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Contract Awards

The Eagle (II) is Not Landing

DHS will not be recompeting their EAGLE II IT services contract when it expires in 2020. They are moving toward a strategy called EAGLE Next Gen, which allows them to rely on existing contracts in order to meet IT services needs. Agile development and special or niche mission needs will be met by smaller targeted contracts competed as necessary. (Nextgov, April 20, 2019)

The EAGLE Next Gen strategy is just that, a strategy whereby DHS would use already established governmentwide acquisition contracts or GWACs. These include:

  • the National Institutes of Health’s CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business
  • GSA’s Alliant 2, 8(a) STARS II
  • GSA’s VETS 2

When requirements cannot be met by this strategy, DHS will build in-house contracts.

So far, DHS is beginning to build an in-house contract for cloud and data center optimization. Over 100 responses were received from their initial RFI. Most likely, resulting RFPs will ultimately be the family of contracts under DHS Next Gen, and are expected in the Fall. (ibid)

Some Homeland Security components are still using EAGLE II to support their agile development. Work with each of the components is at various phases of the procurement process. Each component has different requirements; therefore procurements will be specialized to meet individual needs. (ibid)

The future procurement strategy is far from finalized. There may be full and open competition or a blanket purchase agreement using pre-vetted vendors.

Would you like to learn more about the EAGLE Next Gen strategy and where you might fit in? Give us a call at (301) 913-5000.

 

Innovate and Create Opportunities!

A number of federal agencies are updating their acquisition strategies to attract small technology businesses and innovators, in an effort to speed up the time-to-market of technology solutions. (Fedscoop, April 2019) Here’s a breakdown:

  •  The National Science Foundation (NSF) – In 2017, the NSF published “Ten Big Ideas” for investing in tech pilots. The first two of these — harnessing the data revolution (a proprietary type Siri)  and the future of work — are moving forward. NSF is shaking things up a bit by looking at startups and nonprofits to award a $1 million planning grant toward phase two delivery. Past proposals were only accepted from academia. (ibid)
  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  – The Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) within DHS operates like a startup, including in its acquisition process and a similar talent pool. SVIP has shortened their proposals to just 10 pages with a 15-minute pitch followed by a 15-minute question/answer period. Awards are now made within 24 hours as opposed to the month-long timeframe previously experienced by potential awardees. (ibid)
  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Customs and Border Protection are currently involved with the Internet of Things security interacting with blockchain and distributed ledger tech. Recently SVIP issued an RFP for a solution to issue credentials, using blockchain or ledger technology. (ibid)
  • The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – TSA is hoping to speed up the checkpoint process. Using similar solutions, Customs will track the movement of oil from Canadian pipelines. (ibid)
  • The Cyber Apex Solutions Consortium (CASC) – CASC is working with DHS within the financial services sector to identify cybersecurity solutions. With varying budgets, generally due to the size financial entities, they plan on pulling together tech components to create solutions. DHS takes into consideration the consortium’s recommendations, then chooses the solutions to fund in order to solve the issue. (ibid)

With the time to respond to RFPs growing shorter and technology changing so quickly, contractors must be more nimble than ever in their ability to resolve federal agency issues.

Are you aware of the many new strategies federal agencies are deploying to solve their tech issues? Give us a call at 301-913-5000 if you’re interested in discussing some.

 

TSA = Try Speedy Action?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) powers that be can stress out, just like TSA lines can stress us all out, especially running late for a flight. But to keep lines short and travelers safe, TSA requires the latest technology, which often becomes antiquated while in testing/evaluation. (Nextgov, April 2019) Now the agency is turning to contractors to help speed the timeline.

In 2014 TSA began work on a third-party testing program, finalizing it this January. (Prior to 2014 TSA relied on the Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology Directorate to provide testing teams and data.) The new third-party testing allows TSA to review and accept data from external data sources and includes third-party testing organizations for use in system evaluation, per a Request For Information (RFI) posted in Fedbizopps last week. (ibid)

TSA wants to step away from the process, handing it off to a contractor that can handle the entire testing lifecycle, including managing cooperation between the manufacturer, industry provider, and testing organization. According to the RFI, bidding companies must already maintain a stable of pre-vetted/qualified testing organizations for all required areas, prior to their bid submission. (ibid)

Fedbizopps shows that TSA will consider small businesses and consortiums of multiple complementing firms and of potential third-party testing organizations. (ibid)

Questions are due by 29 April, RFI responses by noon on 22 May.

Interesting, huh? This could be worth a lot of money to the right contractors. Call us at 301-913-5000 if you’d like to discuss the RFI requirements further.

Alliant2 Be or Not to Be

Alliant2 Small Business, the largest contract in over a decade for government-wide IT services, was recently rescinded by GSA.  (Nextgov, March 2019)

Over a year ago, GSA announced the Alliant2 award to 81 small businesses. Protests immediately ensued. One company, Citizant, Inc., protested to the GAO, who dismissed the file, so Citizant took their complaints to court and won, resulting in the rescission of the awards and GSA revisiting their scoring methodology. (ibid)

Evaluation of bidders differed from the last iteration of Alliant, with rumors of contracting officer bias and arbitrary bid pricing scores bubbling under. Many believe GSA’s self-scoring system allowed companies that should have been eliminated early on to continue through the process. Time will tell if each submission will be rescored or just those below the cutoff, although the judge requires GSA to rescore all. (Federal News Network, April 1)

If only a handful of submissions are rescored, the protest floodgates are likely to open again, possibly forcing a re-compete. Making awards to multiple companies have proven time and again that it is nearly impossible to compare apples to apples during the evaluation process. The process raises a lot of questions. Stay tuned.

We are always available to talk to you about this or other contracting problems. Give us a call at 301-913-5000.

Oh 72a, We Hardly Knew Ya

You’re used to it, right? So it’s time to change! As of July 2019, the FAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP) replaces our familiar  72A reporting system for GSA Schedule sales and Industrial Funding Fees (IFF) remission. Terms and conditions remain the same. And if you have an active claim, your contract will be held in the 72A system for now. (GSA Interact, March 18, 2019)

A three-step process directly impacts when and where a company reports sales over the next two reporting periods as well as the migration of historical data. The three steps are as follows:

Step 1: Reporting April 2019 sales and remittance of any IFF in the 72A System

  • When: April 1, 2019, through April 30, 2019
  • Contractor Action: Companies are now in the reporting period that covers January 2019 through March 2019. This is the last time companies will report sales and remit IFF, in the legacy 72A System. After this cycle, all reporting will take place in the FAS Sales Reporting Portal.
  • Change: None. There is no change to the current reporting process for FY19 Q2 reporting.
  • Impact: This will be the final time companies report in 72A and all future reporting will be in the FAS SRP. (ibid)

Step 2: Transition to the FAS Sales Reporting Portal

  • When: Starting May 1, 2019
  • Contractor Action: Contracts will be visible in the new system as of May 1, 2019. At that time, go to the FAS SRP website and register for the required multi-factor authentication process. Anyone listed on a contract as an IFF POC, Contract Administrator, or Authorized Negotiator can register for access into FAS SRP. (Access to the portal does not require digital certification.) Registration to the portal begins May 1, 2019, and runs through the first time a company reports sales in the FAS SRP.
  • Change: Contracts will be moved to the FAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP).
  • Impact: Effective July 2019, companies will report all sales and remit any owed IFF in the FAS SRP, covering the reporting period from April 2019 through June 2019. (ibid)

Step 3: migration of Historical Data from 72A to the FAS SRP System

  • Contractor Action: None
  • Change: Once April 2019 sales and IFF are reported into the 72A System, GSA is migrating all historical sales and payment record into the FAS SRP.
  • Impact: All historical records will be held in the FAS SRP. This will be maintained for the life of the contract. (ibid)

Note: Sales adjustments will no longer be allowed in 72A after April 1, 2019. (ibid)

Not so onerous, really, but we understand you may have questions. Please feel free to call us at 301-913-5000.