Emerging Task Order Management System Geared to Small Business GovCon Firms

Over the past decade, the Federal government has established a growing number of IDIQ contracts thereby limiting small business firms’ access to task order solicitations. Unless a small business is a prime contractor for an IDIQ contract, chances are a small business is unable to view the solicitation requirements, let alone submit a proposal. This continued trend in government acquisition is alarming to small businesses as future opportunities to sustain or grow its business erodes.

Government acquisition approach using IDIQ contracts There is a growing trend whereby the government uses agency specific or GWAC IDIQ contracts to source products and services. The nature of these IDIQ contracts make it difficult for a small business to assemble the resources to win a prime contract without the use of large business partners organized by a mentor protege joint venture, or by assembling an army of teaming partners with the corporate experience and past performance required by a solicitation. In either case, it’s difficult. A strategic approach to business development that leads to future growth is seen in small businesses seeking to amass the number of IDIQ contracts, many of which have up to ten years of future performance. A successful small business will have access to multiple IDIQ contracts and therein view solicitation requirements and submit as many proposals as possible they can muster to win contracts.

Common challenge among small business firms In almost every small business conference, the common challenges voiced by small businesses leaders are these; 1) lack of access to IDIQ contracts, 2) difficulties associated with creating professional networks and establishing relationships with prime contractors, and 3) difficulties in establishing teaming agreements in an adequate timeframe that allows for a quality proposal to be written.

Without having visibility to task orders released through IDIQ contracts, a small business is iced out of competing for new business. This is why it’s important to win IDIQ contracts to ensure a small business preserves its ability to at least be among others in the field of competition.

Small business firms generally lack the resources to manage multiple IDIQs simultaneously. This comment is not a slight on small businesses, it’s a common challenge. Because of the lack of business development personnel and proposal writers, most small businesses follow a First in - First out (FIFO) methodology for task order management. What does this mean? Because of limited resources, a small business will respond to a small subset of task orders each year as they gauge their response to maximize their PWin of a contract. This serial process can be stifling and prevents the type of growth small business leaders hope for but rarely achieve.

What if a small business firm has a cadre of business development and proposal management resources available to respond to a higher number of solicitations? By having many employees assigned to overhead labor pools it would drive up indirect rates rendering a small business less competitive when pricing a contract. They could have a great proposal, but with the dwindling government budgets, they would likely lose on price. This is a conundrum all small businesses experience in the GovCon market, write the most compliment and compelling proposal with a competitive price. It takes time and resources for small business leaders to establish and maintain their professional networks. Because of the length of time it takes for business networks to organically expand in ways where a small business can join and proposal team, the likelihood of missing out on the perfectly matched solicitation to your corporate capability will pass you by.

Would it surprise you to know that most small businesses do not have access to well-defined systems and processes to increase their chances of winning contracts.

InfoSquirrel™ approach to task order management What does small business do after winning an IDIQ contract? How do small business leaders manage multiple IDIQ contracts?

This is where the fun begins. InfoSquirrel™ supports both prime contractors and non-prime GovCon firms to efficiently manage task orders solicitations from multiple IDIQ contracts request to join a proposal team. InfoSquirrel™ enables small business firms to join a global registry and create a business profile and gives them viability to solicitations posted in the software by prime contractors seeking qualified teaming partners. With just a few clicks of the mouse, a small business can request to join a team and respond to a capability matrix embedded into the solicitation opportunity record.

Why is this important? To put it simply, most prime contractors are unaware of your company and the experience you bring to help win a contract.

Why use InfoSquirrel™ for IDIQ task order management? InfoSquirrel™ is a force multiplier enabling small businesses to build better teams, to write more proposals that leads to winning more contracts. The InfoSquirrel™ social networking feature allows businesses to create professional networks and team - FAST. The built-in communication and messaging tools help to communicate with those your company desires to do business with.

How to access InfoSquirrel™ Accessing InfoSquirrel™ is easy and takes just a few minutes. Go to https://www.infosquirrel.com and click on the ‘Join for Free’ button. From there create a user and business profile as the software’s onboarding feature steps you through the process of joining the InfoSquirrel™ Global Registry.

There are three distinct ways to access and use InfoSquirrel™:

1. Join the registry for free. Allow prime contractors to locate your corporate capabilities and connect with you in the software.
2. Networking+ ($19.99/mo). Use InfoSquirrel™ to begin creating beneficial professional networks in seconds. Access the software’s toolkit that has capabilities matrix and compliant matrix generators available to improve your processes governing team selection and proposal compliance.
3. Premium ($399.99/mo). Access all of the InfoSquirrel™ features to Build Better Teams, to Write More Proposals, and win more contracts.