I read the article under the Analysis section of Wifcon and was shocked at some of the statements:
"Source selections always carry the risk of litigation. The bad news is there is no way to eliminate the possibility of a protest because the cost is minimal—some describe it as the price of a postage stamp."
"Losing offerors are prime protest candidates. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
Protests are very time consuming for a corporation and the use of outside counsel can costs tens of thousands of dollars. And it's a great way to piss off a customer - sure, they shouldn't hold that against a company for future work but people are people so it's always considered.
Protests pull corporate resources from other work and other opportunities. When deciding to protest or not, it's always a tough decision and I've never referred it as "the price of stamp".
I know we have several members here on the Government and Private side. What are your thoughts and/or experience? Do you think companies protest just to "take a shot" or do you think it's a real tough business decision to risk time/money/business relationships?
Link to the article (it's only 2 pages):
NEW Dangers of Source Selections: Debriefings
By
Christoph Mlinarchik, JD
, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services
Mr. Mlinarchik's
biography
Source selections always carry the risk of litigation. The bad news is there is no way to eliminate the possibility of a protest because the cost is minimal—some describe it as the price of a postage stamp. The good news is there are ways to conduct source selections to minimize the likelihood of a protest. Take advantage of the following acquisition strategies to avoid litigation and save time and money.
Losing offerors are prime protest candidates. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The post-award debriefing of offerors is the Government’s opportunity to extinguish any flickers of doubt about the fairness of the source selection, so get it right and keep it tight. The debriefing session should not display any signs of inconsistency or ambiguity. Diligent debriefings deter protests by demonstrating the fairness and impartiality of the source selection process and award decision
.
Please Read:
Dangers of Source Selections: Debriefings