SEWP: The Quoting Process

2 Conference ‘10 Contract Groups Origins  SEWP RFP broken up into two Categories Category A: Computer /Server contracts -Mostly responded to by OEMs Category B: Peripherals, Support Equipment, AV -Mostly responded to by VARs  Category B contained full and open and 2 set-aside competitions SDVOSB Small Business

3 Conference ‘10 Contract Groups  Category A contracts => Group A  Category B SDVOSB set-aside => Group B  Category B Small Business set-aside => Group C  Category B Full and Open => Group D  Post-award 8(a) set-aside non-competed contracts awarded => Group E

4 Conference ‘10 Contract Groups and scope  Groups A, B, C, D all have same SOW / scope “Regardless of the mandatory items defined, proposed and provided by each class, the scope of all contracts is the same “ No limits on hardware, software, maintenance, installation, site planning and training 10% limit on long-term support services  Group E is primarily available for long term support services But contracts are limited to $3.5 Million total

5 Conference ‘10 Why are Groups Important?  SEWP is a multi-award IDIQ contract vehicle Governed by FAR Part (b) – Fair Opportunity Contract Groups define where Fair Opportunity must be applied -Excluding Group E – Fair Opportunity not required for 8(a) non-competed set-asides  Far Part 8 (3 quote rule) does not apply  Note: next set of slides pertain to Groups A, B,C and D only

6 Conference ‘10 When Can I Skip Fair Opportunity?  There are limited exclusions to Fair Opportunity – they must be well- documented: The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays. -Unless National Emergency – need to provide urgency documentation Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services … -SEWP is specifically set-up to minimize if not eliminate this exclusion The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

7 Conference ‘10 What About…?  Small Business/8(a)/SDVOSB/… set-asides Use Groups B and/or C Or (recommended), go to one or more Groups and use a business size preference as part of Best Value Determination  Sales person said only they can get us what we want Verify through Fair Opportunity

8 Conference ‘10 RFQ / RFI / RaQ / Market Research  SEWP provides a “Request” tool Market Research Request -Used to ask general research/technical questions  E.g. “Can anyone provide quotes for terabyte iPad storage?” -Should not be used to obtain quotes (either from technical or procurement) Request A Quote – used for RFIs or RFQs -RFIs to obtain preliminary (eg. Cost estimate) quotes -RFQs to obtain final quotes to use for ordering purposes -RFI (Request for Information) and RFQ (Request for Quote) are procurement specific terms defined in the body of a SEWP Request

9 Conference ‘10 Differences Between Requests  Market Research Request -Default of 5 business day response -If any item quoted or discussed, it does not need to be on contract  Request A Quote – used for RFIs or RFQs -Default of 3 business day response -If an item is quoted it MUST be on contract or quoted as open market  Total of all open market items on a quote cannot exceed $3000

10 Conference ‘10 Quote Verification Process  Contract Holder makes 2 submissions for a Request A Quote Actual Quote (and associated files) -Any format -Not reviewed by SEWP Program Office Verification file -Contract Holder supplies the CLINs and CLIN prices -SEWP Program Office verifies the CLINs are on contract and the prices are at or below the catalog price  Future enhancement will list catalog price in the file

11 Conference ‘10

12 Conference ‘10 Quote Verification Process  Government Customer must compare information in verification file with the actual quote Use the “Print This Page” Button to print off all verification files If items or prices in the verification file do not match quote: -Contact SEWP Program Office -Ignore the quote

13 Conference ‘10 Quote Verification Process  4 Items do not need to be in the verification file SEWP-Z (SEWP fee) Travel-Z (Travel Costs) Delivery-Z (Delivery/Shipping Costs) Credit-Z (Credits)  Open-Z (Open Market) items should be listed to verify total is under $3000

14 Conference ‘10 Post-Award - Notification  SEWP RFQ tool Quote page has an optional “Award Notification” Currently provides non-awardees with notification they will not receive an award Future enhancement: provide awardee and dollar amount (both optional) to non-awardees  New Feature – credit card order can be created from the notification tool

15 Conference ‘10 Post-Award  Orders Below $5 M Notification and de-briefs are not required below Contract Holders may request information -Politely -Not persistently  Orders Above $5 M Opportunity for de-briefs must be provided

16 Conference ‘10 Protest rules  For Orders under $10 M Only Interested Parties (other contract holders) Only protestable action is for scope Fair Opportunity complaints may be referred to ombudsman  For Orders Over $10 M Only Interested Parties (other contract holders) Protests allowed for any valid reason