The General Services Administration (GSA) extended the deadline for Polaris, an IT Services Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) with no contract ceiling value. Proposals for the Small Business and Woman-Owned Small Business categories are now due on September 23.
There are also more ways to bid on Polaris coming up. GSA recently released the pre-solicitation notices for the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) competition pools. Bidders can compete in multiple pools, and a single project can be used more than once if it’s used in different pools (i.e., WOSB, HUBZone, SB, SDVOSB). However, if a project appears in more than one proposal in the same pool, GSA will reject that project in every proposal where it appears.
The SDVOSB and HUBZone Pools will also be a Multiple Award, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide customized IT services. The upcoming RFPs are set-aside for SDVOSB and HUBZone concerns. The contract ordering period will consist of a five-year base period with one, five-year option that may extend the cumulative contract ordering period to 10 years. We anticipate the requirements to be very similar to the Small Business and WOSB categories.
Polaris replaces GSA’s $15 billion Alliant 2 Small Business contract. GSA’s goal for Polaris is to build on the success of 8(a) STARS III and VETS 2 with a greater emphasis on “emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, automated technology, distributed ledger technology, edge computing, and immersive technology while furthering Administration efforts on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.”
OST Global Solutions is here to help maximize your score on your Polaris bid. We will help you develop a draft scorecard, perform a gap analysis to ensure that you make the cut-off score, and find ways to help you out-score your competition. No matter how much assistance you require, we’re here to help.
For the latest updates on the Polaris contract, see our Polaris contract page.
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Webinar: Turning Customer Insights Into Win Strategy
Contracts are still won the old-fashioned way: through human relationships and hard-earned customer intelligence during capture. The problem generally isn’t getting the intel — it’s what happens next. Too often, […]
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Winning Government Cost Proposals Including AI Essentials
OST Global Solutions Virtual Classroom MD, United StatesDeveloping a Winning Cost Volume course helps increase federal contract win probability by strengthening cost proposal development skills. Updated for 2026, this course incorporates AI-assisted tools to support pricing analysis, cost modeling, and documentation efficiency. The course covers Government contract evaluation, pricing fundamentals such as cost buildup and cost volume elements, price strategy, Basis of Estimate development, assumptions, Work Breakdown Structure creation, cost volume narratives, and strategies for winning lowest price technically acceptable proposals, while demonstrating how AI can be used responsibly to improve accuracy, consistency, and proposal readiness.
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Proposal Graphics Conceptualization & Design Including AI Essentials
OST Global Solutions Virtual Classroom MD, United StatesThis course provides the skills necessary to conceptualize proposal graphics that clearly convey a winning solution to Government customers. Updated for 2026, the course includes the use of AI-assisted tools to enhance idea generation, visual storytelling, and graphic refinement. Participants will learn how to brainstorm strong graphic concepts, create effective action captions, sketch and structure visuals, and apply professional design principles while responsibly leveraging AI to improve clarity, consistency, and efficiency in proposal graphics.
