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.
Upcoming Bid & Proposal Academy Classes
Winning Government Cost Proposals Including AI Essentials
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesDeveloping a Winning Cost Volume course helps you increase your federal contract win probability. We focus on Government contract evaluation, pricing fundamentals such as cost buildup and cost volume elements, price strategy, developing basis of estimate (BOE), coming up with assumptions, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), cost volume narrative, winning in lowest price technically acceptable proposals (LPTA), and much more.
Proposal Editing With & Without AI
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesThis class teaches how to edit Government proposals while working with a proposal team. Not another English grammar class, this course teaches proposal-specific professional editing skills to improve your proposals' Pwin.
Foundations of Proposal Management Integrating AI
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesThis course provides must-have skills in managing Government proposals. It includes the proposal process, federal RFP analysis, and steps of the proposal development process from kickoff to color reviews (Pink Team, Red Team, Gold Team, White Glove) and submission. The class focuses on agile proposal management principles beyond traditional reviews that work in the current page-limited, short-deadline environment.
