WHS: The FY19-23 Business Plan and Efficiency in Action

Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), an agency within the DoD, functions and aims to implement efficiency across contracting, management and administrative support efforts. According to its mission statement, “WHS delivers full-spectrum services and facilitates Mission Partners’ success, serving as a force multiplier to enable business practices for greater performance and affordability.” Efficiency is a key component to WHS’ mission and values.

This past fall, in November 2018, WHS released its FY19-23 Business Plan, detailing the need to focus on what it names as three key components: People, Mission Partners, and Solutions. It set forth concrete objectives to recruit, develop and hold accountable the right people, engage and connect its business partners, as well as create opportunities, set standards and utilize technology for solutions.

In conjunction with the Business Plan, WHS, along with all Defense agencies, is undergoing a review by McKinsey and Company, a business consulting organization, as part of a larger initiative posed in the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). According to a WHS release dated November 9, 2018, “The McKinsey team will be working side-by-side with WHS leaders to: Identify needed reforms to establish stronger shared services; Accurately portray WHS’s history, workload, core competences and recent improvements; Assess WHS’s capacity to take on additional missions when WHS is best in class; and, Identify opportunities to improve responsiveness, quality, and efficiency.”

Specifically of interest to the contracting community is likely WHS’ plan to systematically determine and prioritize administrative and IT reform solutions. We see these elements of the Business Plan translating to potential revenue in the market as a number of opportunities are beginning to take shape within the Govwin database.

The following efforts, all falling within the Forecast or Pre-RFP stage, shine light on procurements geared toward the mission WHS has set forth:

Govwin ID 175962: WHS Resource Management and Information Technology Support

According to the associated Sources Sought Notice issued in January 2019, WHS is seeking to, “…support the Resource Management Office (RMO) in its day to day operations. The anticipated labor categories are: Financial & Budget Analyst, Web Developer and Database Manager. The work to be performed is expected to fulfill demands in the areas of IT and Web site management support; Web and graphics development; visual communications support; PPBES analysis; financial cost and execution analysis; and resource management and information management support.”

This effort is set-aside for 8a firms, and the RFP is currently scheduled to be issued between April and May of this year. An award is expected to be made by the government in July 2019. Dimensional Concepts held the incumbent contract, worth approximately $2,526K, from March 2014 through March 2019.

The work speaks to efficiency, as its overall goal is to support the Resource Management Office (RMO) with more streamlined operation practices across all of the above listed focal areas.

Govwin ID 177401: Business Process Standardization Planning

This opportunity seeks to create and obtain the following items for its Integrated Services Division (ISD) in the National Capital Region:

• Administrative support services: providing monthly and periodic progress reports and documentation
• Business process standardization facilitation session plan: delivering business alignment plan development, action team execution, and operational & strategy discussions
• Management team coaching sessions: providing up to six (6) 1 hour management team coaching sessions

The requirement is in the Pre-RFP stage, as Responses were recently collected in March 2019. A specified RFP timeframe has not yet been estimated by the government, but Deltek anticipates additional movement may take place in late spring/early summer 2019. The Sources Sought Notice further notes all vendors must be Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB).

Govwin ID 177160: Assessment Monitoring and Evaluation Security Cooperation (AM&E)

This requirement is intended to utilize both full and open and small business competitive procedures. A Pre-Solicitation Notice was issued on April 2, 2019, with the upcoming RFP expected to be released on or about May 3, 2019.

This procurement includes the following requirements:

• Assist the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Defense Security Cooperation Agency in providing support for a comprehensive set of security cooperation capabilities
• Provide the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) with services to support implementation of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Reforms to Security Cooperation programs and activities
• Provide the following types of Security Cooperation Support Services to include: program management / implementation, budgeting, planning, assessment, monitoring, evaluation, training and education, knowledge management, policy guidance and oversight, budget display and reporting, functional and regional subject matter expertise, institutional capacity building, and other tasks for addressing the Chapter 16 security cooperation reforms

The above listed procurements, although not specifically linked in its Business Plan, provide tangible examples of efforts toward greater efficiency and reform within WHS.

More to Come

In addition to the previously spotlighted efforts, the below chart provides a glimpse at even more requirements to watch for in the Washington DC metro region.

Govwin ID	Requirement	Status	Anticipated RFP Timeframe *Deltek Estimate	Set-Aside
168935	WHS Organizational Culture Study	Pre-RFP	Summer 2019*	Undetermined
176673	Records Information Management for OUSD(C)	Pre-RFP	Summer 2019*	Undetermined
153218	WHS Integrated Tracking System and Digital Mail Modernization Support Services	Pre-RFP	Summer 2019*	Undetermined
176590	WHS Administration and Clerical IDIQ	Forecast Pre-RFP	Late Winter/Early Spring 2022*	8(a) *Previous competition

As these and other efforts emerge from the directives and values outlined in WHS’ Business Plan, space in the market for contractors continues to expand, aiding in a more efficient and accountable government space.