The Department of State (DoS) officially released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Evolve IDIQ on December 2nd, 2022. “Evolve” – a $8-$10 Billion IDIQ acquisition program for IT services, aims at improving the Department’s security standing and furthering innovation and IT modernization within the organization. Evolve will have a Period of Performance of five to seven years. Upon award, Evolve contracts will be managed by the IRM IT Acquisitions office (IRM/BMP/ITA/CM) centrally. Industry input shaped the acquisition strategy for Evolve, and the Department of State is expecting to issue up to 36 IDIQ awards. The submission due date is extended to January 25, 2023, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. We are closely following the developments on this contract.

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Evolve IDIQ : Latest Updates

• December 27, 2022

Amendment 1 Notable Changes:

1. Agency has made a shift from “confidence ratings” to “adjectival ratings”.
2. Agency has removed the sample task order pricing submission & evaluation.
3. Agency has removed self-scoring points for experience submitted for the “Prime” vs “Sub”.
4. Agency has made administrative corrections and clarifications based on the Q&A received.

The submission due date is extended to January 25, 2023, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

• December 19, 2022
  

  The Department of State posted a Symphony registration training video for vendors. The Symphony proposal submission portal will be open for submissions no earlier than December 26, 2022.

• December 2, 2022
  

  The Department of State officially released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for EVOLVE. The RFP is available at SAM.gov. All questions regarding the RFP should be submitted using the link found within the RFP at SAM.gov. The Contracting Officer can also be reached directly at [email protected].

• November 9, 2022
  

  The Department of State released an update to Draft RFP. The notice posted on SAM.gov lists a number of notable updates and reminders for the Draft RFP:

  1. All functional categories will still be solicited concurrently.
  2. Proposals will be collected and managed through the Symphony Procurement application. Instructions on how to register in the symphony and submit proposals will be provided in the RFP.
  3. There is not an OCI restriction on bidding or awards between functional categories at the IDIQ level; however, there is a high likelihood of OCI between FC1 (IT Management) and other functional category Task Orders.
  4. The RFP continues to include 2 Phases with an advisory down-select at Phase 1.
  5. Phase 1 will now include a Self-Scoring Sheet and a Technical Challenge.
  6. Corporate certifications (e.g., CMMI Level 3, ISO, etc.) are no longer a minimum requirement; Offerors with these certifications (and other qualifiers) will receive higher ratings in their self-scoring sheets in Phase 1.
  7. Oral presentations are no longer required.
  8. Offerors are now allowed to submit up to 3 Past Experience REP Forms per functional category (minimum is 1).
  9. Sample Task Order proposal submissions for each functional category will be required and evaluated during Phase 2.
  10. The price evaluation factor will include an evaluation of IDIQ pricing and Sample Task Order Pricing.
  11. The small business factor is no longer pass/fail; it is now an adjectivally rated evaluation factor.

• September 7, 2022
  

  The Department released a complete set of Questions and Answers (Q&A) to the Evolve IDIQ on sam.gov. 

• July 26 and August 10, 2022
  

  The Evolve team conducted listening sessions to engage with Industry on the program prior to the release of the final RFP and to engage specifically with the small business community. The slides for both events are available on the U.S. Department of State Industry Liaison page on LinkedIn, and the recordings are available on Vimeo.

• July 8, 2022

  The Department of State issued a Request for Information (RFI). The purpose of this RFI was, first and foremost, to provide a revised draft Evolve Request for Proposals (RFP) for industry review. This revised draft has incorporated the feedback received during the initial RFI/draft RFP release in 2021. Secondly, the draft aimed at soliciting recommendations and additional industry questions for RFP refinement. Lastly, the Department also announced a live Q&A listening session. All current information and documentation on the program are available on SAM.gov. You can check out the RFI announcement and associated documents for complete Evolve IDIQ information on SAM.gov. 

Furthermore, the Department is taking inquiries regarding Evolve directly at [email protected]. If you have any questions or comments regarding this much-awaited contract vehicle, feel free to send them to this email address.

Download Evolve’s Acquisition Timeline Sheet

Evolve is a golden opportunity to work with the State Department, establish yourself in the federal market, and advance your company. Going after contract vehicles can be a complicated process for small businesses, our team here at iQuasar simplifies the process for our clients. We support Small Businesses in bidding for complex contract vehicles such as Polaris, OASIS + (GSA BIC MAC), CATS+, CIO-SP4, Alliant SB, 8(a) STARS, HCaTS, Navy SEAPORT-E, MOBIS, RMAS, and other GWACs. Our teams here at iQuasar are constantly tracking updates related to contract vehicles like Evolve. Our team of experts will supervise the entire process by helping you evaluate your eligibility, increase your readiness levels, prepare a proposal development strategy custom-made to your firm’s unique requirements, and create a high-quality and compliant proposal response to help you win.

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