The General Services Administration has made recent changes to the draft solicitation for its upcoming “OASIS” procurement that seem to be making it easier for small vendors to bid.

“There have been several changes to the OASIS-Small Business Request for Proposals as a result of comments which, in my opinion, will allow more small businesses the opportunity to bid on this vehicle,” Jennifer Aubel, managing consultant for Aronson LLC, told Set-Aside Alert.

GSA released the draft RFP for the $12 billion professional services procurement vehicle in March, and GSA has been announcing changes on its Interact web page.

For example, in the original draft RFP, the minimum annual value for the five relevant experience projects had to be at least $2 million. That provision raised concerns among small business owners, who feared the amount was too high.

In response, the OASIS Program Team decided to reduce the minimum annual value of the contracts used for relevant experience to $750,000, which will make it possible for more small vendors to bid, Aubel said.

Another important change was that GSA removed the requirement for a Defense Contract Audit Agency(DCAA)-audited accounting system, due to the backlog at the DCAA. The GSA now is accepting third-party reviews.

GSA also is no longer requiring that at least one of the relevant experience contracts to be a cost-type contract. Even so, a vendor may get extra points for cost-reimbursement experience, so companies with that experience will likely retain an advantage, Aubel said.

With regard to socioeconomic factors, GSA is committed to awarding at least three OASIS-Small business contracts per pool to each of the following socioeconomic categories: HUBZone, 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB, and EDWOSB, Aubel said. “Contractors that fall in these categories may be able to win an OASIS contract without placing in the top 40 as long as they are in the top three of their socioeconomic category,” she said.

More information: Aronson Fed Point: http://goo.gl/HkEAl
GSA Interact http://goo.gl/BFs6N