WINNING AT IDIQ CONTRACTS – Over the years we have found a lot of confusion and disappointment with effective returns on Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Our friend and experienced IDIQ pursuit business developer, John Haller, has started an IDIQ blog on this subject. Please feel free to join in as this progresses.
From 5000 Feet
The multiple award contract vehicle has been around for decades. Talking to people at conferences and reading solicitations, you’re going to run across a number of terms referring to these contracts. The acronym you’ll hear the most is IDIQ or indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. For the curious among us, we’ll look at the terminology and shades of meaning in another chapter. Let’s talk first about the value.
As agencies face downward budget pressure the path to new business is often through a multiple award contract. The most obvious characteristic of these contracts is the limited number of prime contractors for a defined period of time. The companies that gain a prime seat on an IDIQ don’t get any money from the prime contract, or vehicle, they make money from execution on task orders under the vehicle. Each prime contractor bid the vehicle with a group of subcontractors, or their partners. On some vehicles the subcontractor teams are “locked” over the life of the vehicle, where the primes must receive Government permission to change partners. On others, the primes can add or remove partners as they see fit to win individual task orders.
At a high level, the prime monetizes their IDIQ through winning task orders. For the subcontractors, they need to convince the prime of their value on the bid and the bid has to win. The work required to monetize an IDIQ from a subcontractor seat is so important that they deserve their own pieces of this discussion as we go forward.
So, let’s quickly review what we know:
- The game now and into the future is participation in multiple award contract vehicles
- It’s great to be prime, but you can still make money as a subcontractor
- To succeed as a subcontractor supporting the prime is as important as supporting the customer
Stay tuned – More to follow!
Written by John Haller
John is a longtime friend of Michelli Associates, Inc. He has been bidding, winning and monetizing multiple award contracts for over a decade. His background includes restructuring capture processes and leading capture teams for both prime contract positions and subcontractor positions. He is currently working for Adams Communications in Waldorf, MD.
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