During the past 3 weeks I have talked to many company executives (I think over 40) who want a piece of the pie in Alliant 2 Small Business (A2SB) but don’t know if they can really win it and whether it is worth the investment for the preparation of the bid.

Questions ranged from can we team up (had not read the new RFP), all the way to what is the winning score, the minimum that if we are under it, we should not participate. Many others are determined to participate but have not found the right teaming partner(s) to go with.

Based on these conversations, here are a few suggestions that I can make to all those “undecided” ones:

  1. You need to put a deadline for making your decision. If you ask me, it is already too late but I would say that if you have not decided to pursue this opportunity by the end of July, then you better not do so. The logistics involved are just too much. So try to finalize your decision in this coming week.
  2. You need to create a list of ALL your projects during the past 5 years, no matter how small or how irrelevant they might seem. You might be able to use them for the 7 PSC projects or for any of the max 30 Leading Edge Technology projects. Many executives I talked to did not have a comprehensive list and at first thought that they did not have enough projects but when they dug into their records, they were astonished as to the number of project records hidden under piles of dust, …
  3. Although the logistics issues involved are immense, the more subcontractors you have in your team, the better. You will lose 7500 if you go with a sub that you have not worked before. But that is once. So you might gain 6,000 points from one sub, and 4000 points from another sub and 2000 from a 3rd one, in which case if you deduct the 7500, you would increase you score by 4500 which can just be the touch that gets you from the 81st company to the 80th Don’t miss it.
  4. If possible, go for the subs that you have worked with before, at least on one project. No matter how small that project was, if that company was your sub and you did a full project together, then you are eligible for the 7500 score and don’t lose it for teaming up. That project does not even have to be one of your 7 PSC projects or the 30 Leading Edge Technology projects.
  5. Don’t be put off if the PSC code in your FPDS report is different from what you think it should be. If you can show in the SOW that the work included that intended PSC, that is good enough. GSA is showing flexibility on that. You just have to make sure that the evaluators can understand your justification for the use of that PSC code.
  6. If you are weak in the Systems, Certifications and Clearances scores, you probably don’t have a good chance and I would suggest not participating as a prime; unless, you have excellent scores for the past experience (PSC and other additives). Of course you can always participate as a sub to another company.

A2SB is the largest GWAC in the recent years. Try to jump on this bandwagon. And I also suggest that you finalize your decision on this coming week. I have complied a list of companies who are looking for partners. Obviously it is only a fraction of all companies looking for partners. But if you want to have this list, let me know and I can forward it to you.

You might also want to read more about Alliant 2 (A2SB) in these posts on LinkedIn:

Alliant 2 SB RFP Released, What's New?

GSA Alliant 2 allows teaming, but should you?