Exclusive AlphaBrook Insights on GSA Polaris
What is it?
The General Services Administration (GSA) is procuring Polaris as its new small business GWAC, which will enable federal agencies to obtain custom IT Solutions from qualified small businesses including HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) and women-owned small business (WOSB) firms.
Why is Polaris so important?
What is important for vendors to know is that the GSA is seeking to fill the void in their small business suite left behind by Alliant 2 Small Business. Polaris will replace Alliant 2 Small Business, which was canceled in July 2020, itself an attempt to replace Alliant Small Business. As a result, small business contract opportunities will increase significantly upon release. Multiple awards are being anticipated within each socioeconomic pool, placing the number of small businesses awards around a minimum of 60 and a maximum of potentially hundreds.
Interested vendors should take note of the fact Alliant Small Business, the predecessor to Polaris, was highly regarded among customer agencies for its best-in-class designation, which GSA will aim for as they design the Polaris Small Business GWAC. Nearly 700 task orders were awarded throughout the vehicle.
Well over a dozen companies graduated from their small business status during the course of Alliant Small Business, due in part to the large amount of revenue, highlighting the importance this vehicle has played in the growth of small businesses.
Top users of Alliant Small Business since its award in September 2006:
GSA - $2.1B
DoD - $1.8B
Energy - $1.4B
State - $725.1M
Army - $629.4M
Top companies awarded on Alliant Small Business in terms of reported spending:
ActioNet - $1B
Agile Defense - $749.1M
Digital Management Inc (DMI) - $516.4M
By Light Professional IT Services - $407.2M
SBD Alliant - $398.6M
Recent GSA Polaris Developments:
The Polaris vehicle remains a highly prioritized vehicle within GSA, as they released a draft RFP on 09/24/2021, which invited industry’s comments on Sections L and M; these comments will be utilized to determine these sections’ ultimate layout. They additionally held the Polaris Industry Forum on 10/21/2021, in which they revealed the likelihood of a late CY2021/early CY2022 release of the final RFP.
Insights via AlphaBrook Interviews about GSA Polaris:
AlphaBrook’s engagement with key stakeholders revealed the substantial importance of the upcoming Polaris procurement, as Information Technology Category (ITC) IT Services Director Carlton Shufflebarger noted of the predecessor Alliant Small Business vehicle, “It did really well and it’s a very popular vehicle," highlighting the popularity of this vehicle both with industry and with government procurement stakeholders. Mr. Shufflebarger also acknowledged the impact of the Alliant 2 Small Business vehicle, which was cancelled in July 2020 due to over a year of protest delays, stating, "there's a void because we don't have Alliant 2, you know, we cancelled Alliant 2 Small Business. So, there's a void right now in our small business suite. But, yeah, the Alliant Small Business was very, very popular, very successful." This underscores that the government considers this vehicle to be of the utmost importance for availing themselves of small businesses capable of delivering IT services.
An additional development of interest relating to Polaris is that unlike the predecessor Alliant Small Business vehicle, which simply was for all small business concerns, Polaris will have opportunities for specific socioeconomic categories, as Mr. Shufflebarger explained to AlphaBrook, “Polaris will include set asides for WOSB and HUBZones in addition to small businesses without a socio economic designation. Polaris won't be restricted to WOSB and HUBZones but will include other small businesses," and it was later noted, “In support of the President’s priorities of economic recovery, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility," they will additionally include SDVOSBs, as “Polaris will include an SDVOSB set-aside pool." They expect this breakdown to entail, among the 310 anticipated total awards, 100 awards for unrestricted small businesses, 60 for HUBZone, 70 for SDVOSB, and 80 for WOSB. This was corroborated by FAS Commissioner Sonny Hashmi, who explained, “We’re going to start Polaris with focus pools on [total] small businesses, historically underutilized business zones or HUBZones, woman-owned small businesses [WOSB], and service-disabled veteran owned small businesses [SDVOSB],” reiterating the diverse array of socioeconomic concerns that will be considered within Polaris.
We moreover learned from GSA ITC GWAC Director Marcelo Olascoaga regarding the exceptionally broad scope of Polaris, “I would say that take a look at the scope; the scope is very general. First of all, if it's IT, it's going to be within scope and that for the majority of the time, it is true. So, if you're selling an IT service to the government, then chances are it's going to be within the scope. For example, if you are maintaining a network or you're administering a database and modifying that database and so on. Those are all examples of IT services that you can provide the government; it's going to be within scope.” He later elaborated, “you can buy products or tangible IT goods like computers, printers, routers, bridges," if these products are tangential to the services, further indicating that the scope of Polaris is expansive. However, he advised, “But for addressing the solicitation, we have those functional areas that we’d like you to address, so that we can actually evaluate something, otherwise the scope is going to be so large that we won't be able to narrow it down and provide the proper verification for everything you submit, so really that's how it happens.” Based on this feedback, it will suit offers to market the breadth of their capabilities across IT service areas, as well as potential partnerships or capabilities pertaining to IT goods and products, particularly regarding the functional areas included in the scope of Polaris.
Read the Full Report
If you would like to learn more about this opportunity and how AlphaBrook can help your team gain a competitive advantage for this upcoming procurement you can access the FULL REPORT.
