Monday Morning NASA SEWP VI Notes: Comment Period Closes, yet Questions still Being Posted

NASA SEWP remains front and center for many. To help keep you up to speed and get your week started fast, Eric Nusbaum, CEO of ENcompass Consulting Group, shares some notes and recommendations for what you can do now.

by Eric Nusbaum, President & CEO of ENcompass Consulting Group, LLC

NASA released a draft RFP for Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) VI in September 2023. The Government requested industry to submit questions and comments on the draft RFP via their web portal here.

The deadline to submit questions was this past Monday, October 23, 2023. NASA had received 1,494 total questions at that point.

Oddly, more questions have been posted to the tool after the deadline lapsed. At this point, it is not clear if NASA will answer these late questions.

Interested parties can create an account and log into the NASA SEWP VI web portal to view all the comments. NASA will be posting their answers to questions to this portal on a rolling basis, as they become available. To date, 16 answers have been provided.

During the Industry Day held on October 18, NASA already discussed some changes that will be made from the Draft RFP to the Final RFP. Many other issues are currently unresolved, such as how Joint Ventures vs. prime/sub teams will be evaluated.

Many of these same questions were raised during the Deep Dive on the NASA SEWP VI Draft RFP webinar held on October 24. This solicitation has gained significant interest from industry, as expected, and bidders are anxious to see the uncertainties in the Draft RFP clarified.

Unfortunately, NASA does not plan on releasing a second Draft RFP. Therefore, monitoring the SEWP VI web portal for answers to questions is the best method to learn what to anticipate in the Final RFP.

As presented during the webinar on Tuesday, here are the top things interested bidders should be doing right now to prepare for NASA SEWP VI:

Draft RFP

Review the Draft RFP package in its entirety.

You can access the Draft RFP files via sam.gov here:https://sam.gov/opp/b36b90a15aeb42bda0c3441fb392213e/view

No additional Draft RFP versions are anticipated. The Final RFP will be posted around March 2024.

Questions and Answers

Review the Questions and Answers:SEWP Comment Tool can be accessed here: https://www.sewp.nasa.gov/sewpvi/

Question / comment period ended Oct 23, 2023. ~1,500 questions posted by the closing date.

Answers are being posted piecemeal, as they are finalized by NASA.

• If you have a comment that was not submitted prior to the deadline, consider writing a white paper and providing to NASA.Explain how your suggestion is in the best interest of NASA, their customers, and/or industry.
• Provide case studies for how other GWACs/IDIQs have succeeded this way.
• Submit white papers to: sewp6@sewp.nasa.gov

Corporate Certifications

• Category A: Obtain ISO 9001 if you don’t already have it.
• Categories B & C: Obtain ISO 9001 and CMMI ML2 (or higher) if you don’t already have them.
• LB offerors: Must have all applicable certifications in place by proposal submission (est. May 2024).
• SB offerors: Must have all applicable certifications in place OR submit evidence that the certifications are in progress by proposal submission. All applicable certifications must be obtained within 1 year of contract award (est. May 2025).
• ISO 9001 typically takes 3-6 months to obtain.
• CMMI ML2 typically takes ~12 months to obtain.

Teaming

NASA is still finalizing how teammates, subcontractors, JV partners, etc. will be evaluated. You should always be prepared for any outcome!

• Identify gaps in REPs (Phase 1), PP References (Phase 2), and Technical Approach coverage (Phase 3).
• Search for teammates who fill those gaps.
• Consider forming a Joint Venture.LB offerors – JV members can be any size.

SB offerors – JV members must be small. Exception is SBA-approved Mentor-Protégé (MP) JV.

Socio-economic offerors – JV members must be small, better if they are similarly situated.

About Eric Nusbaum

🔊 Listen to Story