The SUPER Professional Services Task Orders

In FY18, 20 Super Professional Services Task Orders with combined ceiling values of more than $19.6 billion and spending to date of more than $19.5 billion will exceed their ultimate expiration date and become eligible for competition (see Exhibit 1). We defined a Super Professional Services Task Order as an individual task order awarded under the umbrella of an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) or Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). We required that the IDIQ or GWAC contain a selected pool of contractors who compete on request for task order proposals. We ensured all task orders had a distinct primary contract vehicle number and task order contract number.

To find the Top 20 Super Professional Services Task Orders, we looked for task orders with an ultimate expiration date of no later than September 30, 2018, whose primary requirement and NAICS code was for professional services. We focused on task orders representing the fields of facilities, engineering, research and development, and medical staffing services. We eliminated architecture, construction, physical security, aircraft manufacturing, and munitions. We ensured the task orders had a distinct primary contract vehicle and a task order contract number.

Exhibit 1: Top 20 Super Professional Services Task Orders for Fiscal-Year 2018 (click here for downloadable pdf)

Winning Super Professional Services Task Orders requires specialized expertise and extensive reach-back capabilities to meet the government’s demand for services nationwide and worldwide. For example, the winners of LOGCAP task orders must demonstrate the ability to deploy on short notice to support theater logistics and military planning and deployment efforts. Winners of the Global Support Strategy for Visa Services contract deliver comprehensive visa support worldwide in regions whose citizens frequently seek visas to enter the United States. All winners listed in Exhibit 1 have extensive networks and programs for recruiting, training, and retaining the specialized expertise needed by the government.

Although the value of these contracts is large, offerors usually compete against 4.3 bidders on average for the task orders in Exhibit 1. The highest number of bidders was 23 for task order 13, Logistics Support Services for the Army Materiel Command, Army Sustainment Command. Some IDIQs or GWACs support a larger number of task orders. Four (or 20%) of the task orders came from LOGCAP IV, 3 (or 15%) from SeaPort-e, and 2 (or 10%) each from Alliant, GSA Schedule 00CORP, and Global Support Strategy for Visa Services contracts.

Some contracts listed in Exhibit 1 are at or near the end of their life cycles, so contracting officers may be using new contract vehicles to release task order requests for proposals. For example, the LOGCAP contracting officer released a Modification on November 14, 2017 that announced that the government intends to issue the request for proposal (RFP) on or about Monday, November 20, 2017.

The bids listed in Exhibit 1 come from data collected in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), which describes actions taken after the government awards task orders. To get a copy of the original task order RFP, you will have to retrieve it from the IDIQ or GWAC database, obtain a copy from an IDIQ or GWAC contract holder, or request a copy from the contracting officer. Using the original task order RFP, the FPDS data, and strategic plans and documents available to the public on government websites, you can begin to formulate a capture strategy and customer call plan to win the task order.

Please look for our next blog as we review the Top 20 Small Business Super Task Orders.

by Brenda Crist, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

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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 Go-to-Market Strategy, 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 $135B 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.

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