Goodbye OASIS, Hello BIC MAC ... what you should know

As the government continues to signal their acquisition preference to the use of various vehicles and GWACS, it’s important to explore and onramp onto multiple vehicles across the federal market.

 The OASIS vehicle has been a best-in-class vehicle that many federal agencies, especially DoD and DHS, has favored in recent years. While there have been some marketing communications-related contracts on OASIS (most are IT-focused), OASIS historically has had very few firms that genuinely offer marketing communications services. Fortunately, for many companies that were not able to get on OASIS, OASIS is sunsetting in 2024 and a new GWAC is anticipated to fill its shoes. Enter the “Best-in Class Multiple Award Contract (BIC MAC)” GWAC. 

Last month, industry was asked to participate in the market research and shaping of this GWAC. And, last week the government conducted an industry day. We attended Industry Day and walked away unclear on where marketing communications fits in. It was arguably omitted from OASIS and we’re concerned that we might see the same happen again with BIC MAC. That said, there is room to be cautiously optimistic as the government is spending ample time on conducting market research. Other high-points from GSA at the Industry Day:

  • GSA’s intent is for the BIC MAC contract to be one contract organized by domains. A company would qualify for the domain as a whole and therefore qualify for all of the NAICS codes aligned to that domain.

  • GSA is anticipating 9 to 15 domains in the initial release of the contract. The domains will follow a category management structure with some specialized domains based on agency needs and where category management has gaps. Current assumed domains are as follows:

    • General domains: Technical and Engineering, Research and Development, Management and Advisory Services, Business Administration, Financial Services, Environmental Services, Marketing and PR, Logistics, Facilities, Human Services (HR, Legal, and Social Services)

    • Specialized domains Identified to date: Base Operation Support Services, Counterintelligence, C4ISR, Major Professional Services Acquisitions (large dollar value comprehensive professional services), OCONUS

  • GSA intends to have continuous entry of new awardees.While it is not decided whether this would mean the solicitation is always open, or is open during multiple windows throughout the year, it does mean that GSA does not plan to limit entry opportunities.

Continuing to follow the developments of this vehicle is going to be extremely important over the near / mid-term. We will send updates as more information becomes available. Additionally, please respond to the RFIs that GSA is putting out - getting more industry input is extremely important.

For additional reading, take a look at the following resources:

Mike KapetanovicMarketing Communications, Professional Services