# GAO Upholds $88M USCIS IT Award

The Government Accountability Office rejected incumbent Octo Metric LLC’s protest of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ $88 million PLANXS II task order for IT support services, allowing awardee AEX Digital LLC to proceed. GAO found Octo Metric had not shown that USCIS erred in assigning weaknesses to its proposal. Six companies submitted bids, indicating competition for the requirement.

- AEX Digital can proceed with the task order; the award date was reported as June, with no year specified.
- For bidders, the decision underscores the importance of addressing proposal weaknesses and supporting protest grounds with evidence that the agency’s evaluation was erroneous.
- Six bids point to a competitive market for USCIS IT support under PLANXS II, a factor firms may weigh when assessing similar task-order opportunities.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Contracting Vehicles
**Published:** October 23, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

### Vendors
- AEX Digital LLC (awardee)
- Octo Metric LLC (incumbent and protester; joint venture)
- IBM (joint venture member of Octo Metric LLC)
- Metric5 (joint venture member of Octo Metric LLC)