Trident’s Kiley Stewart attended the 2024 AFCEA Fort Belvoir Industry Day (#ABID) in Alexandria, Va. During this two-day event, Kiley gained unique insights into three key takeaways. Check out her event recap below.

In May, I attended the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association International (AFCEA) Fort Belvoir Chapter Industry Day.

AFCEA is an international membership-based organization that helps draw professionals in the intelligence, communications, and information technology communities and industries together to share knowledge and build relationships.

The Belvoir Chapter is located near many U.S. Army buying organizations, so the industry days they host are packed with information valuable for you and us as we look forward through the rest of the proposal cycle.

AFCEA Belvoir hosts monthly luncheons in Northern Virginia, but AFCEA International’s next big event is their TechNet Cyber Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, scheduled for June 25 to 27. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), U.S. Cyber Command, and the Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Office (CIO) will lead the conversations in policy, strategic architecture, operations, and C2 to meet global security challenges in the digital environment. You can register here.

Modern Software Framework

The overarching theme throughout the Industry Day was modernization. The U.S. Army’s acquisition priority is tied to rapidly modernizing Army Technology: they acknowledged that the acquisition process is slow, but the progression of technology is fast.

With this knowledge, the Army recently spent a lot of effort to find a way to force the acquisition process to support modern warfighters, which led them to prioritize long-term hard solutions that can be updated with current software solutions. But this is a much more complicated process than simply buying the current phone version you like and updating it when it tells you to. Part of the Army’s challenge is its diversity of technological solutions. They’re currently working through what they call the Modern Software Framework. The Army intends to deliver this framework in September 2024 with a Reference Model (to Understand), a Reference Architecture (to Guide), and a Reference Implementation (to See). This three-part framework aims to eliminate vertical integration, enabling rapid layered capabilities. The goal is to create interoperable and interchangeable systems through reusable models and open Application Programming Interface (API), while maintaining Zero Trust requirements, cybersecurity, and prioritizing human-centered design. The Unified Data Reference Architecture (UDRA) is already out—and we’ll talk about that next.

Unified Data Reference Architecture (UDRA)

Part of the Army’s approach to modernizing its acquisition process is to move toward a Modern Open System Approach to prevent vendor lock and enable technology solutions that offer plug-and-play access.

Army leadership noted that once the Modern Software Framework is released, all new RFPs will require technology solutions to use it. Guided by the U.S. Army’s AD2024-02 Software Directive (link to the directive) and the seven core metrics, the use of UDRA across all newly acquired solutions will enable the plug-and-play aspect of future solutions.

So, what is it? The UDRA is a technology architecture guideline. It flattens and simplifies the Army’s data architecture, streamlines data product sharing across mission partners, and supports data-driven decision-making at greater speed and scale.

A key advantage of the UDRA system is that it not only allows multiple mission offices to share and use data for more rapid decision-making, but it also enables the enforcement of global and local governances across data sets. This general decentralization of the data enables local offices to improve and scale their information while sharing it and leaves room for the entire data set to improve and adapt to more modern data structuring techniques.

So why does it matter? If you plan to support Army contracts, your technology solutions abide by the UDRA policies. Fortunately, the Army started the Innovative Exchange Lab (IXL) to help implement all of this. Note: We can see some form of certification from using the IXL to validate your compliance with the UDRA.

The IXL is designed to enable faster adoption of advanced technologies. As a cloud-based environment for industry collaboration, the ultimate goal is to make it easier for industry to integrate with Army Resources. The IXL allows industry partners to test their UDRA compliance—they can input their technology solution into IXL and test to see if the data language integrates appropriately with the Army’s existing architecture. This ensures compliance with federal requirements and encourages collaboration while enabling rapid decision-making. To test your software, visit their website, upload your technology solution, and see what, if anything, is missing from your solution.

CHESS ACCESS/ITES-3S/RS3

The Army’s Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) office is keeping us on our toes as we navigate a changing MA-IDIQ environment.

We’ve heard a variety of rumors about the upcoming recompete for the Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3 Services (ITES-3S) contract. First, we heard it was just going to be ITES-4S. Then we heard it was going to be combined with the Responsive Strategic Sources for Services (RS3) follow-on, Army Contracting Command’s Enterprise for Sourcing Services (ACCESS). So, what is the Army going to do?

The technical answer is: They haven’t decided.

Update: On Aug. 5, 2024, the Army made the below announcement:

Industry Partners,

Thank you all for taking the time to provide extensive feedback on the potential merger of the follow-on acquisitions to Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) and Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3-Services (ITES-3S). After much consideration, we would like to formally announce that the Government has made the decision to proceed with this merged acquisition approach.

In joint collaboration, Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) and Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) are happy to introduce the Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services, also known as MAPS.

Please continue to monitor SAM.gov for additional information and upcoming events. The Government anticipates hosting an industry day before the end of FY24. We are currently in the planning stages, so more information will be forthcoming.

Thank you for your continued support! 

We're leaving in the below information from the original publishing of this blog to provide insight into what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar MA-IDIQ.

ITES-3S is a mandatory information technology services contract for the Army under NAICS 541519 (Other Computer Related Services). It has a budget of $12.1B and includes 116 prime vendors. This contract is due to expire in 2027.

RS3 is an Army performance-based services contract focused on Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) under NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences). It has a ceiling of $37.4B and includes 158 prime vendors. This contract also expires in 2027.

Currently, both contracts are managed by two separate offices, which is a rather large administrative and logistical cost to maintain. These offices have struggled with sufficient competition for their task orders (TOs), which has hindered their ability to provide mandatory and mission-related services to their stakeholders. The lack of vendor participation exists despite participation requirements.

What would this look like?

Some of the things that the Army is leaning towards, in no particular order, should the contracts combine into a single contract:

• Adding Service CLINs and additional NAICS
• Range pricing at the IDIQ level
• Reserved award rather than set-asides and allowing TOs to set aside
• The minimum participation rule will most likely remain
• May limit awardees to ensure TO competition
• Rolling admissions/On and Off Ramps
• Performance reviews to ensure small business performance goals are met

So what can you do now?

Another consistent theme of these conversations was that these offices genuinely crave feedback from industry. They are actively working with other offices currently competing, administrating, and executing larger-scale contract vehicles (think NASA and GSA) to gather lessons learned across various acquisition aspects. They are asking questions like “Is a scorecard really the best way to evaluate this?”, “How do we price in IT?”, “Do set-asides really help?”, “How can we increase competition at the TO level?” And they are still accepting feedback—so if you have concerns, questions, or comments—now is the time to reach out to them!

Connecting with TO contracting officers you see on RS3 and ITES-3S is also a great opportunity for you to build early relationships with the people who desire these services.

Regarding timeline, CHESS hopes to see this final RFP before the end of the fiscal year. They are hot on getting this right, though, so while they may take their time to release the draft if they do combine, they are ready and eager to get information out and get this process started. We’re watching, because this one is coming.

Small Business Offices

I always thought small business (SB) offices advocated for SB to the government, but these offices actually help industry advocate and connect with contracting resources as well. And they may be a great resource for your SB, especially if you are a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned SB (SDVOSB) or a Woman-Owned SB (WOSB).

One note: before contacting a SB office for a particular agency, be sure you know what services that agency provides. If you cannot provide deterrence and defense-related support to chemical and biological radiological defense, you probably don’t need to connect with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). If you need help identifying which agencies need the types of services you provide, reach out to Trident! We can help you find offices that are actually buying what you’re selling to save you time and effort in building valuable, productive relationships.

Many of the SB offices actually maintain a SB vendor database that you add your business to. That means when those offices have money for SBs and contracts available, they can connect your company to that money because they remember you, and you help them meet their goals. This is a great place to be—every year, these offices struggle to meet some of their SB goals—especially SDVOSB and WOSB—and every year these goals increase. If you build a relationship with a SB office and provide consistent stellar service, you could set your business up for a long-term stream of opportunities.

These offices, and federal acquisitions in general, need your SB to keep responding. SBs participating in opportunities and federal contracting increase the industrial base, level costs and pricing, and increase competition. It is vital for your business to participate in the industry. Every SB office likes to remind people - respond to the RFIs, Sources Sought, and propose, propose, propose. Each small business office present begged the small businesses to propose more opportunities. The only way to win a bid? Propose.

That process can be complicated, but you don’t have to do it alone. We’re here to help with your capture strategy, proposal writing, and oral presentation. We have great tips to help your company stand out in a competitive market. We’re here to help you navigate the proposal process. We’re here to help you hit submit with confidence on more proposals. Just reach out today. 

Kiley Stewart
Kiley is a proposal and capture manager at Trident. She brings her proposal management, technical editor, competitor analysis, and resume development skills to clients. She is also the voice of the Trident Short podcasts. A U.S. Navy veteran and military spouse based on the East Coast, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.