Enterprise software is touted throughout the Government (federal, state, local) vendor industry as an ‘essential tool’ of the capture and business development process. Industry Analysts proffer, "If you count on FBO.gov (Federal Business Opportunities) for identifying and engaging in procurement opportunities - you have already lost the award.” Is this an accurate statement? Certainly, it is a valid argument. When essential information is streamlined and partitioned to map to search parameters and ‘favorite criterion’ to aid pipeline master planning it is always an asset; however, how does the ‘Client,’ in this case the Government, feel?
The Government Business Examiner interviewed a myriad of Federal Contract Administrators (who requested to remain anonymous) on these and 'other" timely questions as well as their opinion on FBO.gov. After numerous discussions, these seasoned Government professionals stated a) they had not heard of even the most highly regarded procurement information resellers and b) a fond appreciation for contractors who represent themselves through FBO.gov.
To Washingtonians handling Government Business for their companies and given the nature of our ‘tight’ marketplace (noting Government has redacted more RFPs [Requests for Proposals] than average this season), understanding Government Clients’ and their mindset is a more strategic approach to tendering. Additionally, when figuring cost associated with capture, business development and solutions processing - it is essential for many companies to cap costs where possible. In mitigating overhead, fees for repartitioned marketplace analysis and memberships in order to garner information silos as a prerequisite for winning awards may no longer be the cat’s meow.
When the Government’s own (targeted via analytic resellers for industry networking) actually state a preference for FBO.gov, suggesting it is not up to par may not be a wise conjecture to lead a conversation with. This is an important consideration. When the Government as a Client forms liaisons with future-focused vendors and suggests these are FBO.gov entities, the ‘remaining 25% of hidden rankings potential vendors to consider during capture’ may be in need of rematriculation. The Gobernment Business Examiner heard more times than not, "We've never heard of INPUT, FedSource or GovWin." Leaving the Examiner to wonder, Is enterprise market intelligence software for Government procurement opportunities really a requirement?
Senior Contract Administrators from DHS (Department of Homeland Security), HHS (Health and Human Services), VA (Veterans Affairs) and contacts at DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) state “. . .actually prefer FBO.gov respondents – as they review first-hand information and hear what we are saying – no one has analyzed it. Just follow the FBO.gov standards and requests are they are presented.” Furthering, "The most recent information on opportunities is made available through FBO and there is no privatized information sharing taking place to enterprise software organizations. We only update FBO.gov - no one calls us for updates outside of our inputting to FBO.gov."
Of course, these federal professionals also stated, "We receive such a variety of submissions. . .I have personally received 'two sentences' one-time from a company for a management plan where they said they will manage the project. Clearly, there is a lack of understanding on the part of submitters and we feel many submitters should learn 'how' to develop solutions more than anything, but all the information they require is housed on FBO.gov. We like it."
Tools such as: INPUT, FedSources and GovWin, which all belong to Deltek do effectively assimilate data and analytics to aid vendors. Certainly, their tools alleviate hunt and peck competitive analysis. But, they do derive their fact-driven data from resources such as FBO.gov – there is no ‘special’ information sharing taking place. Just a proficient assimilation of a series of resources. The Examiner is not here to slam INPUT, FedSources, GovWin or Deltek – recognizing these as excellent vendor tools where all elements in preparing winning solutions are housed,from the Deltek website:
“Acquiring WMG and FedSources significantly expands our solutions portfolio and drives new growth opportunities with new customers and within our existing base of over 4,000 government contractors,” said Kevin Parker, President and CEO of Deltek. “This acquisition extends our capabilities as the premier end-to-end government contracting solutions partner – providing an unmatched suite of solutions from business development and capture management to comprehensive financial and project management. In addition, it expands our strong recurring revenue stream. Our integration process is underway, and we expect to benefit from many future synergies as we leverage this acquisition to be a growth catalyst for Deltek.”
“Combining the Washington Management Group and FedSources with Deltek and its INPUT and GovWin solutions provides our organization with a unique opportunity to deliver game-changing value to our customers,” said Bill Gormley, President and CEO of Washington Management Group and FedSources. “The government domain expertise of WMG and FSI together with the global reach and industry-standard software solutions from Deltek provides contractors with one strategic partner that delivers a full lifecycle of success to companies that want to enter and win in the government marketplace.”
The Government Business Examiner feels it is worthy to note for the Washington Business Corridor our Government Contract Administrators are virtually ‘unaware’ of the resources vendors count on such as INPUT, GovWin, and FedSources. If for no other reason than to temper discussions with Government regarding FBO.gov. According to another DHS Contracts Administrator," . . .FBO is a 'best resource' to us for new vendor opportunities. . . 'We are interested in whats out there.' And, believe FBO.gov provides us with the best resources."
Where emergent-small, small and mid-sized companies cannot afford to implement enterprise software, which can often exceed $20K per annum - FBO.gov (according to the Government) remains a haven for assimilation and development of a Pipeline Master Plan. In fact, to some Clients – there’s an appreciation in doing so.
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