Department of Homeland Security's request for proposal for Evergreen implementation support

RFP Process Review of Request for Proposal

The objective of this study is to review a sample request for proposal for implementation assistance and training support. Specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is accepting proposals from firms that support Evergreen, an open source software. DHS seeks assistance in training staff, and providing support to staff responsible for planning and implementing the launch of Evergreen as an integrated research system. The services to be performed include assisting the DHS in making changes that bring to use of electronic circulation of an online catalog and technical support services and to provide recommendations to DHS for hardware procurement and firewall procurement. Included will be: (1) Scope of Work and Cost Proposal: Complete responses for each item in Services to be Performed; and (2) Relevant Experience: Detail your firm's experience in providing Evergreen installation services, as well as Evergreen support services.

The Bid Process

The bid provided by Evergreen integrated research systems includes online distribution of an electronic catalog with the proposed charge of $1,400.00 and technical support services with proposed charges of $2,500.00 per year. Lastly, the government is advised to obtain hardware and firewall systems from Cisco at a cost of $3,997.51 for CISCO ASA 5520 Firewall Edition Security Appliance. Evergreen has adhered to the standard form of solicitation for procuring the government contract and has provided the same types of services to the U.S. Navy.

III. Protesting a Bid

Should a firm be awarded the contract for the service the procedures for filing a protest reported in the Nova Law Review, Fall (2000) involves the bid being legal challenged through a lawsuit challenging the public entities action." (p.1) A bid protest is reported as "a legal challenge to an action of a public entity relating to the procurement of goods or services. All state agencies and most local agencies must select contractors to provide goods or services through a competitive process." (Goldstein and Prieto, 2000, p.1) It is required that the action, just as in any other traditional lawsuit, "must have standing." (Goldstein and Prieto, 2000, p.1) Only bidders or prospective bidders that challenge the specifications or other procurement documents are reported to have standing to commence a bid protest." (Goldstein and Prieto, 2000, p.2) Therefore, if an entity has failed to submit a bid then they are not in a legal position to protest a contract award. (Goldstein and Prieto, 2000, paraphrased)