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Table of Contents

NEW UPDATES

• GSA Extends Deadline; releases new dates

Previous Information

• GSA Releases Amendment 0001
• What to know about the Final RFP
• How can I boost my score?
• What should I be doing now?
• What is Alliant 3?
• How do I know if I'm a good candidate?

**NEW**

GSA Extends Deadline; Releases New Dates

On Aug. 24, 2024, GSA extended the Alliant 3 deadline. The new deadline is Jan. 10, 2025. They also released the below updates and timelines.

• Proposal Submission Date: Jan. 10, 2025

• Pre-recorded, pre-proposal conference for Alliant 3: On or around Nov. 8, 2024

• Government responses and amendments as needed will be released: Now through Oct. 25, 2024

Below is the full announcement:

Thank you for submitting your questions and comments for the Alliant 3 GWAC solicitation, 47QTCB24R0009. The Alliant 3 team has reviewed all of the submissions and plans to provide government responses and amendments as needed from now until October 25, 2024. 

The proposal submission date is now changed from October 28, 2024 to January 10, 2025. This extension comes in response to requests from our Industry Partners, and it reflects our commitment to providing maximum clarity to our stakeholders. By allowing additional time, we aim to ensure that the proposals we receive are of the highest possible quality and will drive the most meaningful mission outcomes for our Agency Customers.

The Alliant 3 schedule adjustment is considered a strategic movement forward, starting with the first set of government responses issued as attachment A3 GR Set 01_08.23.24. Additionally, the government plans to issue a pre-recorded, pre-proposal conference for Alliant 3 on or around November 08, 2024.

We thank you again for your submissions and encourage you to enroll in the Alliant 3 Community of Interest page on GSA Interact to stay apprised of the latest information and receive notifications.

Past Updates

GSA Releases Amendment 0001

On Wednesday, July 10, GSA released Amendment 0001 for Alliant 3. This amendment corrected “technical issues” and updated the following attachments:

• P-9: Model Individual Subcontracting Plan
• P-10: GSA Form 527 Contractor Qualification and Financial Information
• P-12: C-SCRM References
• P-13: C-SCRM Control Selections

The government did not extend the submission due date in this update. However, they did extend the question submission deadline to Aug. 2. Additionally, GSA said they will issue a “pre-recorded preproposal conference” after all questions are received on Aug. 2 (although, based on the question extension, we anticipate this may slide to early August as well).  

What to Know About the Final RFP 

Opportunity Update

Final Submission Requirements

The RFP features eight main response sections with various components based on the offeror’s bidding strategy and experience portfolio. Some sections are Pass/Fail, while others will score points as part of the RFP’s scorecard evaluation methodology. The RFP included 18 attachments, but not all attachments are required for all bidders. We've compiled the summary below to help you understand the general organization and baseline requirements. An asterisk (*) denotes a requirement for ALL bidders.

1.  General (L.5.1)
   1. Signed SF-33 and SF-30(s)*
   2. Meaningful Relationship Commitment Letters [If applicable]
   3. Professional Employee Compensation Plan*
   4. Uncompensated Overtime Policy*
   5. Representations and Certifications per Section K*
   6. Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Plan*
   7. P-11, A3 Contractor Cybersecurity-Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) Responsibility Questionnaire*
2.  Relevant Experience (L.5.2)
   1. Primary NAICS Code Relevant Experience* (Attachment J.P-2)
   2. Emerging Technology Relevant Experience (Attachment J.P-3)
      1. Engagement with SB
   3.  Past Performance for Relevant Experience (L.5.3) (Attachment J.P-6)*
   4.  Systems, Certifications, and Clearances (L.5.4)
      1. Accounting System and Audit Information
      2. Approved Purchasing System
      3. Forward Pricing Rate Agreements, Forward Pricing Rate Recommendations, and/or Approved Billing Rates
      4. Earned Value Management System
      5. Acceptable Estimating System
      6. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Certification
      7. ISO 9001:2015 Certification
      8. ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 Certification
      9. ISO/IEC 27001:2013 or ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certification
      10. Facility Clearance Level
   5.  Responsibility (L.5.5)
      1. P-10: GSA Form 527 Financial Resources*
      2. C-SCRM (You’re not reading this incorrectly; this is also listed under the General section)
   6.  Organizational Risk Assessment (L.5.6)
   7.  Sustainability-Related Disclosures (L.5.7)
   8.  Price (L.5.8) [Acceptable/Unacceptable]
      1. Attachment J.P-8 – Price Template*
      2. Attachment J.P-18 – Labor Rate Attestation*

Additional Notes:

• Attachment J.P-16 (Self-Scoring Worksheet) is provided to help guide bidders but is NOT to be submitted with the proposal (the submission platform, Symphony, is where bidders must claim points)
• Bidders will be required to submit a C-SCRM Plan within 60 Days of Contract Notice to Proceed.
  • Attachments J.P-13 (C-SCRM Plan Template) and J.P-17 (C-SCRM Plan Preparation Guide) are provided to aid the development of the C-SCRM Plan but are not required as part of an offeror’s proposal.

Am I allowed to team?

The short answer is yes, but there are some significant restrictions. Other Than Small Business (OTSB) Offerors may form a Contractor Teaming Arrangement (CTA), but the only two types of permitted CTAs will be:

“(1) an arrangement in which two or more companies form a Joint Venture or Partnership to act as a potential Prime Contractor, or

(2) a potential prime contractor agrees with one or more other companies to have them as its subcontractor. “All other CTA types that are defined in agency supplemental regulations, agency desk guides, or any other form of supplemental policy“ will be excluded from consideration on Alliant 3 (L.5.1.4). There’s more.

If you’re submitting as part of an existing CTA, in order to get the Organizational Risk Assessment credit, you’ll need to demonstrate experience and performance on ALL relevant experience projects as a CTA or as all members of the CTA performing together exclusively (see Section L.5.6 for more information).

There’s one more factor to consider before you submit a bid as a CTA: if you’re an OTSB Offeror with First-Tier subcontractors, you will not be allowed to use the relevant experience, past performance systems, certifications, and clearances of your First-Tier Subcontractors.

What about Small Business offerors? The rules are different for SB CTAs, but still fairly nuanced, so we’re providing the verbatim RFP guidance here. The following three types of SB CTAs will be considered for Alliant 3:

(a) Small Business Joint Venture or Partnership (SBJV) Offeror – Two or more small business contractors form a Joint Venture or Partnership to act as a potential prime contractor with a corresponding UEI Number in (https://www.SAM.gov).

(b) Small Business with Subcontractor(s) (SBSubK) Offeror – A potential small business prime contractor agrees with one or more other small business contractors to have them act as its subcontractors under the resulting Master Contract.

(c) Small Business Mentor-Protégé (SBMP) Offeror – Two business concerns in a mentor-protégé relationship when both the mentor and the protégé are small or the protégé is small and the concerns have received an exception to affiliation pursuant to 13 CFR 121.103(h)(3)(ii) or (iii).

Does my business size affect anything else?

Yep – it sure does! Here’s a quick recap of the evolution of the Alliant contract vehicle. Originally, there were two vehicles: Alliant (Large Business) and Alliant (Small Business). When GSA recompeted the contracts, they became Alliant 2 (Large Business) and Alliant 2 (Small Business), except Alliant 2 (Small Business) was protested and protested and eventually canceled altogether before rising from the ashes as GSA Polaris (we’ve got a whole blog on that contract here!). All of this history means that Alliant 3 is basically a continuation of the Large Business (more commonly called Other Than Small Business) contract and is not designed for Small Businesses. That doesn’t mean Small Businesses are excluded from submitting a bid on Alliant 3, of course; it just means that the scorecard and breadth of requirements are likely to be more advantageous to a large, well-established business with an extensive contracting portfolio. Back to the question, though – here’s how your proposal requirements might vary based on your business size.

OTSBs will need:

• Individual Small Business Subcontracting Plan (required for all OTSBs). Attachment J.P-9 is provided as a resource; and this will be rated as either Acceptable or Unacceptable (no point associated with this component, just compliance).
• A3 Small Business Engagement Template (Attachment J.P-5). Basically, for this component you get additional points if you can have a SB substantiate that you’ve engaged them in a meaningful way for an emerging technology project. (If you’re a SB bidder, you automatically get these points).

SBs are not required to submit an Individual SB subcontracting plan and will automatically qualify for the Small Business Engagement points.

Remember, Attachment templates may change as amendments are released, so please ensure you’re using the latest versions! 

Note: All proposal document files must be submitted in Adobe (.pdf) format except for the Price Proposal Worksheet and S-SCRM Responsibility Questionnaire, which must be submitted in Microsoft Excel.

What do I need to know about “Relevant Experience”?

Now, let’s discuss the nuances of relevant experience. Relevant experience is divided into two categories: Primary NAICS Code Projects and Emerging Technology Projects. First, let’s look at what type of contract work qualifies as a “project.” Based on the June 28, 2024 final RFP (Section L.5.2.1), a Relevant Experience “project” can be any of the following:

• A single contract.
• A task order awarded under a Single or Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Task Order contract (Definite Quantity, Requirements, or Indefinite Quantity) contract (FAR 16.502, 16.503, and 16.504).
• A single task order placed under a Federal Supply Schedule contract (FAR 8.405-2), or;
• A single task order placed under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) (FAR 8.405-3)
• When an Indefinite Delivery Task Order contract or BPA’s requirements are well defined for a specific purpose(s), and Task Orders are issued on a recurring basis, a collection of a unique set of Task Orders placed under it may be combined and submitted as a single project. U.S. Federal Government, State Government, International Public Sector, and Non-Government projects awarded from the private sector can be submitted.

You’ll notice that you cannot claim a whole IDIQ as a project. These definitions apply to both Prime and subcontractor experience. And speaking of subcontractor experience, the final RFP reminds us that “only the work identified in the specific subcontract may be utilized for scoring as a relevant experience project” (Section L.5.2.1)

While we’re talking about caveats, let’s also get this out of the way: your offer must include no more than seven distinct primary NAICS code-relevant experience projects and no more than three emerging technology-relevant experience projects per emerging technology area (for a total of up to 33 emerging technology experience projects).

For your primary NAICS code-relevant experience projects that meet the definition above, the next step is to confirm the projects meet all six minimum criteria (see Section L.5.2.2 of the June 28, 2024 final RFP for more information). Specifically, you must confirm that:

1. The project includes performance in one of the NAICS listed in L.5.2.3. Note: The claimed NAICS must have been integral to the performance of the project.
2. The project is only being claimed once.
3. The project is ongoing or has been completed within five years from the date the RFP is released.
4. The project is complete or has at least one year of performance.
5. The value is equal to or greater than $7,500,000. Note:Project value for completed projects is determined by the total obligated dollars. Project value for ongoing projects is determined based on the total estimated value (inclusive of all option periods).
6. The project may be subcontracted work for both federal and commercial projects.

The list of minimum criteria for emerging technology projects is very similar (see Section L.5.2.4 of the June 28, 2024 final RFP for more information). For these projects to qualify, they must meet all of the following five minimum criteria:

1. Only be used once within the Emerging Technology Relevant Experience (See L.5.2.4.1, Emerging Technology Listing). Note: You CAN use one project to credit both as Primary NAICS Code Experience and Emerging Technology Relevant Experience.
2. Be ongoing or completed within five years from the date RFP solicitation is released.
3. Must be complete or have at least one year of performance. Note: If the project wasn’t completed or not completed within the base year, you must submit an interim or final CPARs report, a completed Award Fee Determination document, or signed Attachment J.P-6.
4. Must have an Individual Project Value equal to or greater than $1,000,000. Note:Just like with the primary NAICS code experience projects, project value for completed projects is determined by the total obligated dollars. Project value for ongoing projects is determined based on the total estimated value (inclusive of all option periods).
5. The project may be work you completed as a subcontractor for either federal or commercial projects, but if it is subcontracted work, you: 1) can only claim the value and scope of the work subcontracted to you, and 2) in addition to the project verification requirements under L.5.2.4.2, you must also provide Attachment J.P-4 signed by the prime contractor as verification of the project work, scope, and value.

So, at this point, you’ve confirmed your project meets the definition of a “project,” and meets all the minimum criteria. Now, you can look at scoring your projects individually!

Based on the scoresheet, you can give yourself the following points  each Prime or Subcontractor project:

IF on your project, you were the Prime contractor and the project was in support of a Federal Customer, you can claim additional points for:

What about emerging technology experience? This area is a little simpler. You’ll get 1,100 points for each qualifying emerging technology project (for up to three projects per category):

Past Performance

Now, let’s focus on past performance, which is a separate rating from relevance. The way to think about this is you earn points for “Relevance” by demonstrating the work you did had/has some meaningful connection to one of the primary Alliant NAICS codes, but you get points for Past Performance based on the quality of how well you performed that work. Past Performance assessments will only be evaluated for projects you are submitting as part of your Primary NAICS Code Relevant Experience (i.e., you can’t just submit CPARs for a random contract).

If your Relevant Experience projects have CPARs, you must provide a copy of the report with the proposal. If the projects don’t have CPARs (or are non-Federal), you must submit Attachment J.P-6 (Past Performance for NAICS Code Relevant Projects). If you are concerned about anything in your CPARs or J.P-6 being perceived in a potentially negative light by an evaluator, you have the option to submit a one-page narrative for each project to address inaccuracies that impacted the overall CPARs rating to be less than satisfactory.

So how do you earn points? You need to have a record of “positive” or “neutral” past performance on each of your relevant experience projects. Here are the definitions for each:

• A positive rating means receiving a Satisfactory or greater rating for four or more of the six rating elements on a Project.
• A negative rating means not receiving a Satisfactory or greater rating for four or more of the six rating elements on a Project.
• A neutral rating means no Past Performance rating elements on a project were available. If this is the case, a positive rating will be assigned.

The bottom line is that as long as you didn’t get a negative rating on a project, you’re eligible to max out the points for this element.

Price Proposal

A price proposal is required for Alliant 3, which must include A3 Price Template (Attachment J.P-8) and may require A3 Labor Rate Attestation (Attachment J.P-18) (see Section L.5.8.2). Important Note: Do not modify the Price Template. The government has said, “If modifications have been made, the Offeror will be deemed ineligible for award.”

This is a pretty straightforward section that, at a high level, consists of 15 contract years of Government Worksite pricing and 15 years of Contractor Worksite pricing for 31 IT Senior Level Labor Categories (a total of 62 rates). The 15 contract years include a 5-year base period + 5-year option period + 5 years to cover any task order that has a term beyond the option period.

Evaluation points are not used to score the price proposal. It will be rated as either acceptable or unacceptable.

File Naming Conventions

All submission documents must follow specific naming conventions that relate to the attachments (See Table 22 in Section L.4.1 of the June 28, 2024 RFP for specifics on ensuring your file names are compliant). This helps the government easily identify which documents apply to certain evaluation criteria.

Symphony Portal

Just like OASIS+ and Polaris, GSA is using the Symphony Portal. Access the portal here. If it’s your first time creating an account on Symphony, they have provided a video to review to ensure you complete all the necessary steps. Watch that video here. We recommend you create a Symphony profile as soon as possible so there are no delays when it comes time to submit your response.  

Screening Process and Technical Evaluation

Now that you’ve submitted your proposal package, here’s what to expect for the evaluation process:

Phase 1—Your proposal will be ranked based on your score. The 76 highest-scoring proposals, or preliminary qualifying proposals (PQP), will be screened to verify that all applicable supporting documentation was submitted. 

Phase 2—If your PQP passes the preliminary screening, it will then be evaluated against the Acceptability Review criteria (section M.4 of the June 28, 2024 final RFP) on a pass/fail basis, based on accuracy and completeness.

• Signed SF-33
• Individual Subcontracting Plan
• Meaningful Relationship Commitment Letters (MRCLs) (if applicable)
• Existing Joint Venture or Partnership
• Small Business Contractor Teaming Agreement
• Subcontractor Letter(s) of Commitment (applicable to Small Business CTAs only)
• Professional Employee Compensation Plan
• Uncompensated Overtime Policy
• Representations and Certifications
• VETS-4212 Federal Contract Reporting (if applicable)
• C-SCRM Responsibility Questionnaire
• Organizational Conflict of Interest Form
• Price Proposal

Note: If your proposal fails the Acceptability Review, it will be removed from the potential award pool.

Phase 3—Your PQP supporting documentation will be evaluated and scored using the Alliant 3 Scoring Table (See Section M.6 of the June 28, 2024 RFP). The evaluation process will continue until the 76 awardees are identified. Contract awards will be announced once evaluations are complete.

How can I boost my score?

You’ll remember from the previous section that GSA has determined an oddly specific number of anticipated awardees for Alliant 3 (to save you from scrolling back up, it’s 76). This is based on a minimum qualifying score, like OASIS+, which is the 76 highest-scoring proposal. That means that to be competitive, you will HAVE to submit at least some non-mandatory elements. The non-mandatory elements in total are worth a whopping 26,350 additional points. Below is a snapshot of the scoring table that includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements. As mentioned above, to view the scoring table in its entirety, see pages 316–320 of the June 30, 2024 final RFP.

The specific systems, certifications, clearances, and disclosures that can earn you points are listed in Sections L.5.4 and L.5.7:

• Systems: Accounting System and Audit Information, Purchasing System, Forward Pricing Rate Agreements and Recommendations, Earned Value Management System (EVMS) Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA) Standard-748, Estimating System
• Industry Certifications: CMMI, ISO 9001, ISO/TEC 20000-1:2018, ISO/IEC 27001:2013 or ISO/IEC 27001:2022
• Facility Clearance Level
• Sustainability Related Disclosures
• Public Disclosure of Scope 1, 2, or 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Bottom line, to earn the best score, you need to be able to present:

• A diverse portfolio (spanning all five Alliant 3 NAICS codes) of relevant Prime experience projects supporting different Federal customers through large contracts with documented positive past performance (and if you’re bidding as part of a CTA, make sure the projects you’re submitting were performed by the CTA)
• Multiple emerging technology projects spanning all emerging technology areas that also show strong engagement with small businesses
• Audited systems, industry certifications, and a facility clearance.

What should I be doing now?

If you’re not familiar with the Symphony portal, create your account now and log in to familiarize yourself with the platform. GSA also recommends verifying that your SAM.gov entry is up-to-date and that your UEI matches your profile. If your SAM.gov entry is due to expire within the next year, we highly recommend you set a reminder to renew at least one month before it’s set to expire so your SAM.gov listing does not lapse during the award process.

Download all the documents and read the RFP in its entirety. We recommend doing this before Aug. 2 so that if you have questions, you can submit them before the question deadline.

Make sure you’ve selected your highest-scoring (and fully qualified) projects. Need another set of eyes? We’re here for you!

Always be prepared for amendments and updates to the documents. Before you submit, ensure you’re using the latest templates provided by the government.

How Trident Can Help

Scorecard evaluations seem may straightforward, but details can be lost with so many attachments (especially given the evidence you’ll need to prepare and submit to validate your claimed points). If you need an extra set of eyes or want to ensure you’re compliant with a third-party evaluation, contact Trident today. Our team of GWAC subject matter experts can help you and your team submit a compliant response.  

CONTACT TRIDENT TODAY

What is Alliant 3? 

Alliant 3 is a GSA Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for businesses that provide Information Technology services (and if you haven’t guessed already from the name, it is a follow-on to Alliant 2). (Note: if you’re a Small Business, your Alliant-equivalent GWAC is Polaris). The goal of Alliant 3 is to streamline the acquisition of IT services and emerging technology for the Federal Government. Here are the key things to know:

• Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC)
• Final solicitation expected in Q3 FY2024
• All Primes and Subcontractors must be registered in NAICS 541512
• Points-based evaluation with nearly 70% of the total score derived from Relevant Experience/Past Performance
• Additional points are available for approved Cost Accounting and Purchasing systems, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certifications, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications, and Facility Clearances. 

Timeline: The second draft solicitation was out for “market research” purposes. Based on the fact that GSA is not planning to respond publicly to questions but rather incorporate recommendations into the final RFP version, it is unlikely that we will see a third draft before the final.

We know what you’re thinking: isn’t it a little early for Alliant 3 if the option period for Alliant 2 was supposed to run through 2028? The short answer is yes – this is happening sooner than GSA originally planned because Alliant 2 is being used that much. We all know GWACs have high ceilings, so to put this in perspective, consider this. The original ceiling for Alliant 2 was $50B. In 2022, the ceiling was increased to $75B. But Alliant 2 is seeing a burn rate of $1B a month. (Yep, that’s BILLION with a B.) The bottom line is the contract will run out of ceiling long before 2028, so GSA is moving forward with this replacement contract as expeditiously as possible. Much like Polaris (if it is ever awarded…), GSA has proposed that Alliant 3 not have a ceiling.

How do I know if I’m a good candidate?

You’ve heard us preach this point before – winning a seat on a GWAC is great IF you have the resources to win task orders on that contract. In other words, you need to evaluate your eligibility/scoring for the GWAC and your business case for the contract itself. Said another way, is Alliant 3 a contract you can realistically manage and that your government clients can use? The initial bid is the (relatively) easy part – winning work on task orders will require additional time, resources, and effort. Before you get into tallying points, ask yourself a few questions:

• Can you manage the administrative demands of a GSA contract with your current contract support infrastructure?
• Do you have access to a senior, high-level, program management professional?
• Are you willing and able to meet the marketing, minimum contract thresholds, and participation requirements that come with a win? For Alliant 3, “participation” has some particularly unique definitions that include submitting a minimum number of proposals each year.

RECOMMENDATION: Answering “no” to the questions above shouldn’t be grounds for an immediate no-bid decision, but it should give you pause and help you calibrate your definition of what success looks like on Alliant 3. Your goal should be staying on the contract and making it work for you, not just winning the initial award. Think through how you will manage work once you're on the contract and let that plan of action inform your strategic bid, hiring, teaming, or business development decisions accordingly.

If you don’t think your long-term success will be an issue, then you can start evaluating your projects and calculating an anticipated score. 

Beware: Even the most organized companies can be surprised by the amount of time and effort it takes to prepare a response like this, but the efforts you make to prepare now can pay dividends when GSA releases the final Alliant 3 RFP. Give yourself the best head start possible by thoughtfully evaluating your projects, putting a strategy in place for teaming (if needed), and knowing what administrative requirements lurk in the fine print of the solicitation that might derail an otherwise eligible bid.

Look for our next blog on getting started, details about teaming, and tips for boosting your score.

Written By Rebecca Wayland and Jen Concannon 

Rebecca is our HR and Development Manager. While Rebecca primarily wears the HR hat, she offers comprehensive proposal management, capture support, market research and training. Not only is the author of The FastProp Process, she is also our GWAC and MA-IDIQ lead so if you’re exploring  one of these contract vehicles, she is definitely your SME. As a U.S. Navy veteran and military spouse based in Honolulu, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.

Jen is a capture and proposal manager at Trident. Her skills include proposal support and technical editing and formatting. She is also a licensed project management professional (PMP). As a military spouse based on the East Coast, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.