The short answer is yes, you can participate in government bids without a GSA Schedule. However, it’s much more nuanced than that, and you can be missing out on huge opportunities within the federal marketplace. Open market sales to the federal government take much longer and can be more costly than sales through a government contracting vehicle, and other vehicles are not as flexible or available.

GSA has been developing a slew of Information Technology (IT)-related contracts recently from Polaris, to the Ascend Cloud Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and now Alliant 3. GSA has recently released the draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for Alliant 3, one of the largest contracts in the works that will focus on the acquisition of advanced and emerging IT technologies. Alliant 3, a follow on from Alliant 2, will be a government-wide Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Best-in-Class (BIC) contract, with an estimated ceiling of $75 billion. Since all questions and comments on the draft RFP are due on January 6, 2023, we’re going to cover what you need to know about this upcoming contract vehicle so your company can get involved early on.

As the pandemic lingers, the demand for goods and services continue to be a spending trend among government agencies. To respond to this crisis and other health-related emergencies, state and local governments are able to purchase items from GSA Schedules by participating in GSA’s Public Health Emergencies (PHE) Program. This program allows some non-federal entities to use the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program for essential public health emergency supplies.

While having a GSA Schedule gives you access to a whole new marketplace, it doesn’t automatically guarantee you government sales—you need to know where to look. Knowing what government contracting opportunities are available is an essential part of winning government awards. In the public sector, government contractors are responsible for responding to the needs of the buying agency so it’s important you know where to find these opportunities and that you are taking advantage of all the tools available to you.

If you’re interested in selling to the government through a GSA Schedule contract, you might be wondering how government agencies will find your products and services and what the buying process will look like. If a government buyer wants to purchase a product, they can’t just hop onto one of the mega online retailers to find what they need because there are several requirements that need to be met. Instead, they use government online shopping and ordering sites like GSA Advantage!.

If you are a vendor and looking to do business with the government, how do you get started? One way is to pay close attention to budding opportunities. When a Request for Information (RFI) is released, it’s an indication that the government is conducting market research. RFIs are a great opportunity for you to get your foot in the door before a potential Request for Proposal (RFP) is shaped, and to make sure government agencies are familiar with your name and capabilities. In this blog, we’ll cover why the government issues RFIs, what RFIs can look like, and how they are useful for contractors.