The Sky’s the Limit on the SEWP VI GWAC

Speaking at an Industry Day held in College Park, MD, the program management heads of the Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) presented a vision of the largest iteration of the popular Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) yet.  Already used by every agency in the federal government, and boasting over $12.2 billion in FY 2023 funding obligations, SEWP VI is expected to have no cap on the number of awarded contracts.  Additionally, no projected total ceiling value was offered, although it was suggested that each individual contract may have a maximum ceiling of $20 billion – a total which is unlikely to be reached but offers the opportunity for vendors to offer their products and services at-will to their government buyers.

SEWP VI Scope Overview

The SEWP VI Draft Solicitation was released on September 8, 2023, and interested vendors are invited to submit questions and comments through October 23, 2023.  The Draft Solicitation proposes three separate categories of products and services to be provided.  These include:

• Category A: Information Technology, Communications and Audio-Visual Solutions (ITC/AV) – A broad suite of solutions, including technology where there is an intertwining of products, and services such as installation, maintenance, and engineering.  The technology area includes specific mandatory technology that must be supplied, although offerings should not be limited to these specific areas.  The full breadth and depth of a vendor’s ITC/AV technology and solutions fall within the scope of this category.
  • Group A1 is projected to be Unrestricted.
  • Group A2 is projected to be a Small Business Set-Aside.
• Category B: Enterprise-Wide ITC/AV Service Solutions – Provides the government with customized Enterprise-Wide strategic solutions for the improvement and enhancement of agency ITC/AV infrastructure.  Other services which adhere to the definition of ITC/AV services and encapsulate an enterprise-wide solution are within scope and may be provided to meet the mission needs of a particular agency.
  • Group B1 is projected to be Unrestricted.
  • Group B2 is projected to be a Small Business Set-Aside.
• Category C: ITC/AV Program Level Services – Provides the government with customized solutions at a mission/program level for improvement and enhancement of an agency’s ITC/AV infrastructure.  Other services which adhere to the definition of ITC/AV services and encapsulate a mission/program solution are within scope and may be provided. 
  • Group C1 is projected to be a Small Business Set-Aside.
  • Group C2 is projected to be reserved for small businesses who graduate into a large business.

Relevant Experience Project Requirements

In order to submit a qualified Proposal for Category B and C, interested vendors are expected to submit Relevant Experience Project (REP) requirements.  REPs are defined as a single contract or task order as either a prime or subcontractor.  Specific criteria for each Category include the following:

• Category B:
  • Large Businesses: 4 REPs from 4 of 10 Mandatory Areas with a $30 million minimum
  • Small Businesses: 3 REPs from 3 of 10 Mandatory Areas with a $5 million minimum
• Category C:
  • Small Businesses: 3 REPs from 3 of 10 Mandatory Areas with a $2 million minimum
  • HUBZone, SDVOSB, and EDWOSB: 2 REPs from 2 of 10 Mandatory Areas with a $2 million minimum

The Mandatory Areas for each Category are outlined in the Draft Solicitation.

Proposals will be reviewed to ensure the mandatory requirements are met.  No evaluations are expected beyond meeting the mandatory requirement.  Additionally, Past Performance is separate from Relevant Experience and will not be part of this evaluation process.

ISO 9001 and CMMI Certification

For all Categories, vendors are expected to provide a third-party compliance verification with the ISO 9001 standard via current ISO 9001:2008 or 9001:2015 certification at the time of Proposal submission.  For Category B and C, third party compliance verification with CMMI-Development or CMMI-Services Appraisal at Maturity Level 2 or higher is required.  Certification of the manufacturer whose products the company represents does not satisfy this requirement.  Proof that the certification is in process at the time of Proposal submission is acceptable, however, certification must be obtained within twelve (12) months of a contract award.  Failure to meet this deadline will result in the contractor being off ramped from the SEWP VI GWAC.  Additionally, until certification is obtained, vendors will be unable to compete on requirements which require one.   

How to Obtain an Award on SEWP VI

The SEWP Program Office has set the goal of finding good strong companies who can provide the necessary supplies, products, and services to support the federal government.  To meet this goal, the following four criteria are in place to ensure that vendors are qualified to receive an award:

• Pass the Mandatory Relevant Experience requirement with a current ISO Certification – or to show the necessary certification is in process.
• Have an overall Neutral, Moderate, High, or Very High level of confidence Past Performance rating.
• Have an overall High confidence in Mission Suitability, High Confidence in both Management and Approach and Technical Approach subfactors at outlined in the Solicitation.
• Be classified as a responsible source in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 9.104.

Additional Highlights regarding the SEWP VI Solicitation

Interested vendors should also be aware of the following points of information:

• The SEWP VI Solicitation will not be evaluating the price of products or services.
• No one-on-one discussions with interested vendors are expected to take place.
• Proposals which duplicate another proposal in full or in part will result in both being removed from consideration of an award.
• Additional questions and comments must be submitted through the SEWP RFP tool.  Answers to all questions will be published through the tool and final answers released publicly via SAM.gov.

Current Procurement Schedule

At this time, the Final Solicitation is tentatively scheduled to be released in Q2 FY 2024.  Initially, it was suggested the Solicitation would be released in February 2024, although the Program Office provided themselves with a little leeway and indicated that it would be released before the end of the wintertime, which was defined as running through March 20, 2024.  Proposals will be due sixty (60) days after the Solicitation is released.  Awards are tentatively scheduled for October 2024, although Deltek believes this could be delayed if there are a high number of protests filed – and, given the high level of interest in this requirement, this is certainly a possibility.  The period of performance of the SEWP VI contracts is expected to begin on or about May 1, 2025. 

Conclusions

The SEWP GWAC has seen continued growth since its initial inception in 1993.  It’s recognized as the “Gold Standard” in customer service and one of a handful of contracts which changed how the government buys technology.  With a reputation for speed and competitive pricing, it rivals the GSA Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule as an efficient way to purchase IT supplies.  Now, with continued innovation and the addition of services to its government offerings, SEWP VI is only expected to grow in usage across the government marketspace.  Any company whose primary focus falls in the ICT/AV product and service categories would be doing themselves a massive disservice if they did not take full advantage of the opportunity to become a SEWP VI vendor.

Keep up to date on the SEWP VI procurement through GovWin IQ Opportunity Report # 201788.  Additionally, make sure to sign up for Deltek’s free webinar, “Hot Contracts: NASA SEWP VI – Recent Updates & What to Know.”  Join Deltek and Red Team Consulting for a deep dive into the NASA SEWP VI GWAC Draft RFP.  This will be important for both Value Added Resellers AND IT Service Providers of all sizes.  Joe Salgado, Red Team’s subject matter expert on GWACs and IDIQs, will provide his analysis of all requirements for the RFP, as well as the similarities and differences to previous versions.