Updates to the Top 20 Federal Programs/Contract Vehicles for 2023

3-15-2023

Top 20 Federal Contract Vehicles (updated Mar 2023)

Obtaining federal contracts can be highly competitive, especially for larger contractors and top-performing firms who often compete with each other for major contract awards as prime contractors. However, with access to the right resources, contractors of all sizes can effectively secure new government contracts and establish a more stable business development pipeline. One key to success is using federal market intelligence to create a long-term strategy to compete for large programs and contract vehicles. These opportunities often span 5-10 years and can be a major source of a firm’s revenue, so they can easily be worth the efforts to be added as a qualified awardee.

The research analysts at EZGovOpps Federal Market Intelligence have reviewed recent federal spending trends and identified the top 20 federal contracting opportunities for the 2023 calendar year. With a total estimated value of $210 billion, you’ll want to see where these funds are being allocated. From heavy hitters like GSA’s Alliant 3 and OASIS+, to other important endeavors like NASA’s Agent Logistics Support Services, you’ll learn the estimated value, description of the requirements, and you’ll get a handy link where you can find them in EZGovOpps. If you don’t have EZGovOpps already, sign up for a 5-day trial here. If you do, sign into your account and then click the links in the updated guide to view the associated programs and vehicles in further depth. You can also review incumbent information of recompeting vehicles, task order activity, and our analyst’s input.

EZGovOpps analysts don’t only cover large federal opportunities, so even if you are a small firm that is interested in more modest contract sizes, or just looking to team with the larger firms with access to these vehicles, you’ll find a wealth of information within the platform.

Here is just one example of the market intelligence data you can expect from EZGovOpps (GSA OASIS+):

03/13/2023:  FURTHER UPDATE:

The Office of Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC) within GSA has released the second draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the OASIS+ Program on March 6th, 2023. This marks a significant step towards the issuance of the final RFPs for the next generation Best-in-Class Multi-Agency Contracts for complex non-IT services. PSHC has incorporated various adjustments to the OASIS+ acquisition strategy based on stakeholder feedback received in response to the first draft RFPs released in November 2022. The second draft RFPs include these adjustments, and the agency plans to release the final RFP in Q2 FY23. To share information about sections of the draft RFPs and highlight essential topics before the final RFPs are released, PSHC intends to host a pre-solicitation virtual Industry Day event on March 15th, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT). This event is open to all industry partners interested in the OASIS+ contract program, and registration can be completed by clicking here.

03/07/2023:  FURTHER UPDATE:

It appears the General Services Administration has listened to the feedback from industry amid the of a second draft solicitation for the next iteration of its OASIS governmentwide contract vehicle for professional services.

The second draft of the OASIS+ Program’s Request for Proposals (RFPs), released on Monday, comes with a cover letter that lists the changes made by GSA between the first draft released in November and the updated version. Some of these changes include clarifying teaming arrangements, updating subcontracting plans and goal requirements, and providing more details on the overall fair opportunity process. However, the second draft does not include a sustainability-related evaluation criteria for small businesses, nor a post-award greenhouse gas reporting requirement for primes on the unrestricted track. The GSA made this greenhouse gas change to comply with current regulatory requirements.

Additionally, the GSA is currently working on two clauses specific to OASIS+. The first will establish a minimum sales requirement of $250,000, while the second is a cancellation clause specific to multiple-award contracts, and both are still under review. Nevertheless, the GSA still plans to release the final solicitation by the end of March. Comments on the second draft must be submitted by March 29.

OASIS+ is a massive vehicle with a $60 billion ceiling and hundreds of contract holders spread across multiple pools of professional services categories. To date, government data have obligated $30.4 billion in orders against OASIS. OASIS+ will be even larger since it consolidates three other GSA vehicles with a combined ceiling of $133.7 billion: the first OASIS, Human Capital and Training Solutions, and the Building, Maintenance, and Operations contracts. The GSA intends to award OASIS+ without a ceiling and without a limit on the number of awards. However, bidders must meet four criteria to qualify.

• • • • • Be a responsible source per the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
        • Provide a proposal that conforms to the solicitation requirements.
        • Meet the technical requirements in Section M.5 of the solicitation.
        • Must meet or exceed the qualification thresholds for a particular domain.

The contract will have eight domains:

• • • • • Management and advisory
        • Technical and engineering
        • Research anddevelopment
        • Intelligence services
        • Enterprise solutions
        • Environmental services
        • Facilities
        • Logistics

Companies will not be evaluated on pricing, which will instead be emphasized in the task order level competitions versus the master contract.

02/14/2023:  FURTHER UPDATE:

A second draft RFP that incorporates feedback from the first draft RFP will be released in Q2 FY23 followed by a second comment period. EZGovOpps has checked GSA interact site which posts chat/chatter about any updates – nothing new to report…. will continue to monitor.

11/17/2022:  FURTHER UPDATE:

The General Services Administration unveiled a first draft solicitation for the recompete of the governmentwide OASIS professional services vehicle on Tuesday, giving industry more details on what the plan for this acquisition is.

OASIS+ is the name for this new iteration of this vehicle. The plus sign could refer to several things that are new about the vehicle, namely the structure of small business awards and the number of service domains. GSA is aiming to expand the number small business opportunities by awarding set-aside positions for specific socioeconomic categories: general SB, woman-owned, 8(a), service-disabled veteran-owned and HUBZone (historically underutilized business zone) Of course, there will be the unrestricted track. Comments on the draft request for proposals are due Dec. 31. This first draft does not indicate a target number of awards, but GSA said it is not placing a limit on the number of final awards it will make. OASIS currently has hundreds of contractors. The new OASIS+ does not have a maximum value for the individual master contracts or task orders. OASIS+ also will have seven service domains when it launches. GSA is leaving open the possibility of adding domains over the course of the 10-year vehicle as needs in the market change.

The seven domains are:

• • • • • Management and advisory
        • Technical and engineering
        • Research anddevelopment
        • Intelligence Services
        • Enterprise solutions (only on unrestricted contracts)
        • Environmentalservices
        • Facilities
        • Logistics

That is a change from the current OASIS contract, which had six pools built around different NAICS codes. GSA explains in its cover letter that a change in acquisition rules didn’t allow the agency to assign multiple NAICS codes to each pool. GSA will instead award the master contract under one NAICS code that represents each awardee’s primary industry. Companies may end up with multiple NAICS codes in each domain, but individual awardees will only have one NAICS code in that domain. Down at the task order level, GSA will use the NAICS code that represents the preponderance of work expected to be performed. Like other large multiple-award vehicles, GSA will use a self-scoring methodology in the evaluation process. Companies must pass a threshold to be considered for an award. The self-scoring evaluation approach has caused problems for the National Institutes of Health’s IT acquisition organization in its attempt to award the CIO-SP4 IT solutions vehicle. Protesters are claiming the self-scoring threshold is arbitrary, in that NIH’s IT Acquisition and Assessment Center did not tell companies a specific threshold ahead of time.

For OASIS+, GSA has set a level that companies must attain to continue on. GSA has set 36 points or “claimed credits” out of 50. Each domain has a separate matrix for each domain, so companies must hit the 36-credit threshold in all of them to move on. The announced threshold also reinforces GSA’s position that it will not limit the number of OASIS+ awards. Bidders can submit credits across 12 areas covering past performance, management systems, experience and other factors. Even with the self-scoring, bidders have to submit documentation backing up how they scored themselves so GSA can verify them. GSA will use what it calls the OASIS+ Symphony Portal for proposal submissions, evaluations and contract management. GSA will provide training for contractors on how to use the portal and more information will come out at a later date. With the release of the draft, GSA also created a survey link as another tool to collect feedback from industry.

11/16/2022:  FURTHER UPDATE:

GSA’s Office of Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC) will release two draft request for proposals (RFP) for the OASIS+ Multi-Agency Contract (MAC) beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 via the normal govt. channels- SAM.gov for which EZGovOpps will of course monitor. Subsequently, a second draft RFP that incorporates feedback from the first draft will be released in Q2 FY23. The draft RFPs are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an official request for proposal from the U.S. Government. PLEASE click on this pdf for the latest release targets etc…. https://buy.gsa.gov/interact/system/files/OASIS%20PLUS_%20ACT-IAC%20ELC%20Oct%202022%20(1).pdf

11/16/2022:  FURTHER UPDATE:

Interested parties are highly encouraged to review the draft RFP and the associated survey and provide feedback as outlined via the internet. The comment deadline is December 31, 2022

08/15/2022:  FURTHER UPDATE:

On August 12, 2022, the Office of Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC) will release the seventh in a series of program updates to keep industry abreast of the development of the new services Multi-Agency Contract.

07/18/2022:  FURTHER UPDATE:

The Office of Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC) is set to release the sixth program update on July 15, 2022, to keep the industry informed of the development of the new services Multi-Agency Contract (MAC). This update will include draft domain qualification matrices for various categories, including Technical & Engineering (Small Business and Unrestricted), Management & Advisory (Small Business and Unrestricted), and Enterprise Solutions (Unrestricted). Despite the release of this update, the GSA still plans to issue a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) in the fall of 2022.

06/22/2022:   FURTHER UPDATE:

The GSA OASIS+ (Formerly Services MAC) development team has shifted to Program Updates via GSA’s Interact for more focused and targeted OASIS+ updates. The link below is to GSA’s Interact page for OASIS+. GSA intends to release a Draft RFP in Fall of 2022.

05/11/2022: Overview Update:

As of May 10th 2022, the following information has been changed/updated: RFI Response Due Date: June 21, 2021 at 5:00 PM ET

03/07/2022:  FURTHER INTEL:

The General Services Administration (GSA) has made a decision on the role of small businesses in the next government-wide professional services contract vehicle that will be the next iteration of the current OASIS initiative.

The new Services Multi-Agency Contract will have five pools exclusively reserved for small businesses in categories such as 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, woman-owned, and total small business. The sixth pool will be unrestricted, according to GSA’s announcement on Monday. The Services MAC structure aims to promote greater small business participation and procurement equity. Previously called BIC MAC, short for Best In Class Multi Agency Contract, the Services MAC will replace it. GSA had announced its plans for this vehicle last year and is expected to release proposed evaluation criteria in March. The current timeline indicates that GSA will issue the final solicitation in the fourth quarter of this year and make an award in the third quarter of 2023.

06/03/2021: Overview Update: 

As of June 2nd 2021, the following information has been changed/updated: RFI Response Due Date: June 21, 2021 at 5:00 PM EST

03/23/2021:  Overview Update:

As of March 19th 2021, the following information has been changed/updated: GSA Federal Acquisition Service’s (FAS) Best-in-Class Multiple Agency Contract (BIC MAC) Indefinite-Delivery-Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) is HOSTING AN INDUSTRY DAY April 1, 2021 The Federal Acquisition Service’s (FAS) Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories (PSHC) is hosting a BICMAC Industry Day. WHEN: April 1, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT). 

03/10/2021:  FURTHER UPDATE:

The General Services Administration has initiated the process to create a replacement for its $50 billion OASIS contract vehicle for government professional services. The first step is to release an RFI, which GSA has done, along with a survey for industry players to complete by March 17. GSA will also gather feedback via an industry day scheduled for April 1. The RFI provides information on how to register for the event. An overview document within the RFI outlines various general and specialized domains under consideration by GSA for the new contract. This process is expected to be lengthy.

General domains:

• • • • • Technical and Engineering
        • Research and Development
        • Management and Advisory Services
        • Business Administration
        • Financial Services
        • Environmental Services
        • Marketing and Public Relations
        • Logistics, Facilities
        • Human Services (Human Resources, Legal, and Social Services)

Specialized domains:

• • • • • Base Operation Support Services
        • Counterintelligence
        • C4ISR
        • Major Professional Services Acquisitions (large dollar value comprehensive professional services)
        • Outside continental U.S.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking feedback on several domains for its new professional services contract, which is set to replace the OASIS contract. GSA aims to reduce contract duplication and increase small business participation by creating more domains as the contract progresses. In addition, GSA is exploring methods for capturing pricing data at the task order level to ensure pricing is fair and reasonable. The new contract, known as the Best-in-Class Multiple Award Contract (BIC MAC), will not limit the number of awardees in each domain, and pricing will not be a factor in selecting companies for spots on the contract. GSA plans to release a final solicitation in the future but has not decided whether the solicitation will always be open or have multiple windows of opportunity each year. OASIS has 665 small business contractors and 255 large businesses across its various domains.

03/03/2021: Overview:

The GSA Federal Acquisition Service’s (FAS) Best-in-Class Multiple Award Contract (BIC MAC) Indefinite-Delivery-Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) Request for Information (RFI). This RFI does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or Request for Quotation (RFQ), and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response to this request. RFI Responses Due Date/Time: March 17, 2021, at 4:00 PM CST. RFI Response Due Date: March 17, 2021, at 4:00 PM CST.

OASIS+ milestones image provided by GSA

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