SAP protests Air Force logistics contract

SAP has filed a protest of the Air Force’s award of an $89 million contract to Oracle earlier this month for the service’s Expeditionary Combat Support System.

“SAP firmly believes that the Oracle proposal does not reflect the best value and lowest risk solution and that the SAP offering is the superior solution for the U.S. Air Force,” said Steve Peck, president of SAP Public Services’ business unit, in a statement today.

SAP said the Air Force wanted a best value solution for its new logistics systems based on mission capability and lowest risk. The company said those factors are more important than price.

“SAP’s clear-cut proposal outlined a superior solution, as weighted based upon the evaluation criteria, and eliminated the need for substantial software and labor costs during the life of the program to meet basic customer requirements,” according to the statement. “SAP also believes that it presented the U.S. Air Force with the proposal with the most realistic cost to support the program.”

The Air Force announced earlier this month that it awarded Oracle a contract to provide software for the Expeditionary Combat Support System that will replace more than 500 supply systems by 2011.

The Air Force also chose Oracle software in July for the Defense Enterprise and Accounting Management System, a new financial system that will start operating at the Air Mobility Command in late 2006.