Table of Contents 

• What is MAPS?
• Fast Facts
• What’s Required for Submission (based on draft Sections L and M)
• What’s a Qualifying Project (QP)?
• Who Should Apply?

We’ve been tracking how the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) would proceed with updating its information technology acquisition program. This comes as both Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3 (ITES-3S) and Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) -- ITES-3S and RS3 are set to expire simultaneously. We also tracked the Computer Hardware Enterprise Software Solutions (CHESS) updates when we attended AFCEA Fort Belvoir’s Industry Day earlier this year. We finally have the answer to how the Army will tackle modern acquisitions: they’re consolidating ITES-3S and RS3 into MAPS.  

What is MAPS? 

In August, the Army announced that MAPS, or Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services, would be the consolidated solution. This solution is intended for U.S. Army knowledge-based support services for the Army enterprise infrastructure and infostructure. 

This new opportunity will cover five domains: Technical Services; Management and Advisory Services; Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Services (RDT&E); High-Level IT Services; and Low-Level IT Services. 

We want to caveat any MAPS discussion at the very beginning because PEO EIS is taking a feedback-centric approach to this opportunity. The CHESS office has provided a few draft portions of this solicitation, but there’s a lot of room for change, so ensure you check the SAM.gov announcement regularly (and send in your feedback!). We’ll also be updating this blog as information is released.  

Based on the current draft information, the Army anticipates awarding 100 contracts, 20 per Domain. It plans to have SB reserves within each Domain, although specific small business (SB) quotas have not been determined. The pool of awardees will be based on scorecard point ranking – only the 100 highest-scoring proposals will receive an award, so every point matters. Note: During the Nov. 8, 2024, Industry Day, the CHESS contracting team mentioned there is a possibility that there will be less than 100 distinct awardees if multiple companies receive awards in multiple domains.  

Fast Facts 

What’s Required for Submission
(based on November 2024 draft Sections L & M and Industry Day)

As of November 2024, this is a strict compliance-based proposal with Gate Criteria that will likely be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. If your team does not clear the initial Gate Criteria, the rest of your proposal will not be evaluated. Once you’re clear of the Gate Criteria, the proposal is evaluated against a scorecard. 

Based on the draft Sections L & M and Industry Day, you must submit all of the below items for your final submission: 

• Cover Letter (one page) – You must include a point of contact, the domain(s) you’re bidding on, your company name, business size, and the CAGE code for the prime bidder 
• Gate Criteria (Attachment 0001) 
• Volume I – Systems, Rates, and Certifications 
• Volume II – Past performance 
• Volume III – Technical

As it currently stands, you submit all of these with your proposal. During the Industry Day, however, audience participation requested that the government consider a phased submission approach, with offerors submitting the Gate Criteria—Attachment 0001 before submitting Volumes I-III. The representatives said they would consider this advice. With that, we strongly encourage you to review the Gate Criteria–Attachment 0001 and walk through the yes/no questions before you prepare the rest of your volumes. (Note: We’re closely monitoring the RFP and will annotate if this phased approach is implemented).  

According to the draft evaluation criteria, your company must first meet the Attachment 1 Gate Criteria in order to move on to the second part of the evaluation, the scorecard-based volumes.

Part 1: Gate Criteria (Attachment 0001) 

• Active Facility Clearance 
• Government Approved Accounting System. SBs are not required to have an approved accounting system; however, they must submit an active SB certification. (We expect clarification on what documentation and certifying bodies will be accepted).  
• Active Certifications  
• ISO 9001:2015 
• CMMC Level I 
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 
• NIST SP 800-53B 
• NIST SP 800-37 Rev 2 
• CNSS Instruction 1253:2022 
• NIST SP 800-171 Assessment 
• CPARS Rating above Marginal

Important Note: You are required to provide supporting documentation to prove you have the active certifications at the time of proposal​. Per the Industry Day, they cannot be “in progress” but must be active.

These requirements are pass or fail. The government will review your Attachment 0001 and all your supporting documentation before you move forward in the evaluation criteria. Essentially, if you do not meet the requirements, you are not eligible for MAPS.

** It’s worth noting that the “certifications” required aren’t all certifications. We will continue to watch this to see if the government changes the language.

Part 2: Scorecard Evaluation

If you meet the gate criteria, the next portion of your proposal is a scorecard-based evaluation, as follows:

* Reminder: CMMC Level 1 is the baseline requirement. CMMC Level 2 is not required; however, you will earn a point if you do have Level 2 or higher.

What is a Qualifying Project (QP)? 

Reminder: This is based on the November Industry Day and draft Sections L and M. Always read the final RFP or latest Amendment for the final requirement.  

Offerors may submit a maximum of three projects per proposed domain. A QP must: 

• Be a single contract (prime, sub, or commercial), single Task Order (TO), or a TO under a Federal Supply Schedule, 
• Have a $2M minimum total value, 
• Have a minimum of one year of performance and must have occurred within the last four years from the date of RFP release (Note: There is conflicting guidance in the draft solicitation around whether the four years will be based off the RFP release or the solicitation date), and 
• The QP’s assigned NAICS must be the same as one of the five specific Domains and technical capabilities described.** 

Industry Day Note: If you have a project that is from an IDIQ or BPA, the QP must be from the TO level, not at the IDIQ or BPA level.

What must bidders provide with each QP? 

Bidders must provide the below information for each QP (again, no more than three QPs per domain are allowed): 

• Specific contract number or agreement number, 
• Dollar value, 
• NAICS code (must align with the same NAICS for the Domain you’re bidding under), 
• Brief description of the work and mapping to the PWS, and 
• CPARs for each QP; however, if you performed this work for a commercial client or do not have a CPARs, you can submit a PPQ 

What is Relevance?  

**Offerors will have their QPs evaluated against the technical capabilities within the proposed domain. These “technical capabilities” are those identified in the PWS for each domain and are included in the table below. Each Project will be evaluated against the domain’s technical capabilities and assigned a percentage evaluation that will translate to points based on how the provided QP relates to the technical capabilities of the domain. Below is the proposed points system for Relevance:  

What are the Technical Capabilities?  

The table below includes the technical capabilities listed in the draft Sections L and M. Each QP will be evaluated against this list of capabilities. Based on our understanding now, for a QP being evaluated in the Technical Services domain (NAICS 541330), an evaluator will look for alignment with the six technical capabilities: engineering services, logistics services, manufacturing readiness, technology insertion, integration, and interoperability. If the project only covers four of those six capabilities, that project has a 66% relevancy alignment and would, therefore, only receive two relevancy points.

What about NAICS Alignment and Recency?

The final two elements are alignment and recency. Alignment is when the QP aligns with the proposed Domain NAICS. If you have this, you’ll earn one point. Recency requires a QP to have occurred within the last four years but with at least a year of performance. If any of the QPs have a Period of Performance within the last two years, they will receive an additional recency point.

A word about this. During the Industry Day, the contracting reps provided an example for NAICS alignment.  

Offeror A submits a proposal for the RDT&E Domain, which is NAICS code 541715. The QP submitted by Offeror has a NAICS code of 541330 (Technical Domain). The QP is acceptable because the NAICS falls within one of the five Domains. However, since the QP does not match RDT&E (541715) the Offeror would not receive the one additional point for NAICS alignment for that QP.

An audience member asked for flexibility with the NAICS alignment for this. The team did not indicate they would change this requirement.

Performance Quality 

The government will evaluate all three QPs and look at your CPARs or PPQ. You will receive one point for a single QP rated “Satisfactory” or above. You'll receive three points for two QPs with “Satisfactory” or above ratings. You'll receive the full five points for performance quality for three QPs with “Satisfactory” or above ratings.

Volume III: Technical Components 

Proposals will include a brief, six-page Technical response describing the offeror’s recruitment approach (including an Org Chart), retention approach, and risk management approach (which will also cover OCI). This volume will be evaluated using confidence ratings. High levels of confidence will receive 3 points per component.

Overall, the scorecard has a total of 39 points.  

Who Should Apply? 

If your company meets the initial gate criteria, this may be a fantastic opportunity to expand into support for the U.S. Army and its subsidiary commands.

We say it every time and emphasize this point, especially with MAPS. Part of the reason for the consolidation of ITES-3S and RS3 is that the Army is hoping to ensure that Task Orders are awarded out of a competitive environment. Because of this, MAPS has a participation requirement. If your team has the resources to compete and win task orders on this contract, then MAPS is a great opportunity for your company. The initial bid is only a small piece of the puzzle, as you will need to allocate additional resources, time, and effort toward the task orders once you’re awarded a contract. So, before you set to tallying your points in this strict compliance scorecard proposal, ask yourself: 

• Can you manage the administrative demands with your current infrastructure? 
• Are you able to meet the participation requirement that comes with the win? We should see more information about those requirements in the next update. 

If you don’t have all the active certifications (again, they’re all required at the time of submission; not pending), the government has said they will be on-ramping in the future. So, continue to work on those requirements and explore the on-ramp when it comes around.

Additionally, scorecards offer you an opportunity to scope your business development. With the scorecard in hand, you can evaluate bid options over the next year or so to pursue opportunities that can help you round out your submission for programs like MAPS. You can explore contracts that meet the QP requirements and build out your past performance experience. You may find OASIS+ is a great contract vehicle to help you build out those Task Orders, and with us anticipating the on-ramping for OASIS+ to open in 2025, now is the time to begin evaluating your own experience to see if you are a good fit. We can help with that!

Next Steps 

Review the Gate Criteria–Attachment 0001 and answer all the questions. If you can meet the draft Gate Criteria or if you need help determining your eligibility, contact Trident. Make sure you subscribe and follow to stay in the loop with industry updates, changes to the solicitation, and Trident support packages for this exciting opportunity. Subscribing to MAPS via SAM.gov can also ensure you receive the most up-to-date information. We’ve been active in the industry this year, and all of the conversations have held a central theme: the Government wants you to participate. Respond to calls for industry feedback, ask questions, and stay engaged to help shape acquisitions. If you’re ready to pursue MAPS, don’t hesitate to reach out to Trident today.

Written by Kiley Stewart    

Kiley is a capture and proposal manager at Trident. She brings her proposal management, technical editor, competitor analysis, and resume development skills to clients. She is also the voice of the Trident Short podcasts and one of the team members you’ll talk to when you reach out. A U.S. Navy veteran and military spouse based on the East Coast, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.