DHS financial system contract protested, again

The Homeland Security Department's contract to upgrade its financial management system has come under protest, again.

Savantage Solutions submitted a complaint to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Feb. 23 claiming the department's request for proposals was unduly restrictive, says a company spokesman.

The Savantage spokesman says the RFP is unduly restrictive because DHS seems to be looking for a specific type of financial management software that can integrate with existing procurement and other systems.

According to DHS's Exhibit 53 for the financial management system, the agency uses several Oracle systems as well as Compusearch's Prism and Sunflower asset management system.

Savantage protested the first RFP DHS put out more than a year ago, saying the department's brand name justification was illegal. The federal judge sustained the protest and told DHS to issue a full and open solicitation.

Industry sources say the protest likely will not delay DHS's plans.

"DHS remains committed to the mission of transforming and consolidating financial management systems throughout the department," the spokesman says. "We will continue to focus on strengthening department-wide financial accountability, and consider the best way to deliver the right tools into the hands of our operators and the right information in the hands of our decision makers."

DHS - Exhibit 53 for financial management system upgrade (pdf)
FedBizOpps.gov - DHS solicitation for financial management system upgrade

- Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com

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FedCFO.com PUBLISHER's NOTE: Savantage derives a large portion of its revenue from Operations & Maintenance support for legacy financial systems installed at various DHS agencies. Savantage's glaringly obvious financial incentives for prolonging the DHS financial system modernization program have yet to be highlighted by the media.