Army MSD: Draft RFP Breakdown and Analysis

On October 11, 2024, Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground released a draft RFP for the upcoming Modern Software Delivery (MSD) IDIQ. This is a new opportunity with a ceiling of $10 billion, lasting 10 years, and involves multiple awards for software development and support for Army systems worldwide. In this article, we’ll provide a synopsis of the requirements in the draft RFP along with our interpretations of those requirements and what it may take to win a seat on the contract.

This article is based on the published draft RFP. Since its release in late October, Aberdeen Proving Ground has provided an update on sam.gov of some changes based on answers to questions. The changes were not provided in full detail, so they are not reflected in this article. As this draft evolves through amendments, we will update this article accordingly.

Synopsis of the Army MSD Draft RFP

The government intends to issue between 10 and 20 awards on Army MSD, although we expect there to be the full complement of 20 awards. Additionally, 20% of these awards will be given to small businesses.

Task orders on the resulting contract may include Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Time and Materials, and Labor Hour contract types. The draft RFP can be found here.

Of the multiple award IDIQ procurements we have seen recently, the requirements outlined in the MSD draft RFP suggest this will be a particularly complex proposal. There are seven volumes required and a three-phased evaluation process. Volume III is a video response to a Technical Scenario Pivot Challenge provided by the government. Bidders will have to create and upload their video within a specified timeframe to a government designated file area (e.g., DoD SAFE). Volume VI requires a multi-part response to another government technical challenge, the Ultimate Technical Challenge, that includes creating and running a web application solution using the resources provided by the government in a GitLab environment, a Rapid Fire virtual session where bidders present all aspects of their solution’s implementation and deployment approach, a Q&A session, and the submission of Orals Presentation materials. We provided the specific draft RFP language for these proposal requirements as an Appendix to this article.

After each evaluation phase, the government will provide down-select notifications, and only those bidders selected may proceed to the next phase. In fact, only the 30 highest rated bidders from Phase 2 will proceed to Phase 3 due to the costs associated with the Ultimate Technical Challenge required in Phase 3.

The three phases of evaluation include the following proposal requirements:

• Phase 1
  • Volume I – General
  • Volume II – Factor 1 Technical Corporate Experience
• Phase 2
  • Volume III – Factor 2 Technical Pivot Challenge
• Phase 3
  • Volume IV – Factor 3 Small Business Participation
  • Volume V – Price
  • Volume VI – Ultimate Technical Challenge
  • Volume VII – Management Approach

Also of note is that each company is limited to a single proposal submission, to include participation in a Joint Venture. That is, if you bid as part of a JV, you cannot also submit a bid as a traditional prime or in a traditional prime-sub teaming arrangement.

The final RFP is likely to be released before the end of calendar year 2024. We anticipate that Phase 1 will probably have a 30- to 45-day response time.

Red Team’s Thoughts on Winning a Seat on MSD

This may be one of the most in-depth responses for a multiple award IDIQ that we have seen in a long time. Bidders should apply a “single-award capture” mentality to increase the chances of winning a seat. Companies interested in pursuing Army MSD should be executing capture activities now.

Given the requirements of the draft RFP, likely winners will be those companies that have performed software development and/or enablement tasks for the Department of Defense (DoD) and who have the capacity to work on task orders in all the contract types mentioned above. While there is no direct predecessor contract for Army MSD, we find it instructive to look at the current contract holders of Army ITES-3S, as they may fit the profile of possible MSD winners, given the type of work to be performed. The top nine ITES-3S contractors in terms of total task order value awarded are:

1. SAIC
2. IBM
3. Agile Defense, Inc.
4. Business Mission Edge LLC
5. GDIT
6. Peraton Inc.
7. CACI International Inc.
8. Expression Networks, LLC
9. Tiber Creek Consulting, Inc.

Other potential awardees could be found in contracts such as CIO-SP3, GSA Alliant Large Business, and the recent list of awardees of GSA Polaris.

Planning Ahead is Key

The three-phase evaluation process will require bidders to plan ahead. This means they must begin preparing for the next phase even as they await notification of selection on the previous one. The Technical Corporate Experience requirements in Phase 1 include the need to meet the initial six elements, plus five of the eight additional elements provided in the draft RFP. This means companies should be researching candidate contracts immediately to assess the company’s viability to make it through the Phase 1 evaluation. Bidders without DoD experience will find this initial phase challenging and the subsequent phases even more challenging.

While companies are initially focusing on the Corporate Experience analysis for Phase 1, bidders should also start identifying the technical teams needed for the technical challenges in Phases 2 and 3. Companies should line up people who have the technical and presentation skills necessary to perform each challenge. The team should work on scenarios to include what may be asked of both challenges regardless of whether they have worked together previously or not. Orals coaching and practice will help your team shine as they progress into the later phases.

Teaming

The biggest driver for teaming is the need to meet the minimum 25% requirement for Small Business participation. Teaming may also be impacted by the requirement that no company can participate more than one bid. We assume that small businesses will be able to use the experience and capabilities of first-tier subcontractors if they do not possess the skills and experience being leveraged per SBA regulations. Regardless, small businesses should be prepared to prove that they possess many, if not most, of the required skills and experience themselves.

Joint Ventures will be very limited and should only be used if a Large Business does not have the ability to bid by themselves. Small businesses who are part of a Mentor Protégé Joint Venture should lock in their protégé company quickly, since that company can only participate in one bid and may be considering bidding with another teaming construct.

One more note on teaming: bidders must ensure that any people supporting the technical challenges from their teaming partners meet the minimum employment qualifications to participate in the team. This requirement should be included in any teaming discussions and agreements.

Final Thoughts

If you believe that your firm can be successful on Army MSD post award, you then need to figure out what it takes to win a seat on the IDIQ. That starts with mapping your qualifications against the requirements, assessing your gaps, then filling those gaps. You need to make sure that you have a solid approach to each requirement as well as experience for all areas of the Performance Work Statement (PWS). If you can get past all of that, then it’s time to start preparing for the technical competition. The clock is ticking, so start now!

Written by Joe Salgado. Connect with Joe on LinkedIn!

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APPENDIX – Draft RFP Requirements In Depth

Phase 1 

Volume I – General

There are two elements that need to be provided for this volume which will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Failure to provide the required information will result in not proceeding through Phase 1. The elements required for this volume are: 

• Element 1 – Cover Letter: Including POC, Statement of Size that the Offeror is bidding as, Affirmation of negotiation and terms and conditions, CAGE Code, Cognizant DCAA and DCMA offices; FAR 52.215-1(e)(1) Information; SF33; Amendments
• Element 2 – Property Management Plan – Approach to managing Government Property in accordance with FAR 45.202(b).

Volume II – Technical Corporate Experience

For Technical Corporate Experience, Offerors will need to provide three (3) separate examples of experience using Attachment 0005 of the Draft RFP performed within the past 5 years. This worksheet must be completed in its entirety showing that the offeror has executed separate task orders that are similar in scope and complexity to those found in the MSD Performance Work Statement (PWS). Offerors are cautioned that experience performed will only be evaluated. This means that the Government will not be able to determine or evaluate future work or example outcomes anticipated to be performed under submitted examples.

Offerors need to provide the following for each Technical Corporate Experience Example:

• Must be experience performed as a prime contractor, or subcontractor.
• If the experience is performed as a subcontractor, the cited work performed by the prime offeror must account for 30% of the referenced work
• No IDIQs or BPAs
• In aggregate, the examples must cover 6 PWS Focus Areas amongst the 3 examples in aggregate (each example does not have to cover all 6 Focus Areas)
• Custom S/W Development (PWS 5.9.1)
• Adapting S/W as a Solution (PWS 5.9.2)
• S/W Security (PWS 5.9.3)
• Modernization and Automation of S/W (PWS 5.9.4)
• Digital Engineering (PWS 5.8)
• Data Centricity (PWS 5.7)
• The same three Technical Corporate Experience Examples must additionally cover 5 of 8 additional experience areas listed in the RFP:
  • Experience of Software delivery through submission of digital artifacts into Commercial and/or Government controlled repositories.
  • Experience of software in use by the DoD, either a weapon system or a business system, that receives tested software updates to the deployed system at a weekly rate.
  • Experience of delivery and automated deployments of software into DoD cloud instances by Impact Level (IL) and/or a proven standardized commercial approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.
  • Experience of staffing new software development teams with quality personnel in an expedited manner.
  • Experience of use of Model Based Software Engineering practices during development efforts.
  • Experience of obtaining cATO or equivalent certification from other services.
  • Experience of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) tools and techniques delivered as part of a Modern Software for Defense effort.
  • Experience of other emerging technologies and practices delivered as part of a Modern Software for Defense effort.

Please note that 4 of the 8 additional experience examples specifically ask for Department of Defense experience. If an offeror does not have specific Department of Defense experience it will be very difficult to proceed from Phase 1 to the later phases as a single bidder.

Each Attachment 5 will require a description of the work to the percentage of work performed by the offeror as the prime contractor and must also include specific tasks or activities performed including the timeline required for development, structure of team with FTE levels, Methodologies and tools employed, Impact Levels, and the phase achieved in the Risk Management Framework process.

Any offeror found to be non-compliant or unacceptable for either element of Phase 1 will not be evaluated further. Email Notifications will be sent to offerors not moving forward with their evaluation as well as selected offerors moving to Phase 2. The notification is the only notice the Government will provide and will serve as the debrief for all offerors not chosen to move forward to Phase 2.

Phase 2

If more than 30 offerors advance from Phase 1, Phase 2 will be employed. The Government reserves the right to bypass Phase 2 selections should the Government determine that there are 30 or fewer offerors moving forward from Phase 1. In this case, those offerors will proceed directly to Phase 3.

Volume III – Technical Pivot Challenge

Offerors making it to Phase 2 will receive an invitation to a Technical Scenario Pivot Challenge. This invitation will include:

• The date that the offeror receives the challenge scenario
• Timeline for completion
• Submission of Video Proposal Instructions

This challenge consists of a single scenario provided by the Government where the Offeror must submit a seven (7) minute or less video providing an approach, plan and demonstration of proficient knowledge and understanding of three of the eight focus areas below:

• Army Secure Development practices
• DevSecOps Software Development Practices including Agile Software Development
• Modular Open System Development Practices
• API First Development Practices
• Data Centricity Development Practices
• Human Centered Design Development Practices
• Integration of AI into Workflows
• Use of Digital Engineering and Model Based System Engineering practices in developing Software

Offerors will have 120 minutes to complete this challenge and will receive the scenario via a Microsoft Teams invitation. Offerors must provide the government with the following information:

• Technical Scenario Pivot Challenge Members
• Minimum of 2 representatives
• All representatives must be existing employees with 1 year of continuous employment
• Representatives are required to actively and orally participate in all aspects of the challenge

Phase 3

Per the draft RFP, it is the Government’s intention that only the 30 highest rated offerors from Phase II will proceed to Phase III due to the costs associated with Volume VI – Ultimate Technical Challenge.

Volume IV – Small Business Participation

All Offerors (including small business offerors) must describe and demonstrate a substantive commitment to small business firms in this volume using Attachment 0004 – Small Business Participation Commitment Document (SBPCD). This document will require more than the standard Small Business Subcontracting Plan normally found in other IDIQs as the SBPCD requires the Offeror to explain specific details on how the firm intends to maximize the utilization of small businesses.

The Army has stated that at least 25% of the work anticipated on this contract can be performed by small businesses. We recommend that Offerors exceed this minimum. Be aware that only 1^st Tier Subcontractors will be counted towards the total small business participation percentage.

Other than Small Business (OTSB) Offerors are required to submit a separate Small Business Contracting Plan containing all of the elements required by FAR 52.219-9.

Volume V – Price

 Offerors must submit Attachment 0003 the MSD IDIQ Labor Hour Model which includes CONUS base year labor rate pricing which will be evaluated for reasonableness. Basis of Estimates for the fully burdened labor rates consistent with the offeror’s accounting and estimating systems.

Volume VI – Ultimate Technical Challenge

Ultimate Technical Challenge

Phase 3 offerors will be scheduled to participate in the Army’s Ultimate Tech Challenge by receiving an invitation that includes:

• An assigned GitLab Environment
• Timeline for Completion
• Submission Outline

Offerors can identify no more than ten challenge representatives, all of whom must have a minimum of 1 year of continuous employment by the offeror. Submissions are due 2 weeks/10 business days following receipt of the UTC invitation. The technical solution must demonstrate a quality technical implementation, utilization of Government provided tools and services, utilization of Offeror tools and services, application of Army standards and policies for data, AI, development and cybersecurity.

Technical Challenge Solution Rapid Fire Session

Upon submission of the Ultimate Technical Challenge, the Government will schedule a 90-minute rapid-fire virtual session focused on 4 areas along with an additional 45-minute period for follow-up questions. These 4 elements are provided in detail in the Draft RFP and will be technical, retrospective and Army process/standard oriented in nature.

This will be a technical oral presentation for all intents and purposes detailing working features of the developed solution and will be presented by the team identified to develop the Ultimate Technical Challenge.

Volume VII – Management

This ten page volume requires offerors to address the following elements and sub-elements listed below

• Modern Software Approach
  • Flexibility and Adaptability
  • Collaboration and Communication
  • Metrics and Performance Tracking
• Software Team Staffing Approach
  • Staffing Methodology
  • Tools and Methods Used to Source Candidates
  • Interviewing Process
  • Organizing the Scaling and Staffing of Development Teams
  • Replacing Personnel
  • Filling Hard to Fill Positions
  • FTE Growth rate
  • Employee Experience Approach
  • 2-Year Attrition Rate
  • Cost Saving Approaches for Staffing One or More Agile Based Development Teams on a Single Project

This is a LOT to cover in 10 pages. We recommend being very direct in answering the questions as posed.

Evaluation Approach

 This will be a phased evaluation approach using the three phases previously mentioned previously. Each phase will result in the elimination of bidders and successful offerors moving forward to subsequent phases. The volumes/challenges will be evaluated either on a pass/fail basis or adjectivally as follows: