A recent Court of Federal Claims decision (SH Systems, LLC & VCH Partners, LLC v. US) has stopped GSA’s Polaris program in its tracks.  The court ruled that the agency exceeded its non-priced contract discretion, popularly known as Section 876 authority, when it included both labor hour and non-labor hour services in the scope of the RFP.  The court specifically barred GSA from proceeding with Polaris until it remedies the situation, along with making changes in how it proposes to evaluate the past experience of mentors and proteges.  Although GSA officials have yet to publicly say so, the Claims Court ruling effectively means that all current Polaris offers, which were supposed to have been awarded by now, will have to be thrown out.  The agency will have to include pricing language in any new RFP, as well as make evaluation factors clearer.  The action comes as a blow both to GSA and to the many small businesses that had hoped to participate on the new IT GWAC vehicle.  Polaris, itself, was a replacement for the ill-fated Alliant II Small Business project which similarly sank under the weight of protests.  GSA will have to carefully weigh whether it will proceed with yet another small business replacement contract for IT solutions.  The agency, and contractors, have spent substantial time and money on two contract vehicles that will never see a single order placed through them.  At the same time, GSA is certainly observing the Brobdingnagian difficulty NIH is facing with protests over its CIOSP-IV contract.  Agency officials will have to determine whether existing GSA IT contracts provide sufficient coverage for federal agency needs.  The OASIS+ and Alliant III teams will also have to consider how they will move forward, with the most immediate impact being that OASIS+ will now include some degree of contract-level pricing.  We are usually pro-protest in these pages, so long as the actions aren’t frivolous.  Small businesses will have to consider, though, whether future IDIQ protests are effectively actions that cut off their noses to spite their faces.