Earlier this month, we discussed the federal source selection process, including how proposals are reviewed, evaluated, selected, and ultimately awarded.
To recap, we talked about how government officials use multiple sources of information when making award decisions. In this blog, we’d like to address one of the most common factors: Past Performance. Simply put, Past Performance is an assessment of a bidder’s likelihood to successfully perform the contract, based on its history with similar contracts. This is important not just for your own bid, but also for understanding how your competitors will likely score on their past performance, and how you can better counter that with your own approach.
In evaluating a bidder’s past performance, government officials use the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). Exclusively available to the government, CPARS includes detailed information on how the bidder has delivered on their previous contracts with the government. This includes their record of meeting requirements and conforming to standards of good workmanship, forecasting and controlling costs, and adhering to schedules. CPARS also evaluates what FAR part 42.1501 refers to as a contractor’s “commitment to reasonable and cooperative behavior and customer satisfaction” on previous government contracts.
Federal decision-makers evaluate contractors’ past performance based on two standards: recency and relevancy. “Recency” refers to how long ago the work was performed, and “relevancy” has to do with how similar this work is to what the current RFP is asking for.
Because FAR 42.1503(4)(d) deems all past performance data as Source Selection Sensitive; information contained in CPARS is not releasable (unless expressly directed by the agency who submitted the data). However, contractors can gather a surprising amount of information on their likely competitors just by leveraging various open-source tools and their industry contacts.
Evaluating Recency and Relevancy
Requests for Proposals typically give specifications for what they deem to be a valid past performance reference. Typically, a good past performance reference is similar in size and scope as the contract you’re pursuing and within a 3–5 year window. Section M of the RFP discloses how these references will be evaluated.
Your analysis of the relevancy of a competitor’s past performance starts with determining which category it is in. For example, is this a product-based contract that involves the development of an item or low to full-rate production? Or is the opportunity calling for a service-based solution such as mission-based support or systems integration and engineering? Especially when the solicitation is looking for a service to be performed, be sure to get a good handle on the contract requirements by breaking them down into simplest terms. For an IT contract, for example: is the agency looking for cloud-based services support? Help desk support? Cybersecurity? The same applies to any product-based procurement.
Good sources of information for competitor past performance analysis include databases like GovWin, DACIS, GovTribe, and BGOV. These databases should be augmented by searching press releases and other news articles for announcement of awards that may not have been captured (or easily found) in one of the above databases. GlassDoor and other social media platforms can be excellent sources of data for contractors that are performing poorly, but a good analyst will always guard against potential bias by taking negative press with a grain of salt.
Finally, as you examine your competitors’ past performance, there are a few questions that are good to consider:
- Are the contract requirements well within their capabilities, or does their contract record suggest they have “gaps” in their ability that they must fill via teaming?
- Do they have sufficient experience in designing and manufacturing the product in focus?
- Have they recently won a large number of programs, and might struggle with bandwidth for the upcoming bid? Will they need to expand their manufacturing capabilities because they are currently performing at max capacity? Or will they need to go on a hiring spree to fill the required positions because this is a new contract type?
All this information is geared toward a single goal—providing your capture team with information that will inform strategy. It gives you the best possible chance to prepare for – and hopefully outmaneuver—your competitors and enhance your win probability.
