The Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on March 21, 2018, has released a special notice providing additional information related to the forthcoming acquisition of the Information Technology Supplies and Support Services (ITSSS) Blanket Purchase Agreement re-compete.
In a previous article, a couple of months ago, we have discussed the possibility of a re-compete contract opportunity to meet the FBI’s continuing requirement for Information Technology Supplies and Support Services (IT-SSS).
The notice is of informational nature, thereby intended to provide interested firms of all sizes that meet the eligibility criteria with more detail of the contracting opportunity before the release of the final RFP solicitation. According to that document issued by the agency, the competition is going to be full and open in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
They have also listed a full Solicitation Schedule for the forthcoming opportunity. According to this notice, Draft Solicitation for the Industry is expected to be released on July 13, 2018. All the potential contractors can send their questions and concerns by the 27th of July, 2018. FBI expects to issue a report with responses to questions from Industry on August 3, 2018.
Two weeks later, on the 17th of August, 2018 the Department of Justice, the FBI will issue the Final Solicitation. Eligible Offerors will have the opportunity to prepare their proposal and submit it until the 5th of October, 2018. The award will be made on the 1st of March, 2019.
Nevertheless, the notice also notes that the scheduled dates are subject to change although they will try to adhere to the listed timelines. On July 2, 2018, another special notice was released stating:
“The FBI currently realizes and we are fully aware that the timeline posted during the IT Triple – S Industry Day has slipped. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused; however, we are still finalizing internal plans and developing our Acquisition Strategy. Currently we will not answer any questions pertaining to the re-compete status (either e-mail or by phone); however, we will post updates on FBO as soon as they are available.”
About the FBI IT Triple – S Re-compete Opportunity
Information regarding the requirements and the criteria to become a government contractor through this contract are limited, and it is expected that in the following weeks, other notices will be posted. According to the answers given to Industry’s questions, we learned that all potential contractors must demonstrate they meet the required capabilities for each task they are intending to compete for.
While teaming arrangements are encouraged, prime vendors must meet all of the evaluation criteria independently. Evaluation criteria will be provided once the Draft Statement of Work is released.
Partnerships with subcontractors are encouraged; however, prime vendors will have to meet the eligibility and evaluation criteria individually. Interested Offerors will get informed about the evaluation criteria once the Draft RFP is released.
The Agency anticipates awarding approximately 12 prime vendors for each of the 12 tracks, and more than 100 prime contractors for the IT Triple S Re-compete contract opportunity. This is more than triple the total number of contracts awarded for the previous contract.
