If you’re involved in federal contracting, you may be aware that federal agencies are required to conduct market research for most acquisitions. What you may not be aware of is how contractors can use this market research process to their own benefit. In this blog, we’ll focus specifically on the GSA’s Market Research as a Service (MRAS) and how contractors can take advantage of it.

If you’ve been following the CMMC journey since 2019, you’ll see that we’re one inch closer to seeing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 requirements in defense contracts. If you haven’t, no worries, we’ll fill you in on what you need to know. Recently, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a draft rule that would implement CMMC into the acquisition process for defense contracts. Let’s talk about what this means for the future of CMMC and what the next steps are.

The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program is the premier contract vehicle for the government. A GSA Schedule contract is a long-term government-wide contract between contractors and the government. While there are some great benefits to holding a GSA contract, it's not for every business. GSA contracts take some work and a considerable amount of bandwidth. Let’s analyze some of the pros and cons of getting on a GSA Schedule contract to better understand what you can expect as a contract holder.

In order to do business with the federal government, you must register through the System for Award Management, or SAM.gov, and obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). This is a requirement for all GSA Schedule contractors before they begin preparing their offer, and it’s important you know how to navigate the registration and renewal process correctly. This will save you time in the long run in case there are errors in your registration, and you have to go back and fix them. In this blog, we’ll cover some of the aspects of SAM registration companies may overlook or be confused about so you can be prepared when the time comes for registration or renewal.

After having a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract awarded, contractors will have access to a large federal marketplace with many potential buyers. However, it can be overwhelming to understand the opportunities and strategies available to contractors. Government buyers use a few resources to research or evaluate potential GSA Schedule contractors that could fulfill their project or order requirements through a Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quote (RFQ). While each request differs in their degree of formality, a Request for Quote is important for contractors to understand to accurately respond to a government solicitation and hopefully win a contract.

With a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), you can access a wide network of federal, state, and local agencies looking to procure products and services. One misconception contractors have, however, is they can sit back and watch the orders roll in the minute their contract is awarded. This isn't true for the commercial world, and generally isn't true for the public sector either. While you are part of a unique pool of contractors, you still have to compete with other companies for business, and be proactive about advertising your solutions to government agencies.