Are You Ready for the Air Force MPE Bid?

Facts At-a-Glance

TOPIC	DESCRIPTION
DRFP name	Mission Partner Environment (MPE) Program, Operations, Maintenance, and Sustainment (OM&S)
Agency	Department of the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Concepts, Development, and Management (SAF/CDM) Mission Partner Capability Office (MPCO) (SAF/CDMX)
RFP date	November 8, 2023
DRFP number	FA714623RB310
Period of performance	11 year(s)
Value	$5.57B ceiling
NAICS	541512 (Computer Systems Design Services)
Competition type	Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract on a full and open / unrestricted competition
Number of winners	Single award
Award date	December 10, 2024
Incumbents	Booz Allen Hamilton, Combined Federated Battle Lab Network Support, HHSN316201200008W, HC104717F0053General Dynamics Corporation (GDIT), US BICES X Program Management Intelligence Support Technical Operations Management, FA824015D2780Trace Systems, Inc., MPE Services, HC104719D4002SOS International LLC (SOSI), MPE Network Engineering Services For The Combatant Commands (CCMDS), Hc104718d0002   Note: GDIT has captured the lion’s share of task order work at nearly $1B in government spending on the contract, while the other three contractors trail significantly behind.

MPE Overview

The program provides access to common warfighter functions and mission applications. The MPE framework supports information sharing, data exchange, and integrated performance using common governance standards and policies. MPE facilitates increased interoperability across military and humanitarian operations.

Timeline

• July 25, 2023: Release of the Draft RFP (tentative)
• August 1, 2023: Virtual industry day (tentative)
• August 8, 2023: Questions and comments due resulting from the industry day (tentative)
• November 8, 2023: RFP release date (tentative)

Cost and Challenges to Bid

The cost to bid on this multi-phase proposal is high. On June 5, 2023, the government released a request for information (RFI) soliciting feedback on the tentative RFP requirements. As the RFI indicates, successful offerors will have to respond to scenarios (which have yet to be defined by the government) in Phase 1. These scenarios’ number, size, scope, and complexity will likely affect an offeror’s cost-to-bid and trigger a bid/no-bid decision. Currently, offerors should be looking for the virtual Industry Day invitation and be prepared to submit questions to obtain information that informs their bid decision.

Here’s an outline of major RFP factors:

Phase 1

• Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 1 – Prior Experience
• Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 3 – Scenarios

All offerors who pass Phase 1 will be alerted and allowed to move on to Phase 2.

Phase 2

• Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 2 – Technical Approach and Staffing
• Factor 1: Technical, Subfactor 4 – Incoming Transition Approach
• Factor 2: Small Business Participation
• Factor 3: Cost/Price

Evaluation Criteria Summary

Per the draft RFP, the government will evaluate offerors’ proposals on the following:

Factor 1: Technical (combined adjectival/risk rating at the sub-factor level)

• Subfactor 1: Prior Experience (Previous 5 years)
• Criteria 1: Global staffing 500+ personnel (at task order (TO) level with similar labor categories (LCATs) required for OM&S) requiring top secret (TS) clearances with SCI eligibility, and annual retention rate greater than 85%
• Criteria 2: OM&S of global, geographically dispersed IT network with NOC/NOSC & Service Desk
• Criteria 3: Working in the mission partner (e.g., bi-/multi-lateral) coalition environment
• Criteria 4: Configuration Management, including Government Property and Asset Management of 1,000s+ of items
• Subfactor 2: Technical Approach (Write-up and Staffing & Skills Matrix)
• Criteria 1: TO 001 U.S. Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System (BICES)/BICES-X Technical Approach
• Criteria 2: TO 001 US BICES/US BICES-X Key Personnel and Staffing Approach to include OCONUS performance (SOFA, DOCPER/TUPE, Allowances, etc.)
• Criteria 3: TO 002 All Partners Access Network (APAN) Technical Approach
• Criteria 4: TO 002 APAN Key Personnel and Staffing Approach
• Subfactor 3: Scenarios (Write-up)
• Criteria 1: To be determined
• Criteria 2: To be determined
• Subfactor 4: Incoming Transition Approach (Incoming transition plan)
• Criteria 1: Workload, Knowledge, Data Transfer
• Criteria 2: Transition Risk identification, prioritization, and mitigation

Factor 2: Small Business Participation

• Small Business Subcontract Plan will be evaluated and included in the contract
• Small Business Participation Document

Factor 3: Cost/Price

• Reasonableness of labor rates for IDIQ (separate rate tables for FFP and CPFF)
• Reasonableness and Realism of TO 001 BICES cost proposal

Next Steps

Keep your calendar marked for August 8 and news of the pending industry day.

By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.