United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

Comptroller General

of the United States

 

Decision

Matter of: Kingdomware Technologies 

File: B-407389

Date: December 4, 2012

LaTonya Barton for the protester.

Brian R. Reed, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency.

Linda C. Glass, Esq., and Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, 

GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Cancellation of request for quotations (RFQ) issued on a brand name or equal basis 

was proper where the RFQ failed to list any salient characteristics for use in 

evaluating equal products or identify a requirement that equal products be 

compatible with the brand name.

DECISION

Kingdomware Technologies protests the cancellation of request for quotations 

(RFQ) No. VA69D-12-Q-0244, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

for emergency communication management software for VA’s Federal Health Care 

Center (FHCC).

We deny the protest.

BACKGROUND

The RFQ was initially issued as a small business set-aside for emergency 

communication management software on a brand name or equal basis under the

Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation 

(FAR) subpart 8.4 to vendors holding FSS Information Technology Equipment 

schedule 70 contracts. The RFQ identified the Live Process Enterprise subscription 

services system as the brand name and required vendors of equal items to provide 

detailed specifications showing that the item satisfied all the salient physical, 

functional, or performance characteristics of the brand name item. The RFQ, 

however, did not identify any salient characteristics. Rather, the RFQ provided the 
Page 2 B-407389 

following description, in the price schedule, of the requirements that the software 

system should satisfy:

LIVE PROCESS ENTERPRISE SUBSCRIPTION (Annual): 

Includes access to planning, response and compliance features of 

the platform as well as extended contract information (ECI) 

capability, intended for emergency management purposes only. 

Includes implementation, training, updates, notification, support and 

maintenance, as detailed in the subscription agreement. 

- One (1) each: Greater than 350 beds

- Eight (8) each: Clinics/Agencies Support Services:

- Unlimited phone support during normal business hours (9:00am –

6:00pm EST) Monday through Friday

- Critical phone support available 24/7 during emergency response 

activation.

RFQ at 4.

On August 27, after receiving information from the protester concerning the 

availability of service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) vendors, 

the agency reissued the RFQ as an SDVOSB set-aside under FSS procedures.

VA received only the protester’s quotation in response to the RFQ. In its quotation, 

the protester stated that it was offering, as an equal product, the Business Notifier 

Solution (BNS) system, and provided a general description of how its product could 

satisfy the agency’s requirements. See Kingdomware’s Quotation at 5-6.

Kingdomware’s quotation was provided to VA’s FHCC (the end user) for its review. 

The FHCC informed the agency’s contract specialist that Kingdomware’s software 

system would not meet its needs and that only the brand name system would 

satisfy FHCC’s requirements. Contracting Officer’s Statement at 2. Specifically, 

FHCC stated that it is composed of a VA Medical Center and several Department of 

the Navy medical clinics; FHCC stated that the Navy’s medical clinics already used 

the Live Process system and that it needed to have a system that was compatible 

with the Navy’s system. Id. The contracting officer concluded that the RFQ should 

be canceled because the RFQ did not identify salient characteristics, such as the 

requirement for compatibility with the Live Process system. Id. 

VA canceled the RFQ, and this protest followed. 
Page 3 B-407389 

DISCUSSION

Kingdomware contends that cancellation of the RFQ was not reasonable, because 

the RFQ did provide the salient characteristics, which Kingdomware states it 

satisfies.

1 

A contracting agency need only establish a reasonable basis to support a decision 

to cancel an RFQ, Surgi-Textile, B-289370, Feb. 7, 2002, 2002 CPD ¶ 38 at 2, and 

may cancel no matter when the information precipitating the cancellation first arises, 

even if it is not until quotations have been submitted and evaluated. A-Tek, Inc., 

B-286967, Mar. 22, 2001, 2001 CPD ¶ 57 at 2-3. Where an agency states its 

requirements in terms of “brand name or equal,” the solicitation must also set forth 

the salient characteristics to identify for prospective offerors the essential features of 

the product which will meet the agency’s functional requirements. Adams Magnetic 

Prods., Inc., B-256041, May 3, 1994, 94-1 CPD ¶ 293 at 4. Failure of a solicitation 

to list the salient characteristics of the desired item improperly restricts competition 

by precluding potential offerors of equal products from determining what 

characteristics are considered essential for its item to be accepted; hence, 

cancellation of the solicitation is warranted. See T-L-C Sys., B-227470, 

Sept. 21, 1987, 87-2 CPD ¶ 283 at 1. 

Contrary to Kingdomware’s arguments, the RFQ did not identify salient 

characteristics, but only a general description of the requirements that the software 

should satisfy. In particular, the RFQ did not apprise vendors of VA’s requirement 

that the equal software be compatible with the brand name.

The protester contends that the agency’s requirement for compatibility is merely a 

pretext to avoid issuing the purchase order to Kingdomware and argues that its 

software will be compatible with the brand name. Kingdomware also contends that 

VA is biased in favor of the brand name such that other products will not be fairly 

considered. See Comments at 6-7. Kingdomware, however, does not contend that 

the agency does not, in fact, need its software to be compatible with that of the 

Navy’s clinics.

There is no merit to these arguments. Kingdomware’s quotation, which only 

generally described its ability to perform the required services and stated that it was 

equal to the Live Process system, does not address the compatibility of its software 

with the brand name, presumably because the RFQ failed to identify this 

 1 The protester also argues that the agency is required by the Veterans Benefits 

Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, 38 U.S.C. §§ 8127-28 (2006) 

(VA Act) to issue a purchase order to it as an eligible SDVOSB who submitted an 

acceptable offer at a fair and reasonable price. The VA Act, however, does not 

require the VA to purchase items that do not satisfy its needs. 
Page 4 B-407389 

requirement. To the extent that the protester alleges that the agency’s requirement 

is a pretext to avoid award to Kingdomware or that the agency is biased in favor of 

the brand name, government officials are presumed to act in good faith. A

protester’s contention that contracting officials are motivated by bias or bad faith 

thus must be supported by convincing proof, which Kingdomware has not provided 

here. We will not attribute unfair or prejudicial motives to procurement officials on 

the basis of inference or supposition. Career Innovations, LLC, B-404377.4, 

May 24, 2011, 2011 CPD ¶ 111 at 7-8.

Because the RFQ failed to state salient characteristics that equal products must 

meet, VA had reasonable basis to cancel the solicitation.

The protest is denied.

Susan A. Poling

General Counsel