The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued the final Request for Proposals (RFP) for its $10-billion IT-based indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) vehicle known as Evolve. Phase I proposals are due January 18, 2023, and the agency estimates that it will notify bidders of their advisory down-select decisions and launch Phase 2 of the process as soon as April.

Bidders must submit a Phase I proposal to qualify for an award, and a separate, standalone proposal is required for each of the five functional categories for this IDIQ.

The Evolve procurement vehicle is divided into five functional areas: IT management, cloud and data center, application development, network and telecommunication, and customer and end-user support categories. Offerors are not required to compete in all functional areas, but they must submit separate proposals to compete in each category.

Phase I Requirements

Phase I submissions must include, among other administrative documents, a self-scoring sheet, past performance questionnaires and verification, and a three-page white paper responding to the specific technical challenge presented for that specific functional category.

Offerors must submit at least one, and as many as three, Relevant Experience Project (REP) forms to claim points for recent past experience (within three years immediately prior to the date of solicitation). Bidders can claim relevant experience for work performed under a standalone contract, a Task Order issued under an IDIQ or Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), or work completed spanning multiple orders placed under an IDIQ or BPA. However, simply holding an IDIQ contract or BPA without work examples is not sufficient.

Although there is no Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) restriction on bidding or awards between functional categories at the IDIQ level, DOS noted that there is a high likelihood of OCI between Functional Category 1 (IT Management) and other functional category Task Orders.

Other DOS clarifications on Evolve include:

• Corporate certifications (e.g., CMMI Level 3, ISO, etc.) are no longer a minimum requirement for bidders. However, bidders with these certifications will earn higher ratings in Phase 1.
• Proposals will be submitted via the Symphony Procurement application, with instructions provided in the RFP.
• Sample Task Order proposal submissions for each functional category will be required and evaluated during Phase 2.
• The small business factor is no longer pass/fail but an adjectivally rated evaluation factor.

Evolve replaces one of the agency’s largest IT contracts, Vanguard 2.2.1, as well as an additional 22 existing contracts and task orders.  Evolve will have a 5-7-year Period of Performance.

Anticipated Awards:

DOS intends to award up to 36 IDIQ Contracts, broken down as follows:

1. IT Management Services Functional Category
   1. Up to four Full-and-Open IDIQ contracts
   2. Up to four Small Business set aside IDIQ contracts
2. Cloud & Data Center Services Functional Category
   1. Up to four Full-and-Open IDIQ contracts
   2. Up to four Small Business set aside IDIQ contracts
3. Application Development Services Functional Category
   1. Up to four Full-and-Open IDIQ contracts
   2. Up to four Small Business set aside IDIQ contracts
4. Network & Telecommunications Services Functional Category
   1. Up to six Full-and-Open IDIQ contracts
5. Customer & End User Support Services Functional Category
   1. Up to six Full-and-Open IDIQ contracts to be awarded.

OST Global Solutions is a professional business development consulting firm. We have experience supporting large, strategic bids like Evolve. We can provide capture and proposal teams to develop a complete, winning Evolve proposal. Or we can provide consultants on a case-by-case basis to fill gaps on your business development team. Our services related to the Evolve proposal consist of capture management, team identification/negotiation, proposal management, pricing support, orals coaching, proposal writing, graphics support, editing, desktop publishing, and cost volume development.

Reach out to us to discuss your Evolve bid, so we can discuss how to develop a winning proposal.

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