In This Week's Newsletter:

• Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: Department of Defense (DoD) CENTCOM Headquarters Professional Services (CHIPS)

• Four To Follow: Get the lowdown on four interesting pursuits!

• AI Corner: Enabling Your Workforce to Use Gen AI

• Pricing Insights: To Subcontract or not to Subcontract?

• Capture Corner: Propose Phase

Opportunity Alert: Department of Defense (DoD) CENTCOM Headquarters Professional Services (CHIPS)

Contact Katie: [email protected]

The DoD issued Amendment #3 on February 12, 2025, extending the proposal due date to April 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT. The Government is still expected to release Q&As and solicitation updates/changes in the near future. This $750M IDIQ is being competed as both 8(a) Set-Aside and SDVOSB and is expected to be awarded to 20 contractors. Contact Hinz Consulting for any proposal or strategic pricing support. 

Four to Follow:

1. Department of Defense, Continuous Process Improvement Support: The DoD requires a contractor to assist in assessing new technologies and applying those new technologies, technical specifications, and operational requirements in support of the Space Portfolio Division’s (SPD’s) mission. This 8(a) Set-Aside opportunity is due to be released April 2025. The current value is unknown. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further information on this effort.

2. Department of Army, San Antonio Military Administrative Support Services

   The Department of Army anticipates to release a single award, 8(a) Set-Aside IDIQ for administrative and management support services for the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. A final RFP for this $80M IDIQ is expected to be released September 2025 with an award date project to be in September 2026. Please continue to monitor SAM.gov for further information on this effort. 

3. Department of Defense, Foundation Sustainment Support Software and Integration (FS3I): The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has a need for support services needed to sustain the Foundation GEOINT system. This opportunity is estimated to be over $100M and the release is forecasted for Q3 2025. The set-aside is currently unknown at this time. Continue to monitor https://acq-ui.westfields.net/ for further information.

4. Department of Homeland Security, Outcome Based Delivery and Devops Services IV (ODOS IV): The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) $410M, SB Set-Aside effort has an anticipated release date of around March 11, 2025 on GSA MAS, with the projected award in the Q4 FY 2025. The work required is participating in a team-based DevSecOps approach to deliver mission-critical functionality and business value frequently, cost-effectively, responsively, and securely. Continue to monitor eBuy portals for further information. 

Enabling Your Workforce to Use Gen AI

Contact Josh: [email protected]

Introducing a new generative AI tool to your workforce can be a game-changer, but it requires thoughtful planning and execution to ensure successful adoption. Here are some strategies to encourage your team to embrace and effectively use the new tool:

1. Provide Training and Support: Offer comprehensive training sessions to help employees understand how to use the AI tool effectively. This can include hands-on workshops, online tutorials, and Q&A sessions.

2. Highlight Benefits: Clearly communicate the benefits of the AI tool, such as increased efficiency, reduced workload, and enhanced creativity. Show real-life examples of how the tool can make their jobs easier and more productive.

3. Incentivize Adoption: Encourage employees to use the AI tool by offering incentives such as recognition, rewards, or bonuses for those who actively engage with and utilize the tool.

4. Foster a Culture of Experimentation: Create an environment where employees feel comfortable experimenting with the AI tool without fear of failure. Encourage them to explore its capabilities and share their experiences and insights with the team.

5. Integrate AI into Workflows: Seamlessly integrate the AI tool into existing workflows to minimize disruption. Ensure that it complements rather than complicates their daily tasks.

6. Gather Feedback and Iterate: Regularly collect feedback from employees about their experiences with the AI tool. Use this feedback to make necessary adjustments and improvements, ensuring the tool continues to meet their needs.

7. Lead by Example: Demonstrate your commitment to the AI tool by using it yourself and showcasing its benefits. When leaders actively use and endorse the tool, employees will feel more confident in using it themselves.

By implementing these techniques, you can help your workforce feel more comfortable and confident in using the new generative AI tool, ultimately leading to greater productivity and innovation.

To Subcontract or not to Subcontract?

Contact Tom: [email protected]

Prime bidders often face the question of including subcontractors in proposals. Sometimes, this inclusion is a requirement, and clients may dictate the type of subcontractors to be used, such as large businesses or specific small business types.

Including subcontractors can offer several benefits, such as reducing costs and bringing expertise in required work areas. Incorporating subcontractor costs in a proposal is relatively straightforward. A prime contractor can categorize subcontractors as either Other Direct Costs (ODCs) or Direct Materials (DMs).

When a subcontractor's costs are treated as ODC, they are subject to a General & Administrative (G&A) markup and a fee. This approach is used when the subcontractor utilizes the prime contractor's facilities, time system, or requires management.

On the other hand, treating subcontractor costs as DM involves a smaller markup, often referred to as materials handling (MH), and a fee. This method is more common when the subcontractor performs work at their own offices and requires minimal oversight from the prime contractor.

There is no official limit on the number of subcontractors a prime contractor can include. For very large proposals, it is not unusual to have over twenty subcontractor teams. However, prime contractors should ensure an even work share distribution to avoid having too many subcontractors performing a large percentage of the work, which can introduce additional risks.

A word of caution: the more subcontractor teams you have, the more rate cards you might need to manage, potentially leading to a subcontract management challenge. Collaborate with your support teams to develop creative solutions to manage this complexity effectively.

Propose Phase

Contact John: [email protected]

The Propose Phase of the Capture Methodology is where all previous capture efforts combine to create a compelling, persuasive, high-quality submission that maximizes the Probability of Win (Pwin). Success in this phase is dependent upon early planning, shaping efforts, client relationship, strong execution and a disciplined proposal management approach.

This phase is the final stage before opportunity award. This is where the pursuit team develops, refines and submits the proposal that must align to the client’s needs and evaluation criteria. This is critical as it will translate all the pursuit planning, strategy elements and engagement efforts into a compelling, viable proposal that needs to be competitively priced.

Key elements of the Propose Phase consist of the following:

1. Develop a Winning Proposal: Author and enhance a client-focused proposal that clearly communicates the value proposition, but more importantly is a compliant and viable response.

2. Align to Evaluation Criteria: Make sure the proposal directly addresses the client requirements, challenges, and evaluation factors and sub-factors.

3. Competitive Intelligence: Integrate insights gathered from customer engagements, competitive profile analysis and competitive price review strategies.

4. Conduct Proposal Reviews: Perform reviews in the form of color team reviews (Ex. Pink, Red, Gold) to support refining content, solution elements and client messaging.

5. Orals Preparation (if required): If applicable to the opportunity, develop and practice, practice, practice a strong Orals presentation of your proposal.

Hinz Training:  Competitive Intelligence 101

Hinz Consulting’s Business Development Manager Sarah Miranda introduces Competitive Intelligence 101. 5 simple and actionable steps can benefit your company today. Sarah shares her expertise, breaking down the data collection and analysis process.

• March 25-26: IDGA National Homeland Security Week in Arlington, VA

• March 27: Small Business Expo in Washington, DC

• April 1-2: AFCEA 2025 Spring Intelligence Symposium in Springfield, VA

• May 13-16: VETS25 Conference in Orlando, FL

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

• Proposal Consulting

• AI Services

• Strategic Pricing

• Training

• Capture

• Competitive Intelligence

• BD Transformation Consulting

• Process/Methodology Consulting

• Tools and Templates

• Production Services

• Small Business