SEWP VI heads toward final solicitation
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By
Nick Wakeman
NASA sees its three-decade-old contract vehicle for buying IT products and services as having more flexibility.
The comment period ended Monday for the draft solicitation regarding NASA’s SEWP VI contract and now the agency is moving closer toward the release of a final request for proposals later this winter.
NASA received more than 1,500 comments on the draft and needs to process those before the final version is completed. The agency sees the next iteration of its popular government-wide IT product and service contract vehicle as having at least 140 companies and a ceiling approaching $80 billion over 10 years.
The current SEWP V contract runs through April 2025. Agencies have obligated $62.8 billion in task order spend against SEWP V as of NASA’s Oct. 18 industry day.
SEWP VI will not be a carbon copy of the current version, according to NASA's framework for the new contract.
As described in the slides from the industry day, SEWP V had several limits including these examples:
- Only firm fixed-price orders
- Services offered were product based
- Services within scope at the order level
SEWP VI will have several differences such as multiple contract types at the order level to include fixed price, time and material, and labor hour.
A second major change involves professional services at the master contract level, where NASA has added two new service categories.
The draft request for proposals includes innovation services, which is defined as “new ideas and break-through solutions that change and/or enhance the services and results in business and/or IT value.” Enterprise-wide services can include managed services, innovation and enterprise-wide network services.
NASA will evaluate proposals across four phases.
Phase one requires bidders to pass the mandatory relevant experience requirement, including a current ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 9001:2015 certification. Phase two requires bidders to have a past performance rating of neutral or above.
For phase three, bidders must get ratings of "High Confidence" in mission suitability and in the subfactors of management approach and technical approach. The final and fourth phase involves being classified as a responsible source, according to acquisition regulations.
Price will not be an evaluation factor and NASA will not hold discussions.
In NASA's timeline, the agency says a final RFP will go out by the end of winter with awards to follow by May 1. Mark your calendars.