Selling to the Federal Government in 2021

The contracting industry experienced a year of unprecedented events, new reforms, and exciting innovations in FY20, leading companies to adapt how they provide services for the Federal government. Many of these industry changes will have ramifications for this next fiscal year. Whether you are an established Federal contractor working with numerous agencies, or striving to secure your first contract, AlphaBrook has compiled a list of important changes in regulation and opportunities for contractors to consider when looking to sell into the government in 2021.

1.     Position for Major Contract Vehicle Solicitations

There are many highly anticipated vehicle solicitations and awards scheduled to occur in FY21, including the NITAAC CIO-SP4 solicitation, 8(a) STARS III award, and the SeaPort-NxG On-Ramp solicitation. Our AlphaBrook team has continued to monitor the progression of these contracts. Contractors pursuing these or other high-value vehicles should ensure their team has a thorough understanding of the detailed solution preferences of the government customers, adhere to the specifications of the solicitation (font matters), and form teams with partners bringing complementary capabilities and relevant past performance.

2.     Target Agencies with Increasing Budgets for Strategic Growth Opportunities

Total spending by the Federal government has continually increased over the past few years, and despite the CV-19 impact on operations, it seems that FY2020 maintained this trend. According to USAspending, the Federal government had spent $1.55 trillion towards COVID-19 response efforts alone (as of August 31, 2020), underscoring the increased spending and funding from the government last year. Following suit, the FY2021 budget requests for many agencies are significantly higher than budgets approved for the past year. Agencies such as NASA, VA, DHS, Treasury, and DoD have requested budgets that increase their 2020 enacted levels by 12%, 14%, 3.2%, 2.2%, $0.8B, respectively. Companies seeking to increase revenue from Federal work can strategically target these agencies with growing budgets and maximize opportunities to secure contracts.

3.     Ensure Adherence to DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

The Department of Defense (DoD) released their CMMC version1.0 on January 31, 2020, and DoD has said that they are on track to have the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARs) rule come out by the end of the calendar year. The CMMC is a new five-tiered system of controls for the DoD, whose purpose is to improve security for defense contracts. As DoD moves into the implementation phase for this new model, the department will be competing “pathfinder” contracts that incorporate various CMMC levels throughout Fall 2020. DoD reported as early as August 2020 that they were beginning training courses for CMMC candidate-assessors to maintain their implementation schedule. It is essential that companies who regularly compete for DoD contracts, or who plan to do so in the future, are prepared to meet the new CMMC requirements.

4.     Identify the Right Government Decision-Makers for Virtual Relationship Building

The onset of CV-19 caused a significant increase in the government’s virtual workforce for many offices. The longevity of this virus response has made it essential for vendors to adjust to a different buying environment and continue building relationships electronically. In lieu of government industry days and in-person meetings, BD teams must make the most of digital interactions with government procurement stakeholders, which places a greater emphasis on their ability to be able to identify the right government buyers (with accurate, direct contact information). Contractors who are unsure of how to identify the best government decision-makers would benefit from utilizing tools, such as AlphaBrook’s Voice-of-Government® solution, that specialize in identifying evaluation panel members, removing this burden from their internal teams and empowering their staff to continue building strong relationships with target government customers.

5.     Leverage GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Consolidation

According to GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Julie Dunne, the organization completed Phase 2 of their MAS Consolidation at the end of July and has since begun Phase 3. This next phase will initiate multiple contract consolidations for current MAS holders, so that each contractor will only have one Schedule contract. The goal of this consolidation is to “provide consistency in the program for all stakeholders, make it easier for customers to find total solutions under one contract vehicle, ensure terms and conditions meet the needs of our customers, and eliminate duplicate contracts.” If this consolidation does in fact make it easier for government to compete their requirements, they may increase utilization of GSA MAS, which will place heightened importance on contractors to secure a GSA MAS Schedule, if they do not have one already.

6.     Monitor Progression of the Implementation of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act Section 876

The Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) announced that they have begun implementing Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act Section 876, with the goal of increasing competition at the task order level for multiple award contracts (MACs) rather than at the vehicle award level. The authority allows the heads of agencies to determine whether or not to include price or cost as an evaluation factor for contract awards where the contracts acquire services at an hourly rate. This would be applicable to competitions of requirements where the task order services are the same or similar. The benefits of this reform include streamlined procurements, “robust” task order level competition for vendors, and decrease barriers to entry for small businesses seeking to do business with the Federal government. GSA recently released the first acquisition to use this new reform, FEDSIM’s ASTRO contract vehicle, and GSA representatives have said the upcoming Polaris GWAC could also incorporate Section 876. If this authority produces the results government hopes to see, contractors will want to be aware of how this could help them secure more contract vehicles, especially small business vendors.

7.     Develop a Thorough Understanding of Your Target Government Customers and Their Desired Solutions

While BD teams should allocate time towards maintaining strong relationships with your company’s existing government partnerships, it is always important to diversify your contract portfolio and pursue new agency opportunities to minimize business risk. In our conversations with industry prospects, we have heard unfortunate stories of small businesses relying on one or two prime contracts for their revenue stream, who are then blindsided by losing their recompete competition or having their incumbent contract consolidated into another program. It can seem like an uphill battle to garner sufficient and accurate intel to break into a new government office, but it is essential to winning new contracts for business security. In order to win contracts with new offices, your team will need a thorough and intimate understanding of the solution preferences of your target government agencies, the evaluation panel members, incumbent contractors and their performance, technology stack, desired innovations, and more. If this type of knowledge seems difficult to capture with your existing resources, you could benefit from utilizing our Voice-of-Government® solution.

8.     Capitalize on Increasing Information Technology Spending

According to ITDashboard.gov, Federal spending on Information Technology has steadily increased over the last three years, with “major” investment* spending following the same upward trend. This same source projects that spending on IT expenditures will continue to increase in FY2021. With the increased demand for IT vendors, especially those in the emerging technology spaces working in AI, Big Data, Cybersecurity, etc., companies should invest in strengthening their IT capabilities to capture revenue from this increased funding for Federal IT programs. If your company provides IT services, and you have not yet done work in the Federal market, there is ample opportunity for your team to break into this space. If you are unsure of how to enter this industry, AlphaBrook specializes in helping tech companies enter and grow within the Federal government market.

9.     Utilize Government Spending Tools and Forecasts – Despite Continued Changes

Especially for companies working to break into the Federal market, but relevant for all teams pursuing government contracts, it is important to ensure you are up-to-date on utilizing the publicly available Federal opportunity sources to track procurements that align with your business type. While a significant amount of spending is channeled through major contract vehicles, there are thousands of funded opportunities available for bidding in the open market on sites like beta.SAM.gov and APFS. Please note: If you are a new-comer to the Federal contracting industry and unsure how to begin the bidding process, you will first want to ensure that you are a registered entity with SAM.gov. This registration will allow you to do business with the Federal government, and offer a mechanism through which the government will pay your team upon a contract award. Once you have ensured your user accounts are registered or up-to-date, there may still be some additional learning involved to most effectively using these opportunity resources. With the recent changes to sources like beta.SAM.gov and APFS, even the industry’s old dogs have had to learn new tricks when it comes to leveraging these updated tools. While AlphaBrook strives to provide guidance during such major changes, sales executives will want to ensure that their internal teams have enough training and support to successfully learn the new features developed within any updated government procurement tools.

If you are looking for specific market intelligence to help your team sell to the Federal Government this year, we offer a unique Voice-of-Government® solution that helps companies identify government buyers and delivers their exact verbal feedback on solution preferences. Schedule a call with our team to learn more.

*ITDashboard.gov defines a “major” investment as one that:

·       requires special management attention because of its importance to the mission or function of the agency, a component of the agency requires special management attention because of its importance to the mission or function to the government;

·       has significant program or policy implications;

·       has high executive visibility;

·       has high development, operating, or maintenance costs;

·       has unusual funding mechanism; or

·       is defined as major by the agency’s capital planning and investment control process.