Editor’s note: Check out the latest blog on CIO-SP3!
We’re watching for the upcoming competitions on DHITS and SPARC… Developments in GSA ALLIANT… Waiting on T4… The list of big Multi-Award IDIQ opportunities (aka “shiny objects”…points made in an earlier blog) goes on and on. While we look ahead at these, we need to remember some wisdom:
Obi-Wan Kenobi: But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future.
Qui-Gon Jinn: But not at the expense of the moment.
Yes, we’re talking federal contracting and I just went there with a Star Wars reference. Deal with it. Geeky references aside, why did I bother? Because it’s not wise to focus on upcoming contracting trends and vehicles at the expense of the current ones. Better yet, do you know where your current customers are going to get requirements fulfilled?
Which brings me to a specific and current federal contracting opportunity that should be on many company radars. Let’s talk about CIO-SP3. (Sounds a bit like a Star Wars character, too?)
As the #3 in the name suggests, this is merely the current incarnation of the Chief Information Officer–Solutions and Partners (CIO-SP3) contract. In case you missed it, this contract is used pretty well across the U.S. Government. If you’re not on it or you don’t have access to the procurement portal, this can be challenging (but by no means impossible) to track and understand. In case you have not followed the use of CIO-SP3 let’s look at the basics. Why should you care? If the information below on how some of your customers are using CIO-SP3 isn’t enough…consider the potential for an on ramp in 2016. Do I have your attention now? Anyway, off we go!
Large business vs. small business share of opportunities
Amazingly enough, there is very good equality in terms of total spending to date when we compare large and small businesses
How does the small business picture look?
Understand a fundamental truth here. There are businesses with more than one contract so what we’re counting is the specific socioeconomic status associated with a specific contract. This yields 66 small businesses, 24 woman owned small businesses, 38 8(a) businesses, 10 service disabled veteran owned small businesses and 2 HUBZone businesses. This gives customers a variety of set-aside options. Yes, the spending looks like it has dropped in FY2015 because we’re only part of the way through FY2015.
Who uses CIO-SP3?
Now we’re at the meat of the coconut. Who are the customers that have been using CIO-SP3?
Obviously, HHS uses CIO-SP3. By way of the NITAAC, this is their contract. DoD, Interior and DHS have made significant use of CIO-SP3. The data says Interior, but once you peel apart task orders it’s obvious that Interior is merely using the contract to help other agencies. Better yet, we have significant usage from DoD and DHS. Wait a minute…DoD and DHS have plenty of options other than CIO-SP3. Let’s dive deeper into the customers.
Who are the overall top 10 customers by active spending? What we learn here are the big spenders (in millions of dollars) and some future implications.
NIH is not a surprise so let’s not spend any time on them. CMS has their legacy ESD contract (soon to be called SPARC during the re-compete phase). CMS has more resources than your average agency, yet they increasingly turn to CIO-SP3. Will this change when SPARC is re-competed and in place? Maybe, maybe not. The same comment applies to DHA. What happens when DHITS is in place? CIO-SP3 has partially filled the gap left by D/SIDDOMS. Keep reading…look at DHS. Are we filling the gap left by the not-so-speedy resolution of EAGLE? The bottom line is CIO-SP3 is and continues to be a very valuable contract vehicle despite the ever growing proliferation of agency specific multiple award IDIQ contracts.
What are the big task orders under CIO-SP3?
The scope-of-work allowed under CIO-SP3 is generous. What has resulted from this generous scope-of-work? We have an extraordinary array of large, complex opportunities to consider.
All of this long blog is to help us not get distracted by the ever escalating array of contract vehicles. Be mindful of what is on the playing field right now before you get distracted by new toys. Be mindful of the present so you’re not so absorbed by the potential of the future!
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