By Global Services on November 25, 2020

Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) are an important tool for making your services available to Federal customers. By winning a space on a GWAC, you’ll be able to bid on task orders to which you would not otherwise have access. This benefits your firm by giving you a “license to hunt” in a smaller competitive field, and it benefits the Government by giving agencies easier access to a pool of pre-vetted contractors.

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The GWAC currently generating the most buzz is Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 4, better known as CIOSP4. The final RFP is expected to release in December 2020 or January 2021, with an anticipated proposal deadline in March 2021. This contract, operated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), covers a wide range of IT services, with a special focus on Health IT.

A Draft RFP released back in March 2020 gives a sense of what the proposal will require, but many key questions remain. Though we won’t know exactly what the proposal will look like until the final RFP releases, we know it will be a significant effort, so it’s important for contractors to begin preparing now.

The Version 4 scoring sheet, released in September 2020, gives the most current look at the past performance requirements for CIOSP4. Contractors interested in bidding should start gathering and assessing their potential past performance project references as soon as possible.

To maximize your score, you will want to cover as many of the ten CIOSP4 Task Areas described in the scoring sheet as possible. You will also want to identify projects with work taking place outside the DMV region, Federal Multiple Award contracts, contracts involving leading edge technology, and contracts involving Executive Order 13779 (small businesses only—large businesses currently cannot get points for this item).

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Although it is still in the very early stages, Small Business IT contractors will also want to keep an eye on Polaris, GSA’s planned replacement for the canceled Aliant 2 SB contract vehicle.

The contract is expected to focus on emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence, as well as cybersecurity and cloud services.

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Are you interested in pursuing these, or other, GWACs? Contact Global Services today to find out how we can help!