Are federal contracting dollars at risk in 2017?
19 Jan, 2017
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Update: POTUS released a budget blueprint, see how our predictions matched the proposal. Scoping out 2017 contracting trends As Donald Trump and his team settle into the White House, the private sector is furiously debating where 2017 federal contracting money will go – and where it will be cut. Federal government spending grows every year, but much of that growth comes from mandatory spending like Social Security and Medicaid. Contractors are paid through discretionary spending – that means when the government...
Federal Procurement, Other Topics
Navy Requesting Info for New Procurement Systems (ePS)
17 Jan, 2017
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UPDATE: In July 2017, the Navy released the final solicitation for the new ePS. The Navy has calculated that the number of ePS users could hit 115,500, ranging from 5,500 “critical users” with Navy contracting authority, to 100,000 industry partners involved in the Navy procurement process. The “critical users” are a part of 10 Heads of the Contracting Activity (HCA) commands and one non-HCA command, including Installations and Logistics, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps (HQMC, I&L) and Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP). Proposals are due...
Federal Procurement, Leveraging Set-Asides, Getting Started
Selling to the government: A guide to small business contracting strategy
11 Jan, 2017
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Government contracting is a business with great rewards… and great confusion. The government is unlike any other customer. Its rules, laid out in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR (sometimes called the contractor’s Bible) cover a whopping 1,925 pages. Its needs are opaque, complex, and sometimes classified. Gathering intelligence on potential bids can leave you either digging fruitlessly for information or drowning in endless solicitation appendices. Between contract hunting, bidding and compliance, there’s not a lot of time for a...
CYBERCOM upgrade offers growing IT contracting market
11 Jan, 2017
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Update: On August 18, 2017, President Trump officially announced the elevation of CYBERCOM to Unified Combatant Command status. The U.S. Cyber Command, or CYBERCOM, is opening up a new acquisition office, according to a report by Federal News Radio on January 3, 2017. By hiring procurement experts, the government hopes to speed up CYBERCOM contracting capability to meet cyber operations needs quickly. The move reflects a major expansion of CYBERCOM — from the budget of $75 million per year that...
Leveraging Set-Asides, Getting Started
What SBA subcontracting limitations mean for your business
11 Jan, 2017
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Final Ruling In June 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) made a final ruling on provisions first set out in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2013. In the ruling, the SBA made an important decision on the limitations of subcontracting in small business set-aside contracts. Starting June 30th, 2016, any subcontracting by a prime small business contractor to a “similarly situated entity,” a small business which meets the same standards, will not be limited by subcontracting work requirement...
Federal Procurement, Programs / GWACs / IDIQs
SETI, DISA’s promising IT contract vehicle for small business
05 Jan, 2017
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Update as of 2/22/2017: DISA will be holding a pre-proposal conference on SETI on March 10, 2017 at DISA Headquarters, Fort Meade. DISA noted a larger-than-expected industry response, and have allowed for overflow seating for registrants. EZGovOpps will continue to monitor for updates. Update as of 3/10/2017: Although DISA has already allotted 20 contracts as small-business set-asides, the agency is heavily emphasizing small-business subcontracting participation in the 10 full-and-open awards expected. DISA is expecting heavily-detailed small-business subcontracting plans for large-businesses making...
Federal Procurement, Programs / GWACs / IDIQs
New JRSS Provisions in NDAA FY17
05 Jan, 2017
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The NDAA for Fiscal Year 2017, which was discussed previously by EZGovOpps for the small business provisions it included, also holds an important provision regarding the implementation of the Joint Regional Security Stack (JRSS), a massive cybersecurity upgrade designed by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for what the agency hopes will one day be a unified network and security system for the entire DOD known as the Joint Information Environment (JIE). The new provisions, however, have placed restrictions on JRSS...
Army accepting HRS R-MAS proposals from small businesses
03 Jan, 2017
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Army Human Resource Solutions (HR Solutions) is soliciting proposals from small businesses for their Recruiting, Management, and Administrative Support (HRS R-MAS) contract. The proposal deadline, February 3rd 2017, is fast approaching. The contract is worth $1.5 billion, and is a total small business setaside. The Army Contracting Command hopes to end up with ten to twelve awardees. HRS R-MAS is a Multiple-Award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a five-year base and five one-year options, coming to a total...
At OMB, Mulvaney will push contractors for efficiency
29 Dec, 2016
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The Mulvaney OMB and federal contracting: an EZGovOpps analysis Procurement planners squinting into the Trump transition’s crystal ball don’t quite know what to think. On one hand, president-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a “trillion-dollar rebuilding plan” for the nation’s infrastructure and called for boosting defense spending by an estimated $250 billion over the next four years – And of course, the cost of Trump’s campaign promise, the U.S.-Mexico border wall, has been estimated at $25 billion. On the other hand,...
GSA’s USA Contact set for likely re-compete in 2017
29 Dec, 2016
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UPDATE as of 1/3/2018: GSA is still planning a follow-on to USA Contact after meeting with industry partners last year. EZGovOpps will continue to monitor the procurement process for this opportunity. USA Contact, a 2.5-billion-dollar contract run through GSA’s Office of Citizen Services, is scheduled for a recompete. First awarded in March of 2008, USA Contact offers call center services to agencies across the government. The contract is designed for emergencies: GSA boasts that after an agency makes a request,...