The Associated Press is reporting that the week-old ban forbidding IBM from getting new Federal contracts has been rescinded as of Thursday, April 3, 2008.
IBM had been placed on the government-wide roster temporarily suspending all of the company's business units from engaging in new business with the Federal Government following an allegation that IBM employees improperly obtained privileged information in the firm's protest of an $84 million Environmental Protection Agency contract it lost in 2007.
An IBM press release on March 31, 2008 announced that "the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has served IBM and certain employees with grand jury subpoenas requesting testimony and documents regarding interactions between employees of the EPA and certain IBM employees."
IBM later announced that the government's decision to reinstate IBM's eligibility for Federal contracting is contingent upon an agreement to "continue to cooperate with the EPA's ongoing investigation of possible violations of the Procurement Integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act" and cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The company will also refund the EPA attorney fees and other costs that the agency incurred in dealing with IBM's protest.
According to the AP story, IBM has placed five employees on administrative leave pending its own internal investigation of the incident.
InformationWeek reports that IBM's revenue from the government totaled about $1.3 billion, or 2% of the company's total sales. Analysts have speculated that the decision to lift the ban was made in part because the incident appeared to be isolated and thus did not warrant the punishment of an entire large multinational firm. Sources with knowledge of the situation also indicated that the EPA took action without consulting other agencies, thus compromising many other pending IBM government contracts unrelated to the EPA incident.
As an employee of a very small company that often competes with giants like IBM for government contracts, I salute the EPA for blowing the whistle on this alleged ethical violation. Ensuring competitive fairness in contracting opportunities is a critical element of a free market society and the public trust that the taxpayers place in our government. I hope that this incident will serve as a warning to others who may be tempted to sacrifice their reputations for revenue.
IBM had been placed on the government-wide roster temporarily suspending all of the company's business units from engaging in new business with the Federal Government following an allegation that IBM employees improperly obtained privileged information in the firm's protest of an $84 million Environmental Protection Agency contract it lost in 2007.
An IBM press release on March 31, 2008 announced that "the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has served IBM and certain employees with grand jury subpoenas requesting testimony and documents regarding interactions between employees of the EPA and certain IBM employees."
IBM later announced that the government's decision to reinstate IBM's eligibility for Federal contracting is contingent upon an agreement to "continue to cooperate with the EPA's ongoing investigation of possible violations of the Procurement Integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act" and cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The company will also refund the EPA attorney fees and other costs that the agency incurred in dealing with IBM's protest.
According to the AP story, IBM has placed five employees on administrative leave pending its own internal investigation of the incident.
InformationWeek reports that IBM's revenue from the government totaled about $1.3 billion, or 2% of the company's total sales. Analysts have speculated that the decision to lift the ban was made in part because the incident appeared to be isolated and thus did not warrant the punishment of an entire large multinational firm. Sources with knowledge of the situation also indicated that the EPA took action without consulting other agencies, thus compromising many other pending IBM government contracts unrelated to the EPA incident.
As an employee of a very small company that often competes with giants like IBM for government contracts, I salute the EPA for blowing the whistle on this alleged ethical violation. Ensuring competitive fairness in contracting opportunities is a critical element of a free market society and the public trust that the taxpayers place in our government. I hope that this incident will serve as a warning to others who may be tempted to sacrifice their reputations for revenue.
Leave a comment