This blog is a follow up to my blog dated 7/8/2020 titled "Federal Subcontracting - Analyzing the Data" and is focused on how companies can use the federal subcontract data.
Subcontracting is a successful strategy for many businesses that are new to federal contracting. It is also used successfully by large companies and Joint Ventures that have specific socioeconomic goals and as part of their growth strategy. In certain industries we see more teaming & subcontracting than others. While ensuring that there is a meeting of the minds, capabilities, personnel and more there are many legal and reporting requirements, however if managed well this relationship can be beneficial to both the prime and sub.I believe in the adage "Knowledge is Power" and understanding the subcontract awards data provides a company with key information such as visibility into subcontractors working at an agency or base, type of work that is subcontracted out, strategy that a prime might be using, costing for the sub award and much more.
Using Fedmine's Subcontract Visor for Your Business
While the data is the same, it is used differently based on a company's need or function. A few ways in which Fedmine's subcontract searches are used include:
- For a subcontractor looking for prime contracts, our subcontract search allows them to search the historical data using filters which include project requirement, socioeconomic indicators and place of performance. The results show prime contractors that have awarded subcontracts along with the project description and value, at the task order level. This allows our clients to not only have a list of companies they need to target, but also understand their competitors.
- This report shows the subcontracts awarded for a search that was done with a project requirement of cybersecurity at Air Force. As you can see below 30 subcontractors won a total of $105M in awards:
- The Subcontract historical summary provides an overview of the subcontract trends at an agency. You can further analyze the data by NAICS as you build your business development strategy.
- View the subcontractors that are working at an agency, bureau, base or VISN. Get visibility into the type of work that is subcontracted out, or get a view into the teaming partners at a company and the work they are doing.
- Interestingly, you can also use the subcontract search to see subcontractors by GWAC and IDIQ such as the 8(a) STARS contract vehicle.
- Use our contract search to see which prime contracts have a subcontract plan requirement and download a focused contact list to develop new relationships. Of course, standard within Fedmine searches are filters which include keywords, place of performance and more.
Increasingly we see the use of teaming and joint ventures. Finding a reliable partner is essential. Part of market research includes using Federal Contract data to search for a partner based on the type of work the company has done, socioeconomic indicators, place of performance and agency past performance. While using the reported subcontract data provides a history of the subcontracts a company has received, a look at their company profile provides a comprehensive view of its federal contract history, including protests, federal prime contracts, subcontracts won and awarded and GAO protests - use it as an evaluation tool as you decide if the company is a good fit.
I believe that a successful subcontracting/teaming strategy is essential and should be part of a company's growth strategy and key to market research is knowledge, especially if its authoritative and in real-time!
Drop me an email if you have any questions or want to learn more about Fedmine - archisha@fedmine.us
