FBI’s ITSSS-2 Solicitation Expected This Summer

UPDATE: June 30, 2023: The ITSSS-2 Final Solicitation was released via GSA Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 54151S - Information Technology Professional Services.

Questions and comments on the Final Solicitation are due via e-mail by 10:00 AM ET on July 7, 2023.  Phase 1 Quotes are due to the Contracting Office by 10:00 AM ET on July 31, 2023.  Due dates for Phases 2-4 will be communicated via e-mail. 

Evaluations are expected to be completed by November 1, 2023.  Awards are expected to be made by December 11, 2023. 

Keep up to date on the ITSSS-2 procurement through GovWin IQ Opportunity Report # 220601.

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UPDATE: June 29, 2023: The FBI released an updated procurement schedule.  Additionally, the Contracting Office indicated they are no longer accepting any questions on the Draft Solicitation.  It is expected there will be a Question & Answer session on the Final Solicitation.

The updated procurement schedule is as follows:

Final Solicitation Release: June 30, 2023

Vendor Questions Due: July 7, 2023

Vendor Responses Due: July 14, 2023

Quotes Due: July 31, 2023

Evaluation Complete: November 1, 2023

Contract Award: December 11, 2023

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UPDATE: May 23, 2023: The ITSSS-2 Draft Solicitation was released via GSA Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule, 54151S - Information Technology Professional Services.  Interested vendors can access the documents through their eBuy portals by looking for Identification Number 1629665.  Questions and comments on the Draft Solicitation are due to the Contracting Office by 10:00 AM ET on June 5, 2023.

The remaining procurement schedule is as follows:

Industry Event: June 13-14, 2023 (Registration for the Event is now Closed)

Final Solicitation Release: June 21, 2023

Vendor Questions Due: June 28, 2023

Vendor Responses Due: July 7, 2023 

Quotes Due: July 24, 2023

Evaluation Start: July 25, 2023

Evaluation Complete: November 1, 2023 

Contract Award: December 11, 2023

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UPDATE: April 24, 2023: The FBI released an update to announce that the ITSSS-2 Industry Day location is confirmed.  It will be located at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in the National Geographic Theater on June 13-14, 2023 in Huntsville, Alabama.  There will be three identical sessions.  Morning and Afternoon session on June 13th and only a morning session on June 14th.  Registration instructions will be posted on biz.fbi.gov within the next few days. Interested vendors are asked to please visit this website for all required information.

Only interested vendors with a GSA contract under SIN 54151S will be permitted to attend and a vendor may only attend one session.

Registration will close on May 14, 2023, or sooner if the event reaches capacity. At this time, there is no live stream available for the event.

The current tentative procurement schedule is as follows:

Draft Solicitation Release: May 15, 2023
Industry Event: June 13-14, 2023
Final Solicitation Release: June 21, 2023
Vendor Questions Due: June 28, 2023
Vendor Responses Due: July 7, 2023
Quotes Due: July 24, 2023
Evaluation Start: July 25, 2023
Evaluation Complete: November 1, 2023
Contract Award: December 11, 2023

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UPDATE: April 21, 2023: The FBI released an update to announce that information for the Industry Day may be updated.  Because of this, Interested vendors are asked to please refrain from making any non-refundable travel arrangements.

At this time, the FBI anticipates the information provided on April 19, 2023 will remain accurate and will provide confirmation of the information as soon as possible.  They apologize for any confusion. 

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UPDATE: April 19, 2023:  The FBI released an update to announce the ITSSS-2 Industry Day.  It will be held at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in the National Geographic Theater in Huntsville, Alabama on June 13-14, 2023.  Three identical sessions are expected to take place.  There will be a morning and afternoon session on June 13th and a morning session on June 14th. 

Registration instructions will be posted on biz.fbi.gov within the next few days.  Interested vendors are asked to please visit this website for all required information.

Only interested vendors with a GSA contract under SIN 54151S will be permitted to attend the Industry Day.  Additionally, vendors may only attend one session.

Registration for the Industry Day is expected to close on May 14, 2023, or sooner if the event reaches capacity.  At this time, no live stream is expected to be made available.

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UPDATE: February 22, 2023:  The FBI released an update to announce that email address ITSSS2@fbi.gov is now operational.  Interested vendors are encouraged to submit questions, comments, and ideas regarding this requirement and are asked to please use this email address. 

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It’s the follow-on procurement that’s been a long time coming – the Second Generation of the FBI’s Information Technology Supplies and Support Services (ITSSS) BPA.  Following months of market research overseen by the General Services Administration (GSA) which began in May of 2022, and a few delays to the tentative procurement schedule, a Special Notice was issued to industry on February 17, 2023 which outlined future plans.  

When the decision was originally made to partner with GSA, the FBI’s procurement team was staffed at 71 percent.  Since that time, staffing increased to 95 percent and saw the addition of senior procurement professionals to help lead the development and execution of complex contract vehicles.  With the increase in both staffing and experience, the FBI decided to retain all phases of the procurement, including pre- and post-award.  The GSA will no longer have responsibility for awarding the requirement.  Additionally, the FBI intends to maintain the level of transparency the GSA provided and release monthly status checks on the procurement process.  A designated e-mail address, ITSS2@fbi.gov, was created for industry questions and comments.  Though emails returned undeliverable at the time of this writing, Deltek expects the issue will be resolved in the near future.  Once it is functioning, interested vendors are encouraged to submit questions, comments, or ideas regarding the requirement.

The Contracting Office is finalizing a high-level procurement schedule.  In order to treat all vendors fairly, no individual meetings will be scheduled to discuss the procurement.  Tentatively, an Industry Day may be held for interested vendors in the late spring.  The solicitation is planned for mid-summer.  Deltek believes this may occur in the late Q3 / early Q4 time frame.  

Previously, GSA indicated the solicitation would be released through the GSA Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule (MAS).  With the procurement process now fully in the hands of the FBI, determination whether it will remain under GSA MAS is unclear - though Deltek believes it will.  The agency expects the source evaluation process will be finalized in time for awards prior to the end of CY 2023.    

According to market research from May 2022, the services provided under ITSSS-2 will be awarded as Task Orders (TO).  Each individual TO will have a separate RFQ that will contain a Statement of Work (SOW), Statement of Objectives (SOO), or Performance Work Statement (PWS), which will depend upon the needs of the primary customer.  The Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for the BPA was between $5 and $7 billion.  Deltek believes the competition type will be Full and Open, but may include set-aside awards.  The technical scope may include the following service areas:

• Workplace Solutions / Services
• Business Application Solutions / Services
• Delivery Solutions / Services
• Platform Solutions / Services
• Infrastructure Solutions / Services
• Emerging Technologies
• Other IT Services, such as Audio/Video/Image Services, Communications, Forensics, Geospatial Analysis, Human Language Technology, and Laboratory Services

The recompete of the ITSSS BPA has been long and challenging, to say the least.  The original BPA was awarded to forty-six (46) vendors in October 2010.  The Solicitation was Full & Open, but was released on a limited basis to vendors pre-determined by the FBI through GSA Schedule 70 (now part of GSA MAS).  The awarded ceiling value was $30 billion.    

Due to the unique nature of how work under the BPA was reported, accurate contract spending data for ITSSS is not available. In 2018, the FBI confirmed approximately $2 billion in funding was awarded through the vehicle, via 230 + task orders.  The procurement process for task orders under ITSSS was streamlined, averaging 3 to 4 quotes received and 6 to 8 weeks for an award to be made.

Beginning in late 2017, efforts were made to recompete the ITSSS BPA.  Industry days were held in April 2018.  The procurement process was delayed due to internal discussions concerning the SOW and the structure for how task orders would be procured and awarded under the BPA.  The process was further delayed due to the government shutdown in early 2019.  Ultimately the recompete was renamed “Information Technology Enterprise Contract Support” or ITECS.  The solicitation was issued in July 2019, followed by a series of protests  between 2019 and 2020.

By March 2020, the ITECS solicitation was canceled – found to be necessary corrective action given a GAO decision concerning a separate procurement. In that protest, Noble Supply and Logistics, Inc. protested a solicitation established an evaluation and source selection methodology that failed to consider price as required by law and regulation, and that the pricing requirements was inconsistent with the terms of the underlying FSS contract.  This protest was sustained by GAO and the FBI judged that a similar protest filed regarding ITECS would also be sustained. 

With the revival of the ITSSS BPA in mid-2022, interested vendors are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to submit comments and ideas currently being offered by the FBI.  Deltek believes the Contracting Office will continue to remain as transparent as possible during the procurement process and expects to see additional public announcements in the coming weeks.  

Keep up to date on the ITSSS-2 procurement through GovWin IQ Opportunity Report # 220601.