The General Services Administration (GSA) issued the first pre-solicitation notices for its new small business IT services contract, Polaris Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). The agency will first open the competition to the Small Business Pool and Women-Owned Small Business Pool, with the final Request for Proposals (RFP) expected sometime in February 2022.
Polaris replaces GSA’s $15 billion Alliant 2 Small Business contract. It is expected that GSA will later issue its pre-solicitation notices for two additional Pools for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones).
Proposals will be due approximately 30 days after the solicitation is posted, according to GSA. That leaves little time for bidders to shore up their teaming agreements and make sure they’re maximizing their score while remaining complaint with the RFP.
As we have previously noted, if a project shows up more than once for the same pool, GSA will reject that Project in every proposal where it appears. This requirement makes it harder to team with other companies because you must trust that your teaming partner won’t submit a Project for points on multiple proposals in the same pool. Companies must execute exclusive teaming agreements, or they run the risk of having their proposal disqualified because of their subcontractors.
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-distance your competition. We will help evaluate strategies for teaming partners, perform capture to develop your win strategy, and prepare a compelling and compliant proposal. No matter how much assistance you require, we’re here to help.
OST Global Solutions is a professional business development consulting firm. We provide capture and proposal teams to develop winning proposals. Or we can provide consultants on a case-by-case basis to fill gaps on your business development team, including running your color team reviews. Our services consist of capture management, proposal management, orals coaching, proposal writing, graphics support, editing, desktop publishing, and cost volume development.
Reach out to us to discuss how we can help you develop a winning proposal.
Upcoming Bid & Proposal Academy Classes
Events
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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.
