Rolling Admissions open to Seaport-e
The Federal Government's use of IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity) type contracts has been increasing rapidly over the last 10 years. Many times these contracting vehicles are referred to as Multiple-Award Contracts (MAC). The Federal Government obligations under MAC awards have grown by over 5X from 2003 until this year. By far the largest of the IDIQ contract vehicles is the Navy's Seaport-e program. There are currently over 3,300 Seaport-e prime contract holders and obligated dollars in this program is over $5 Billion. The Navy has just announced (this week) that they will allow a "rolling admissions" to add to the contractor base for prime contractors in this vehicle. The solicitation is N00178-13-R-4000 and proposals will be due by May 1, 2013. Awards are expected to be given in October or early November of 2013.
A few caveats relative to the Seaport-e program include:
- Offers will be evaluated on a "best value" basis
- IDIQ contracts may have fixed price and cost type Task Orders but no Time and Material task orders
- All requirements are filled competitively on a task order basis by the individual offices
- Heavy emphasis is given on Performance Based Orders
- Small Business is favored in the process as 33% of total obligated dollars must go to Small Business and Large Business awards must have a Small Business Subcontracting plan of at least 20%
- Only 1 IDIQ contract is allowed per Prime but a company may subcontract to many Primes
- There are 7 geographic zones for which task orders are issued and work completed
- The basic IDIQ limits pass through charges and caps fees and requires demonstrated cost savings including annual cost escalation factors
As I mentioned above, there seems to be a very large trend in the award of this type of contract vehicle. There are two ways to participate, one is to go to the Seaport-e website and study the list of Prime contract holders. Then, contact the primes that you can partner with and become a team member for a Prime in winning an award. A Seaport-e contract vehicle is not normally required to be a team member like this. The other strategy is to submit a proposal during these periodic rolling admissions and become a prime yourself. For Small Business this can be a more lucrative avenue to pursue provided you have done your homework and know where your products and/or services can be used.
ReliAscent has helped people with their proposals for Seaport-e and we can help you if you are confused at this point. Don't hesitate to give us a call.