What are the remaining challenges?

If I were a bidder, I would not take a manufacturer’s SEWP bid sheet at face value but check their specifications against the mandatory requirements. Some folks believe they can take the provided list without doing a complete inspection since the manufacturers know best. Just remember some of those same manufacturers lost their own re-competes for similar Army and Air Force IDIQ contracts recently, and SEWP V will be a contract of choice for their sales teams.

Additionally, SDVOSB/HUB Zone businesses should be cautioned to not believe that the low bar for Past Performance indicates that a company whose primary past performance is service not product sales with service around the product sale can win a SEWP contract.

A company that needed product sourcing support for the mandatory products under the Mass Storage Devices Group recently encountered a problem with their intended source.  They were told that if the SDVOSB was not already an authorized partner, it was too late to become one for the SEWP V proposal. The lesson learned is that, even if there is a set aside part of a large GWAC program, many manufacturers have already decided how many companies they will support for the bid. And the SEWP V RFP requires bidders to say who at the manufacturer level recognizes their company as an approved product provider to the SEWP program.

Writing winning proposals for complex programs like SEWP V requires the contractor to clearly demonstrate their ability to perform, once selected. The SEWP Bowl process with contractors is very mature and does not accept any variance from their procedures.