Opinion ID: 4538247
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Encore III Solicitation

Text: On March 2, 2016, DISA issued a solicitation for Encore III, a procurement designed to “provid[e] information technology . . . solutions for the development, installation, fielding, training, operation and life-cycle management of components and systems in the operational environments of Combatant Commands and their subordinate components, the military services, Defense agencies, Office of the Secretary of Defense . . . and other Federal agencies.” A. 1145; see also A. 1132–43. The solicitation stated that DISA would award a series of indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts, A. 1145, and that task orders issued under the contracts would provide for payment on either a CR or a fixed-price (“FP”) basis. A. 1142, 1145–47. The solicitation identified 116 labor categories (“LCATs”) that a contractor would likely be required to staff in order to perform the various types of work required by task orders issued under an Encore III contract. A. 1263–65, 1282–313. DISA provided a description of the duties associated with each of the 116 LCATs; it also set Case: 19-1954 Document: 48 Page: 3 Filed: 06/02/2020 AGILE DEFENSE, INC. v. UNITED STATES 3 forth the minimum education and experience requirements for each category. A. 1282–313. The Encore III solicitation further provided that DISA would make awards to the offerors of the lowest-priced, technically-acceptable proposals after considering three evaluation factors: (1) technical/management approach; (2) past performance; and (3) cost/price. A. 1270–80. Each prospective offeror was instructed to provide a “cost/price volume” in its proposal. A. 1256. In this volume, the offeror was required to include a “pricing template,” which listed the estimated hourly costs for which the offeror expected to claim reimbursement under a CR task order for the labor associated with each of the 116 LCATs. A. 1263. Each offeror was also required to submit “supporting cost information” for all proposed CR labor rates. A. 1263; see also A. 1264 (“The offeror must provide the pricing methodology and supporting cost information utilized in the development of all CR rates.”). The solicitation provided for the award of Encore III contracts to two distinct sets or “suites” of twenty offerors. A. 1252. One suite was open to offerors of any size, whereas the other suite was limited to offerors who qualified as small-business concerns. A. 1252.