Please Respond: Sources Sought Notices

Why spend your precious resources on an activity that, in the government's own admission, is not going to "pay off:"

"No contract will be awarded from this announcement. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals and does not bind the U.S. Government (USG) to any agreement, written or implied. Submission of any information to this market survey is purely voluntary. The USG assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred by respondents."

Simple answer: Sources Sought Notices (SSN), as part of the federal agencies' market research process under FAR Part 10, help the buyer determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence in the market to create a successful set-aside procurement.

Small Business Set-Asides (FAR Part 19), are a type of "full and open competition after exclusion of sources (FAR 6.2)" limitation on "full and open competition" that required by FAR Part 6. Does this sound like a contradiction? Here's why it exists: Federal agencies, as stewards of our taxpayer dollars, have an obligation to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. They have an obligation to buy at fair market price, ensure that contract employees are paid minimum prevailing wages. And federal obligations have a mandate to provide "maximum practicable opportunity" for small businesses to compete for federal work.

SSN process ensures that maximum practicable opportunity by a self-selection market survey. A federal agency is asking small businesses to self-identify that they can do the work by submitting a capability brief (as detailed in specific notices). Based on the number and quality of responses submitted, buyers are able to determine that, if they were to set aside the particular procurement, they would receive competitive offers at a fair market price from at least two "responsive and responsible" bidders.

Note, sometimes federal agencies use the term "Request for Information / "RFI" when they mean "SSN", but that's a topic for a whole other article.

Here's the industry's task: PROVE IT. If an agency is doing market research via the SSN process - respond. Encourage other similarly situated small businesses to respond. Yes, I'm talking about your competitors. If you're a EDWOSB, I am going to make the bold statement that you would prefer to compete against other EDWOSBs, rather than other EDWOSBs and everyone else.

What happens after you submit the SSN response?

1. Government: Agency reviews the submissions as part of its acquisitions strategy to determine whether the competition could be set aside for a socioeconomic category (WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, 8(a), HUBZone), or if not, whether it could be set aside for "total small business." Part of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) role is to review the acquisition strategy and market research and ensure that the small business were given maximum practicable opportunity to compete. If the market research shows that only 1 small business responded to the SSN, there's *nothing* a small business advocate can do to set aside that procurement - because evidence bears out that small businesses either don't exist, or aren't interested, in performing on that requirement.
2. Industry: Keep paying attention. One oft-cited complaint is that SSN responses go into a black hole. There are a variety of reasons, including the timeline of the acquisition includes not just reading, evaluating, and determining the results of the SSN, but also other components of the market research, as well as internal considerations such as internal resources, timing, and budget for a particular requirement. Sometimes SSNs come out several months before any ensuring RFP. One opportunity you gain by responding effectively to an SSN is the opportunity to "check in" with the POC for that notice a while later (4-6 weeks; the more complex the requirement, the longer a grace period). You can ask the POC about the expected timeline, potential acquisition / procurement vehicle, set-aside. You can offer to brief the program office about your particular market-leading solution that fits just the problem the SSN addressed. Be specific in your inquiries - reference the sources sought, get to the point, demonstrate value.

Taking the Long View

Sometimes SSN results in nothing - a decision to not buy a particular service or product. While that might feel like a waste of effort, consider your submission as part of your marketing and business development. If an agency needed a widget badly enough to start on market research, what happened? contacting the CO or PM to understand why their requirements changed, what current solutions they have to bridge the gap will give you insight into if/how you fit in. If you aren't getting any answers, the OSDBU could be a resource to help track down the POC and/or status of the particular procurement.

Worst case scenarios

Let's say you responded with the most beautiful, epic, perfect response; moreover, you know for certain that several other small businesses with qualifications and experience also submitted responses to the SSN... and the requirement comes out as unrestricted. Or maybe you're reading the SSN and see "must have" requirements that have nothing to do with performing the task at hand (e.g. PhD subject matter experts, on a landscaping contract; CMMI 5 certification to deliver a webnar...) - there are several resources that can help:

• The Department's OSDBU office
• The Department's Competition Advocate; and
• the Small Business Administration's Procurement Center Representative