTOR'S PROPOSAL. "CENTENNIAL'S PRICE WOULD HAVE BEEN AT LEAST $2.2 MILLION LOWER.".

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B-211645, MAY 18, 1984

DIGEST: EVEN IF PROTESTER COULD HAVE REDUCED ITS PRICE BY $2.2 MILLION HAD PROTESTER KNOWN OF RELAXED REQUIREMENTS ALLEGEDLY APPLIED TO SELECTED VENDOR, GAO IN CAMERA REVIEW DISCLOSES THAT PROTESTER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPETITIVE. PROTESTER THEREFORE WAS NOT PREJUDICED AND PROTEST IS ACADEMIC.

CENTENNIAL COMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC.:

CENTENNIAL COMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC. (CENTENNIAL), PROTESTS THE SELECTION OF ANOTHER OFFEROR, MASSTOR CORPORATION (MASSTOR), FOR THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT UNDER REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) NO. 8-1-2-AH 00014 ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA). WE DISMISS THE PROTEST AS ACADEMIC.

THIS RFP SOUGHT OFFERS FOR A MASS STORAGE SYSTEM FOR ATTACHMENT TO A UNIVAC COMPUTER. MASS STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE, IN GENERAL TERMS, MECHANICAL LIBRARIES FOR THE OFF-LINE STORAGE OF TAPES CONTAINING LARGE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION; WHEN INFORMATION IN THE LIBRARY IS NEEDED, THE PARTICULAR TAPE IS REMOVED FROM THE LIBRARY AND THE INFORMATION ELECTRONICALLY TRANSFERRED TO A DISK OR OTHER DEVICE DIRECTLY ACCESSIBLE BY THE COMPUTER.

CENTENNIAL CONTENDS THAT THE RFP CALLED FOR A PREMIUM LEVEL SYSTEM AND ASSERTS THAT, BASED ON WHAT IT KNOWS OF MASSTOR'S TECHNOLOGY AND APPROACH TO MASS STORAGE SYSTEMS, MASSTOR COULD NOT HAVE SATISFIED THE MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SOLICITATION. NASA ASSERTS THAT MASSTOR MET ALL OF THE REQUIREMENTS EXCEPT ONE, WHICH NASA CONCEDES MAY HAVE BEEN RELAXED IN ITS EVALUATION OF MASSTOR'S PROPOSAL. IN ITS FINAL COMMENTS ON THIS PROTEST, CENTENNIAL STATES THAT IF IT HAD KNOWN OF NASA'S ACTUAL REQUIREMENT FOR A LESS-THAN-PREMIUM SYSTEM, "CENTENNIAL'S PRICE WOULD HAVE BEEN AT LEAST $2.2 MILLION LOWER."

NASA HAS RECEIVED BEST AND FINAL OFFERS, BUT HAS NOT YET MADE AWARD. THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, THE PRECISE PRICES ARE NOT KNOWN TO THE COMPETITORS, ALTHOUGH CENTENNIAL IS AWARE THAT ITS PRICE WAS AT LEAST 100 PERCENT HIGHER THAN MASSTOR'S PRICE. WE HAVE CONDUCTED AN IN CAMERA REVIEW OF THEIR PROPOSALS, WHICH DISCLOSES THAT MASSTOR USED A DIFFERENT TECHNICAL APPROACH TO REDUCE THE COST OF ITS PROPOSAL - AN APPROACH AVAILABLE UNDER THE RFP BUT NOT USED BY CENTENNIAL - WHICH AFFORDED MASSTOR A SUBSTANTIAL COST ADVANTAGE IN THIS PROCUREMENT. BASED ON OUR REVIEW OF THESE FIGURES, WE CAN STATE THAT EVEN IF WE ACCEPT AS TRUE THE ASSERTION THAT CENTENNIAL COULD HAVE REDUCED ITS PRICE BY $2.2 MILLION, CENTENNIAL STILL WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPETITIVE.

IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, CENTENNIAL WAS NOT PREJUDICED BY NASA'S ALLEGED RELAXATION OF THE RFP REQUIREMENTS. KET, INC., B-190983, DECEMBER 21, 1979, 79-2 CPD 429, AFFIRMED, 81-1 CPD 17. THEREFORE, THE PROTEST IS ACADEMIC AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. MARTIN MARIETTA CORPORATION, B-204785, MAY 5, 1982, 82-1 CPD 423.

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