You can probably guess where this story is going. The contract went to Apex, even though our bid was several hundred thousand dollars less per year. Force Green spent US$18 million to move the datacenter to its home city. Appeals to senators and congressmen were fruitless.

Adding insult to injury, the officer at Force Green who had helped make the contract-award decision soon retired from military service and went to work for ... Apex! I'm sure he was deeply satisfied at getting revenge on the company that had shown him up. I doubt he thought very much about the 30-plus people at my company who lost their jobs, or the taxpayers whose money was wasted, or the military bases around the world that received reduced service.

When you're working on a government contract, going above and beyond what's expected is not always in your best interest.