There is no limit to the number of awards. Any company whose score is above the minimum (36 for SBs and 42-45 for Unrestricted) and is compliant with the requirements of the RFP will be awarded.

Yes.

For some of the NAICS/PSCs that are listed under a domain, if they are written on the Contract it is automatically accepted that that contract is relevant as far as the domain is concerned. These are called Auto-Relevant NAOIS or PSCs. To show relevance for other NAICS or PSCs, you need to present the statement of work and FPDS, and other substantiation documents.

Officially, there is going to be another iteration of the draft RFP in Q1 2023 but there is also a rumor that there is urgency in the process and they might actually issue the full RFP in Q1 2023.

No limit. As far as the RFP wording is concerned, you can have all the projects from the subcontractors.

So far, they have listed all the NAICS/PSCs that are relevant to every domain. If you have any more specific questions, it would be good to put them in your list of questions and submit them before the Dec 31st deadline for questions.

Polaris was a small business governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) for acquiring customized information technology (IT) services and IT services-based solutions. The range of domains that OASIS Plus covers is much wider and does not cover IT as a mainstream domain.

Officially, there is going to be another iteration of the draft RFP in Q1 2023 but there is also a rumor that there is urgency in the process and they might actually issue the full RFP in Q1 2023. (Q2 for US Fiscal year that GSA calculates based on).

Facilities is domain iself which covers facilities management.

If you go to SAM, you can download a PDF document called "J.P-5+Functional+Areas+and+Sub-Areas" which details out all the sub categories or as they call them functional areas under each domain.

Obviously, 1 is the minimum but there is no limit and you can bid for all 8 domains as far as the Government is concerned. Note that each is considered a separate submission - you need to submit separately to Symphony for each.

Per our experience, the category IT is a very general and a vauge word these days. For example, many times they mention engineering but at the end it is software coding. So we expect that many of the future Task Orders will have a very vague line with IT requirements.

The presolicitation is listed on SAM. Here is the link: https://sam.gov/opp/56a54751ead248e6b4800773f49ff944/view

Initially they had mentioned that they want to announce the awards by Sep 2023 but as you know the review and award process might be delayed as in many other Federal Government RFPs.

Unlimited.

Refer to the document "J.P-5 Functional Areas and Sub-Areas.pdf" which comes with the RFP.

The full RFP is not out yet and we are still in the pre-solicitation phase. We expect it in the second quarter of 2023 but no official date has been given.

The sooner you start the more prepared you are when the full RFP drops.

It is a $60B+ Multiple Award Multi Agency IDIQ which coveres 8 different domains of Management & Advisory, Technical and Engineering, Research and Development, Intelligence Services, Enterprise Solutions, Environmental, Facilities, and Logistics.

No, the final RFP will have the finalized score and they will base their award on it with no determination of the minimum score left the after receipt of proposals.

Currently the Draft RFP wording does not limit you to any minimum number.

Yes.

There are the 8 domains which are equivalent to the Pools in the previous OASIS.

The current solicitation is the draft RFP and is at this location on SAM: https://sam.gov/opp/56a54751ead248e6b4800773f49ff944/view

There will be a separate submission (solicitation) for 8(a) companies and once you are on it, they will provide specific 8(a) set aside TOs to 8(a) companies.

You need to get the minimum 36 points for SB and 42-45 for Unrestricted to be awarded. Afterwards, you compete with other on the TO level.

Yes. But what makes the changes is your contribution i.e. you need to submit your needs and suggestions to GSA to get it done. Make sure that you provide your suggestions before the Dec 31st deadline for comments and questions.

If the JV is a Mentor-Protégé type, they can participate in the SB solicitations and use all members' projects. Otherwise, such a JV, if as a JV it is above the threshold of Small Business on the NAICS code, can only participate in the Unrestricted bid.

If you can produce an MRCL (Meaningful Relationship Commitment Letter), you can use projects from your subsidiaries, …

Separate bid per domain and per set aside.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, for each domain you can participate as Unrestricted, Total Small Business, WOSB, 8(a), HUBZone and/or SDVOSB. You can participate in multiple set-asides and multiple domains, all would be separate submissions.

Once you are awarded a contract under OASIS Plus, you are good to go for a 5+5 (max 10) year period. During that period, the Government will issue Task Orders (TOs) and you need to compete for that Task Order with others in your domain and your set-aside.

Self-Scoring proposals are those that have very little writing. Instead the government publishes a set of rules in the RFP to score yourself. We score ourselves based on those rules and then attach documentation to prove that our scoring was sound and correct.

Functional Areas and Domains are used interchangably in the RFP. There are 8 domains and under each of them there are more specific sub-areas. The document "J.P-5+Functional+Areas+and+Sub-Areas.pdf," which is part of the RFP documents, lists the domains/functional areas and the sub-areas.

At this point, the position of GSA is that Enterprise Solutions is only for the Unrestricted track.

SAM but they might change the solicitation number (we have seen them do that).

That is correct. At the same time, we have heard rumors that GSA want to wrap up the process and speed it up and so might actually go to Full RFP (this also depends on the questions received before the Dec. 31st deadline) and the changes that might be in the making.

Refer to the document "J.P-5+Functional+Areas+and+Sub-Areas.pdf," which is part of the RFP documents, which lists the domains/functional areas and the sub-areas. Then you can gauge yourself and see which domain suits you. It seems that you might want to go for R&D as well as T&E domains.

Not a specific domain but under Facilities Domain, there are "Airport Security Services & Surveillance" and "Security Forces Services".

The full RFP is not out yet and we are still in the pre-solicitation phase. We expect it in the second quarter of 2023 but no official date has been given.

OASIS Plus is not a pure software development project. The Engineering Domain however is shoulder to shoulder to IT in many cases. Pure IT contracts are contracts such as Alliant 4.

If you contracts are essentially material contracts providing SAT equipment, then No, you can't use this contract but if you provide services, then under Facilities Domain, there is Communication Services (general) and Communication Services (Telecommunication) which would cover you.

Yes separate awards in each domain will be provided to Unrestricted, Total Small Business, 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB companies. You can participate in all but need to submit separately for each.

1. Currently, QPs (Qualifying Projects) as well as FEPs (Federal Experience Projects) cannot be other than FAR Part 37. They must be services contract and cannot be supply contracts.
2. Our suggestion to you is that you make as case to GSA in the question period closing on Dec 31st 2022, and mention the type of non-FAR Part 37 supply contracts that you think should be exempted (be allowed to be used).

They have made it easier to score yourself and also all the requirements are much more clear than before; yet, if you misinterpret the requirements, you can still over-score or under-score yourself. So reading the requirement multiple times and ensuring a proper understanding of the requirements and also substantiating properly is very important.

There is always the possibility that what the Government perceives as a point and requirement is not what your project is presenting. That is to be on the safe side, you should always strive to get well over the minimum threshold so that if for any reason, the government reviewers do not accept a point or a point there, you don't lose the contract.

No it can be a federal contract, it could be a subcontract to a federal prime or it can be a totally commercial contract.

If the question is regarding subcontracts to prime federal contracts, the $500k must be the subcontract amount and that must be all towards the domain you are going for (i.e. if there are multiple CLINs, you must show that the $500K is related to that specific domain that you are going for - as an example, if there are 10 CLINs and 9 of them are about construction and one CLIN is for Environmental Management and the value of that CLIN is $100,000, you can't use that project as a relevant $500K project for the Environmental Domain.

If is is ongoing (active) then yes you can use it. But if it is a completed project, then you must use the actual obligated (paid) amount vs the actual duration of the performance of the contract to calculate the annual value.

Yes you get full points in the QP section. You can't use them as FEP (Federal Experience Projects) section.

Yes the correct minimum performance period is 6 months. The previous OASIS required full 1 year but it is now 6 months for OASIS Plus.

A form is included in the RFP documents "J.P-6 Past Performance Rating Form.docx" that you can get it filled and signed by your contracting officer.

You need to ask this from GSA (before Dec 31st deadline) as to how far back systems and certifications are valid.

This depends on which ISO you are going after and what the situation of your internal system is. The timing depends on how large a company you are as well. For example for ISO 27001, for a less than 10-employee company that needs to start putting in place all the requirements, it would be less than 6 months, 11-50 employees would be 6-10 months, for 51-200 employees would be 10-14 months, and over 200 employees 14-20 months. But this is for the situation that the internal systems in place are not in any way compliant with ISO 27001.

For the QPs, you can use subcontracts. For FEP (Federal Experience Projects) scores, it must be prime.

Yes for QPs and No for FEPs.

Yes.

Yes, you need to get your contracting officer to change the information on FPDS website or get a signature from them.

There is a long list but some of the important ones are a) there is no competition involved in that they won't compare your score with others; as long as you are above the minimum threshold, you are awarded b)the requirements are much more relaxed and no requirement is game-breaking, you just don't get the point(s).

The Annual Value requirement and Breath requirements are based on one contact (which can be a single awarded contract or a TO under a Single/Multiple award IDIQ or BPA). However, as one of the 5 QPs, you can combine multiple TOs under a single IDIQ to submit as one contract.

If they are separate contracts with separate contract numbers, etc., you can use them as 2 distinct QPs.

If you don't have the NAICS on your contract but can show through the SOW that it relates to the domain you are going after, you can still use that project.

Yes, there are no set limits to the number of companies they are going to award. There will be no competition between companies based on scores. If you get over 36 for SB and 42-45 for Unrestricted (based on Domain), you are awarded.

For the QPs which make up the majority of the points, there is no difference between prime contracts and subcontract contracts. You cannot use subcontract for FEP (Federal Experience Projects) but those make up a small fraction of the total score.

There is a form, "J.P-6 Past Performance Rating Form.docx " that you can get the contracting officer to fill out and use that in the absence of a CPARS review.

The QPs make up the majority of the points. But you can also use the project as an FEP, Federal Experience Project.

Because what we see on this side of the ocean might be different from what the Government reviewers see from the other side. They might not accept some of the score that you have assigned to yourself (not accept the substantiation, not accept the reasoning, etc). You want to make sure that you have some spare to lose and still be above the threshold so that you are awarded the contract.

Yes you can use them for QPs but not for FEPs.

You can use the same project in different domains but need to prove that it is relevant to that domain or get relevance points; otherwise, you can still use it and get other points but not the relevance points.

You have to do the calculations and then upload the disclosure to your website or a third party website and then an officer of your company must self-attest to the accuracy of the submission and that it was done based on the standards mentioned.

Only if you want to get the score for relevance and past performance. For other factors, it doesn't need to have that NAICS. Also if it is different but you can prove through the SOW that it relates to the domain you are after, you get the points.

You need to provide up to 5 QPs which will give you between 70% to 90% of the score. The Federal Experience Projects or FEPs can be completely different projects and give only a fraction of the total score. They must be prime federal contracts over $250K annually.

For each domain submission, you can submit up to 5 QPs. You can submit less but obviously you get less score as well.

See above.

If they are separate contracts with separate contract numbers, etc., you can use them as 2 distinct QPs.

1) We suggest that if you have specific NAICS or PSCs in mind that should be included, you mention them to GSA through the comment/question system whose deadline is at Dec 31st.
2) If you can prove through the contract's SOW that it is related to the facilities domain, then that contract can be used as a relevant project.

For QPs it is essentially maximum 5 but there is no minimum; just the less you use, the less points you get. For the FEPs, the number is based on the specific factor. There is no minimum deal breaker for either QPs or FEPs. You just don't get those points.

The latest Draft RFP says a minimum of 6 months of past performance is required, not a full year like previous OASIS.

We really need to review your documents to give you a sound advice. If we can prove that these purchase orders are fully separate there might be a chance but overall it is an uphill. We suggest that you present this as a question to GSA (before the Dec 31st due date) to get a firm answer from them.

For subcontract projects, you need to produce your SOW to prove and substantiate that your project in related to the NAICS code of the domain. You cannot use the NAICS of the Prime contract as a proof.

Yes.

Yes the QP values are annual values (total amount divided by number of years).

Reason: In accordance with GSAM/R 523.1 and FAR Part 23, the Master Contract seeks to benefit from the use of sustainable management practices by contractors by ensuring that new task order actions for the supply of products and acquisition of services require that the products are Energy-efficient (ENERGY STAR® or Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)) designated, water-efficient, biobased, environmentally preferable (e.g., EPEAT®-registered, or non-toxic or less toxic alternatives), non-ozone depleting, or made with recovered materials.
Requirements: a)Public Disclosure of Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. b)Public Disclosure of Relevant Scope 3 GHG Emissions. Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions.

1) All member of the CTA (JVs and Prime/Sub arrangements) must be SB for an SB submission.

2)Thus OTSBs cannot be part of an SB submission (SB JV or prime/sub relationship) unless it is a Mentor-Protégé relationship, registered with SBA.

3)The projects from any members of the JV or Prime/sub relationship can be used to get points.

4) For Systems, Clearances and Certifications, point can be taken from the JV itself if it has the systems, clearance, or certification in its name or if any of the members have it. For Prime/Sub relationships, points for systems, clearances and certifications can ONLY be gotten from the Prime and NOT from the subs.

Yes, as long as they don't use the same projects for the same domain and contract. For example Member A and Member B are parts of JV C. All can submit separate proposals but if they are all in the same SB category (e.g. SDVOSB), and they are going to go for the INTEL domain, they can't use the same projects. However if they are going for different domains or if their SB submission is for different categories (SDVOSB, Total Small Business, HUBZone, 8(a), or WOSB), then they can use the same projects.

A large company cannot be a member of the CTA (JV or prime/sub) for a SB submission (the exception is Mentor-Protégé relationships).

Per the RFP requirement and wording, there is no Risk related cap on the number of team members.

As far as OASIS Plus is concerned there are 2 types of CTAs: 1) JVs and 2) Prime/Subs. So when you read the word CTA in the RFP, consider it that it covers both the JV and the Prime/Sub relationship of partnering.

If you have a JV partnership, YES but if you have a Prime/Sub relationship, NO.

No, but they can't use the same project for the same domain and solicitation.

Yes, you can use JV members' and/or subs' past performance.

You can use the experience of any of the partners.

Yes, you could partner. Also note that if your contracts don't meet the $500K min requirement, you can still use them to get other score and for that reason, you might be able to fill holes for other companies, hence the reason to partner with them. You just need to be able to sell your strength meaning that you need to understand how these contracts can gain you points despite the fact that they are under $500K.

On the Mentor-protégé the only thing they have said is that you are supposed to provide evidence of its registration with SBA. Other than that, they have treated it like other JVs. In that case, our reading is that each member's past performance, including the Mentor's, can be used.

Partnering or CTAs in the context of OASIS Plus mean either a JV or a prime/sub relationship. In either, you can fully use the projects from any of the JV members as well as any of the subcontractors for QPs as well as FEPs.

No.

No. If you have good QPs yourself, you might be able to get enough points. But partnering with others and filling up the holes is always the prudent way to go.

Yes they can as long as they don't use the same past performance. But if you change one of these (different domain or different set-aside) you can use the same projects.

No. If you have good QPs yourself, you might be able to get enough points. But partnering with others and filling up the holes is always the prudent way to go.

Symphony is currently set to accept your questions and not upload data about your contracts. Of course, this might change at later dates.

Here is the link: https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/

Here is the link: https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/

We don't know how the new system for OASIS Plus will work but previously for OASIS, there was no specific spreadsheet; rather, once you input your different projects and section into Symphony, it would calculate your score automatically and present you with the score you deserve.

Here is the link: https://oasis.app.cloud.gov/

Symphony calculates your score automatically. It doesn't have a separate score sheet (that is in the previous OASIS submission). For calculating your score, refer to the document "J.P-9, OASIS+ Domain Qualifications Matrix.xlsx" which comes with the RFP and has different tabs for the domains and whether you want to participate as an SB or Unrestricted.

For sales: [email protected], for technical: [email protected].

We need to know the number of domains and the set-asides that you are participating in as each has its own level of effort. Please contact sales at [email protected].

Please contact sales at [email protected] to direct you to the proper website page to get more information about cost as well as filling up the form and the process.

Please contact sales at [email protected] and he can set up a call so that in case you have technical questions as well, a self-scoring SME will be present to advice you as well.

Yes, we are flexible on the services we provide. Please contact sales at [email protected].

Please contact sales at [email protected].

Please contact sales at [email protected] to direct you to the proper website page to get more information about cost as well as filling up the form and the process.

Our success rate for self-scoring is 96%. We will tell you very early if you have a good chance to continue or not. This is a win-win strategy for both sides.

Please contact sales at [email protected] to set up a time.