Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Pentagon’s commercial cloud will be a single award — and industry isn’t happy

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The Defense Department plans to issue a single award for a commercial cloud computing contract that some analysts believe could be worth as much as $10 billion over the next 10 years.

Pentagon officials released a draft request for proposal last week that coincided with an industry day regarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud procurement, an effort that began in September.

Companies have until March 21 to submit feedback as they position themselves to compete on what is assuredly an aggressive acquisition timeline. Pentagon officials said they plan to post the final solicitation in May before awarding a single indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract in September.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/03/pentagons-commercial-cloud-will-be-single-awardand-industry-isnt-happy/146482/

GSA adds 31 small businesses to OASIS

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The General Services Administration added 31 companies to its One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services contract, increasing the number of small businesses offering professional services like program management, management consulting, logistics and more.

The recent addition expands the second pool of OASIS SB contractors from nine to 40 companies, ending the initial on-ramp process. The larger pool will increase competition among firms “while driving down costs for the American taxpayer,” the agency said.

GSA can add more companies through on-ramping at its discretion to address inadequate competition, customer requests or small businesses outgrowing that size designation.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/02/gsa-adds-31-small-businesses-oasis/145683/

Understanding IDIQ contracting’s win–win potential

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It is no secret that government construction contracts are big business for contractors. Public construction spending recorded a seasonally adjusted average of $266 billion in July 2017, and industry giants like AECOM have business units dedicated to the practice.

Included among the lump sum, design-build and cost-plus contracts — to name a few — commonly used to carry out this work is another type of arrangement: indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracting. Many public agencies use IDIQ when there is uncertainty as to how much of a service they need and when they’ll need it.

The word “indefinite” might lead some to think its use could cause unscrupulous contractors to abuse the mechanism as an open faucet of funding. In practice, however, it is actually a tool for governments to better manage their budgets and prevent that scenario.

IDIQ programs allow public agencies to lock in prices for a set period of time. For contractors chosen to participate, it can be an opportunity to lock in a customer.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.constructiondive.com/news/the-dotted-line-understanding-idiq-contractings-winwin-potential/505069/

Government has $130 billion a year in contracts with no definite services or deadlines

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Over the past five years, the federal government has committed to spending as much as $130 billion a year on supplies and services through unusual contracts that break the mold of traditional contracting practices.

Typically, when federal agencies buy anything from jetfighters to computer services to paper clips, they throw open bidding on major contracts to a number of eager businesses that compete to offer the best price, the most experience and the promise of meeting a deadline. Larger projects — like building a battle ships — are broken into scores of subcontracts that are bid out in similar fashion.

Yet another type of contract, known as “indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity,” has become common at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs over the last decade or so, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), with the Pentagon accounting for about 68 percent of all such contracts between 2011 and 2015.

For these so-called IDIQs, the government hand picks one or more contractors to commit to delivering products and services in the future and sets a ceiling on how much money will be spent overall. Awards are for a specified number of years with renewal options, but usually for no longer than five years.

Keep reading this article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-130-billion-contracts-no-121500314.html

See the GAO report at: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-329

Here’s a summary of the changes in government contracting provisions of the NDAA

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Steve Koprince is the author of the book entitled "The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts."
Steve Koprince is the author of the book entitled “The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts.”

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law on Dec. 23, 2016, contains at least 16 changes to federal procurement policy, many directly affecting the interests of small businesses.

Ever since the NDAA was finalized, attorney Steve Koprince and his team at Koprince Law LLC have been analyzing and summarizing each of the changes.  Here’s s list of their blog posts, each one hyperlinked to the article:

 

For more information, visit: http://smallgovcon.com 

 

Lesson learned the hard way: Insufficient experience information sinks offeror’s proposal

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GAO-GovernmentAccountabilityOffice-SealAn offeror’s failure to provide the type of past performance information mandated by a solicitation led to the offeror’s elimination from consideration for a  major GSA contract.

A recent GAO bid protest decision highlights the importance of fully reading and adhering to a solicitation’s requirements–including those involving the type of past performance or experience information required.

GAO’s decision in Dougherty & Associates, Inc., B-413155.9 (Sept. 1, 2016) involved the GSA “HCaTS” solicitation, which contemplated the award of multiple IDIQ contracts to provide Human Capital and Training Solutions across the federal government. The solicitation was divided into two Pools based on the offeror’s small business size status. The GSA established a target of 40 awards for each Pool.

The solicitation provided for award based on best-value, and included a requirement for past experience, which stated:

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/insufficient-experience-information-sinks-offerors-proposal/

Top takeaways concerning GSA’s final rule on transactional data reporting

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GSA logoBy now the entire government contracting community is well aware that one of the most significant changes in Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracting in years occurred just a few weeks ago, as the General Services Administration (GSA) issued its Final Rule on transactional data reporting.

The Final Rule amends the GSA Federal Acquisition Regulation supplement (GSAR) to require FSS contractors and others with certain GSA Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), and Government-wide Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to report transactional data related to orders placed under those contracts.

As indicated over a year ago in a prior client alert, both the contracting community and the GSA Office of Inspector General had concerns with the draft transactional data reporting rule.  GSA has addressed some, but not all, of these concerns.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=507342

A future where price is no longer a factor for many RFPs

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

GSA logoThe 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.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2016/06/future-price-no-longer-factor-many-rfps/

Hope for offerors who win a multiple-award IDIQ contract and want to protest an improper award to a competitor

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Court of Federal ClaimsYou just learned your company is one of several winners of a multiple-award IDIQ contract.  You also learned one of your competitors, which should have been ineligible, is also an awardee.  So, as things stand, you’ll have to split the contract — and compete for orders — with that competitor.

Can you file a protest challenging the improper award to your competitor?  Until last week, the answer was “no.”  Now the answer is “maybe” — but only if you go to the Court of Federal Claims (COFC).

To pursue a protest, the protester must establish that it is an interested party, by showing that (1) it is an actual or prospective offeror; and (2) its direct economic interest would be affected by the award of, or failure to award, the contract in question.  (31 U.S.C. § 3551(2)(A); 4 C.F.R. § 21.0(a)(1))  Since its decision in Recon Optical, Inc., et al., B-272239, July 17, 1996, 96-2 CPD ¶ 21, GAO has consistently held that winners of multiple-award IDIQ contracts are not interested parties for purposes of a protest, but it has typically done so while implying that, in rare circumstances, an awardee might be able to show it has an economic interest sufficient to make it an interested party.

GAO’s most recent decision, however, articulated what appears to be a categorical prohibition on awardee protests.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/05/hope-for-awardee-protesters/

Changes in bid protest procedures coming

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GAO-GovernmentAccountabilityOffice-SealThere are some big potential changes coming to the bid protest process at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2016. It is possible that this year will bring a formalized electronic docketing system, a fee for filing protests, and a sunset on an important part of GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction.

  • In recent months, representatives from GAO have suggested that the new electronic docketing system should be introduced sometime in 2016.
  • The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 authorizs GAO to charge protesters a filing fee to support the establishment and operation of the electronic system.
  • Unless Congress acts, GAO jurisdiction over protests of task and delivery orders under Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts issued by civilian agencies is set to expire September 30, 2016.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.governmentcontractslawblog.com/2016/03/articles/bid-protest/potential-changes-at-gao-in-2016/

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