The General Services Administration first brought up the concept of having an “unpriced” schedule a year or so ago.

The idea is to evaluate vendors for their capabilities, past performance and overall skillsets, and not on their prices. And then let the price competition happen at the task order level.

This concept would be a huge change in the federal market where price has always been a factor in the evaluations of bids.

But the recent success of governmentwide multiple award contracts such as OASIS, and the acceptance of a similar approach for the recent $11.5 billion Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCaTS) procurement and the soon-to-be released solicitation for Alliant 2, there is a growing recognition that this may be the future of federal contracting for multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity vehicles. Reference Article.

Companies must make a realistic assessment of your chances to WIN a contract. It is important to make the bid/no bid decision early so time is not wasted. The decision should be made before or immediately following the release of the RFP.

When analyzing the probabilities, ask yourself...how well do you know the customer? Does the customer know you? Chances are, if you don't know the customer and vice a versa, you should not bid. Agencies must KNOW you in order to TRUST you are going to deliver. Their reputation is also at stake.

BID YES if:
• You know and have pre-sold the customer.
• You know the contract history and have information on your chances of successfully competing for the contract (competitive pricing, requirements and/or FOIA information)
• The incumbent has a marginal or poor past performance record.
• You have conducted a site survey and understand the requirements
• Your capabilities meet or exceed the requirements outlined in the RFP. (Teaming relationships help with providing a full service solution)

NO BID if:
• You have NO prior knowledge of the RFP prior to its' release on fbo.gov
• The only information you have is contained in the RFP with no market intelligence or research of the agency needs..
• The requirements are beyond your scope of capabilities and you have no identified teaming partners to include with your technical response.
• There is an incumbent contractor who has continued to provide good or exceptional services. Most (not all) incumbents re-win their contracts if they have maintained a good performance record and relationship with the customer. You shouldn't bid unless you know the customer is unhappy or you have special knowledge of the procurement.
• If you don't KNOW then NO

GovTip: Spend time, resources and money doing your homework in order to make the right decision. No one likes to lose...time, money or business!  Need help?
 

Department of Homeland Security Enterprise Solutions Office - EAGLE (Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions) contract – worth $22 billion. The EAGLE II solicitation will include two separate source selections – one unrestricted, and one specifically set aside for small businesses. The RFP for this contact is expected to come out during the first quarter of fiscal-year 2011.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Chief Information Office Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) - worth $20 billion. The RFP for this contract is expected to come out during the first quarter of fiscal-year 2011.

US Army – Program Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) – worth $19.5 billion. The RFP for this contract is expected to come out during the third quarter of fiscal-year 2011.

U.S. Coast Guard – Technical, Acquisition and Business Support Services (TABSS) – worth $11 billion. The RFP for this contract is expected to come out during the first quarter of fiscal-year 2011.

US Army - Computer, Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) – worth $5 billion, with a percentage designated as small business set-asides. The RFP for this contract is expected to come out during the third quarter of fiscal-year 2011.

Teaming Tip:
The dollar value of some of these opportunities may be daunting. That’s where teaming comes in. As a small business in the government contracting world, some of your best opportunities will be through teaming arrangements.