Winning Federal Contracts on the Top 20 Contract Vehicles
[Explore more government contracting resources from Bloomberg Government, including our BGOV200 list of the top 200 federal contractors and Cybersecurity for Government Contractors.]
Winning federal contracts can be highly competitive – especially for large contractors and top-performing firms, who are often bidding against each other for large contract awards as prime contractors. But with the right strategy in place, federal contractors of all sizes can successfully find and win new government contracts and develop a more predictable business development pipeline. The key is leveraging market intelligence to build a long-term strategy to compete for large, multi-year opportunities.Bloomberg Government’s expert analysts have examined the latest federal spending trends and identified the top 20 federal contracting opportunities for FY2023. For the coming fiscal year, selected civilian opportunities outnumber defense opportunities and make up 81% of the Top 20’s estimated value.
Highlights of the top 20 federal contracting opportunities for FY2023
- These 20 opportunities are estimated to be worth as much as $278.4 billion in total contract value over their lifetimes.
- The top 20 consist primarily of multiple award contracts, and several consolidate multiple incumbent vehicles.
- Most opportunities fall in the IT, professional services, and R&D markets. Solicitations for large weapons programs and construction are generally excluded.
- All listed opportunities in are in the pre-RFP stage.
- Programs in the earliest planning stages include: GSA’s Alliant 3, GSA’s OASIS+, NASA’s SEWP VI.
- Currently in-play portions of multiple solicitations, staggered over a period of months and years, in the same program or program area described here include: GSA’s OASIS+ and NOAA’s Protech 2.0 Fisheries Domain.
The top 20 federal contracting opportunities for FY2023
| Rank | Title | Agency | Estimated Value (in billions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alliant 3 | GSA | $75 |
| 2 | One Acquisition Solution for Information Services+ (OASIS+) | GSA | *$60 |
| 3 | Medical Q-Coded Support and Services Next Generation (MQS2-NG) | Defense Health Agency | $43 |
| 4 | Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement VI (SEWP VI) | NASA | *$20 |
| 5 | Mission Partner Environment (MPE) | Air Force | $10 |
| 6 | Evolve | State | $8 |
| 7 | Protech 2.0 Fisheries Domain | DOC | **$8 |
| 8 | Common Hardware Systems–6th Generation (CHS-6) | Army | $7.9 |
| 9 | DLA JETS 2.0 | Defense Logistics Agency | *$6 |
| 10 | VA Supply Chain Modernization | VA | $5 |
| 11 | GSA Ascend | GSA | *$5 |
| 12 | Access | State | $5 |
| 13 | Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Integration & Operations for Enterprise Solutions (MIOES) | Missile Defense Agency | $4.6 |
| 14 | Army TADSS Maintenance Program 2 (ATMP2) | Army | $4 |
| 15 | NASA Agency Logistics Support Services | NASA | $3.1 |
| 16 | NextGen Procurement Service Agent–HIV (PSA HIV) | USAID | $3 |
| 17 | SITEC Enterprise Operations and Maintenance | Special Operations Command | *$3 |
| 18 | Support Which Implements Fast Transitions (SWIFT) 6 | USAID | 2.8 |
| 19 | NextGen Procurement Service Agent–Lab, Diagnostics and Molecular (PSA Diagnostics) | USAID | $2.5 |
| 20 | Operations and Science Support to the US Antarctic Program | NSF | $2.5 |
*Dollar amounts are BGOV estimates based on the value of incumbent contracts and prior analysis. GSA is seeking no maximum contract ceiling for the OASIS+ GWAC.
**Protech 2.0 Fisheries Domain shares an $8 billion ceiling with three other Protech domains: Satellites; Oceans; and Weather.
Bloomberg Government analysts will continue to track all 20 programs throughout the year and update this list quarterly.
[Bloomberg Government subscribers can stay up to date on important developments in new opportunities and existing contracts by setting an alert for our weekly Top 20 Opportunities update and by subscribing to our contracting newsletter. Not a subscriber? Request a demo.]
How to leverage the top 20 federal contracting opportunities to win new business
As we head into the new fiscal year, understanding annual federal spending data and recent trends can help you uncover actionable insights to build your pipeline with the right federal contracts. In the case of existing multi-year contract vehicles, track where the money is going and then start building relationships with primes on specific contracts to position yourself for partnering and teaming opportunities.
Identify the most strategic opportunities to pursue
Start by researching the full spectrum of large contracting opportunities to home in on the most lucrative deals and understand where you have the highest PWIN, or probability to win. This includes agency-wide programs, large contracts, contract vehicles, and indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Look for opportunities where you can differentiate yourself and add value – either as a prime, partner, team member, or subcontractor – determining the right contracts to pursue is imperative.
Scrolling through sam.gov searches can be tedious and doesn’t guarantee you’ll catch every opportunity or update. Bloomberg Government expert analysts track the 20 largest upcoming opportunities and update the list on a weekly basis, so you can be sure to never miss a new development.[Discover more relevant federal contracting opportunities. Bloomberg Government’s Opportunity Search enables you to find and exclude keywords in documents attached to solicitation notices to surface relevant opportunities in no time at all. Request a demo.]
Give yourself plenty of lead time to develop your proposal
A lot of the most successful contractors are the ones who get as far left of the RFP as possible—meaning building in as much lead time as they can before an RFP is due, sometimes even 1-4 years out—so they can be strategic from the outset. Bloomberg Government provides estimated RFP and contract award dates for each of the top 20 opportunities in our Dashboard to support successful account planning for each fiscal year and quarter.
Target contract vehicles with longevity
The advantage of using the top 20 opportunities to build your pipeline is that these programs have some longevity to them. Rather than chasing RFPs for single task orders or solicitations as they drop, building a long-term plan to compete for large opportunities with a multi-year lifespan means that your business development pipeline becomes more predictable.
Build relationships and leverage existing prime contractors
Many contractors with current awards through these opportunities are looking for subcontractors or partners to deliver top-notch products and services to the federal government and help them stay ahead of the competition. By using this list of top 20 opportunities to track where the federal government is spending money and its potential value, you can target the primes on a specific contract to start building relationships now so you can take advantage of these opportunities in the future. Request a demo .
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