Protest concerning Award of Contract by IRS for Retrieval System Replacement Equipment

A protester to a contract award objected to the agency's failure to obtain competition in an interim replacement action, contending that it gave the contractor an advantage for anticipated procurement. A contract provision permitted partial termination of up to 8 percent of the annual obligation rather than 8 percent of total obligation under the extended life of the contract since the contract was not a multi-year obligation. There was no basis for questioning the Government's evaluation of increased costs which would result from an award for replacement equipment to other than the incumbent contractor, and the allegation that the procurement perpetuated the incumbent contractor's "de facto" sole source position was not a sufficent reason for objecting to the award.