Capstone Topic: SAM.gov Entity Analysis

As of Late November 2019

After completing most course work in my Masters of Data Analytics program at Western Governors University, my attention turns to the Capstone project.

Given my familiarity with United States Federal Government acquisitions data and my work with Federal contractor’s business development activities, I wonder if opportunities exist for assisting contractors in making bid and proposal decisions.

The decision to bid on a specific opportunity represents a commitment to invest in the development and submission of a proposal. Depending on the size and complexity of the government’s solicitation, the costs associated with submitting a compliant proposal can be significant. Therefore, contractors often attempt to estimate a Probability of Win (PWin) to inform their decision making. Contractors, and consulting firms supporting them, use various PWin estimation methodologies and most consider them a proprietary information. However, most methodologies consider a common set of factors in calculating PWin. Red Team Consulting, a well-recognized and established firm, published an article (published January 14th, 2019, retrieved November 25, 2019) listing the following components for consideration in calculating PWin:

Factor	Description
Internal Resources	Do we have the capability to prepare a winning proposal?
Technical Qualifications	Do we know how to do the work?
Relevant Experience	Have we successfully performed similar work?
Competitive Positioning	Who is the competition and how do we compare?
Client Knowledge	What is our familiarity with the customer and their requirements?
Proposed Staffing	Can we identify and hire the best individuals for supporting contract delivery?
Pricing Strategy	Can we determine a winning and viable price?

In the federal government contracting arena, contractors often team with other contractors to strengthen their position when bidding on government contracts.

 

1. Who are my competitors?

2. Who, for potential teaming discussions, complements my strengths and has past performance in my weak areas?

The System for Award Management (www.sam.gov) and the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation (www.fpds.gov) represent two primary and authoritative data sources published by the General Services Administration (www.gsa.gov). SAM holds information about entities (individuals and companies) registered to do business with the U.S. Federal Government. FPDS contains information about all contract awards made by the U.S. Federal Government.