Top 5 IDIQ Task Order Management business scenarios

As a Prime on IDIQs/GWACs/MATOCs you have a hunting license to win Task Orders. But, the business is competitive. And increasingly, you require a high level of operational efficiency in order to compete effectively, to win, and to scale.

Over the last 5 years technology has changed. Task Order Management systems are now available and affordable from multiple vendors that enable a whole new set of participants to operate at levels that rival much more expensive custom systems and mature operations. The new Primes are learning how to optimize their systems and their way of working to build competitive advantages.

R3 is one of these vendors with its IDIQ Task Order system. We’ve found that our customers fall into 5 different groups. Each group operates in a different competitive situation with its own challenges and its own needs. In this article, we will describe these Top 5 IDIQ Task Order Business Scenarios, their competitive situation and how R3 addresses their needs and the strategy involved. Where appropriate we reference R3 case studies that focus on a customer in that scenario.

Your business will naturally fit into one scenario. However, we hope that by providing a spectrum of scenarios you will walk away with a broader and richer perspective of your competitive landscape.

The Top 5 Summary

We’ll begin with a very brief categorization of the Top 5 scenarios as listed in the table below. We’ll then drill down into each scenario in turn.

Note that the acronym TOS is for Task Order System. Full TOS means that they have system support for the full TO lifecycle such as the 7 core capabilities found in the R3 IDIQ Task Order Management system.

IDIQ Prime

Your First IDIQ as a Small Business Prime

You just won your first IDIQ as a Small Business Prime. Driving your Task Order business as a Prime is different from winning RFPs. You need to have a process and system that enables you to operate very efficiently throughout the full (and quick) Task Order lifecycle. As the Prime, you now have to be the rain-maker and engage your teaming partners to provide capture coverage and to support your proposal response.  You may not have a formal process or an operational system in place to get the work done. Most probably, your competitors don’t either. To win Task Orders, you can establish a clear competitive advantage through operational excellence.

How R3 addresses this scenario

Usually, first time IDIQ Primes don’t have much to compete with. For most of our customers, their business objective is to operate at the top of their competitor stack. But, they usually lack infrastructure, an operational system, an understood process and vetted day-to-day best practices. We start by providing many of these customers with infrastructure via a Private Cloud leveraging Amazon Web Services. We then provide them with our R3 IDIQ Task Order Management system. The advantage of our system vs. most in the market is that it integrates all 7 core capabilities to be effective through the full life cycle of winning Task Orders. This includes handling the front end, the proposal response and partner engagement throughout the lifecycle. We usually also provide business training that helps them to use the system and to develop their operations to run the business.

Case Study: New Small Business IDIQ Prime Uses R3 System to Get the Jump on Competition

IDIQ Center

Integrated IDIQ Center supporting multiple vehicles in small to mid-tier organizations

This scenario is for those that have won multiple IDIQs/GWACS as a Prime and want to bring them together into an integrated IDIQ Center to drive operational efficiency, visibility, scale and manageability.  Organizations in this scenario are typically mid-tier with between 200 and 1,500 people. In general, their Task Order business often under-performs because it has been treated as a step-child to their core RFP business. Accordingly, they have not optimized the Task Order business to the different operating reality. This means that it can’t scale and they are not as effective as they could be. This is changing, particularly in mid-tier organizations that are recognizing their IDIQ business as their engine for growth.

How R3 addresses this scenario

The challenging part for this scenario is that these organizations have to do two different things well. They need to optimize work to compete on Task Orders within each Vehicle. And, they need to learn to leverage their portfolio advantage (across multiple vehicles). The trick here is to learn to leverage partners and your account coverage to initiate opportunities through capture and then guide these opportunities into the vehicle best suited for them to win. The R3 IDIQ Task Order Management system is also designed to support this scenario. It enables Primes to have an integrated system for all vehicles and Task Orders. Yet, each vehicle and its Task Orders can be significantly different. You can optimize each to specifically meet the needs of that vehicle. Unlike any of the other Top 5 scenarios, these participants can have both the power of optimization and the benefit of scale in an integrated system. It is a strong basis to compete and grow.

Case study: Graduating Small Business Leverages R3 System to Propel Growth with IDIQ Task Orders

Enterprise IDIQ/GWAC PMO

Enterprise shared service organization that drives front-end “intake” of Task Orders

The very large GovCon organizations typically have a centralized, enterprise-level IDIQ/GWAC Center/Program Management Office. This team, supported by formal systems, provides an enterprise service to the business groups of finding opportunities and distributing them to business groups and/or teaming partners. The Business Groups then make their Bid Assessment, handle Partner Engagement and do the Proposal Response (sometimes supported by a Proposal Center). These Centers/PMO’s were created to meet high-volume efficiency needs going back to 2005 when the first wave of large GWAC/IDIQs hit the market. This approach is not going away. But, it is not as effective or as much a competitive differentiator as it used to be.

How R3 addresses this scenario

Starting in 2005 we have worked with more than 20 of the top 50 GovCon players on these systems and extensions to them. They are always custom built systems. We have provided technology, solution frameworks and services to help them build out their system. However, things are changing. The Business Groups are getting their own fully integrated IDIQ Task Order systems such as in the BG-Managed Scenario below. This is now possible because solutions such as those from R3 are making them available, affordable, and, with low corporate IT support requirements. Some customers that acknowledge the trend are moving to support a hub-and-spoke model where Business Groups can “locally” optimize but they all tie into one “uber” system (the “hub”). Alternatively, they are extending their shared service systems to a) provide business groups with new services such as Task Order proposal response or b) build new capabilities for business intelligence and market strategy leveraging their knowledge to get ahead of the business.

Case study: 10,000+ Task Orders over 11 Years for a Top 10 GovCon IDIQ/GWAC PMO

BG-Managed IDIQ

Agency-Specific, Business Group Managed, End-to-End IDIQ Management

On the other end of the spectrum from the Enterprise IDIQ PMO is the Business Group Managed IDIQ. In this scenario a business group has won an IDIQ (usually agency-specific) or a set of related IDIQs and wants to manage the full lifecycle of winning the business in concert with their responsibility for delivering it.  They see greater value in managing all aspects of the IDIQ program. They are committed to dominating their client agency, intend to have coverage and capture, and see the IDIQ vehicle as a means to win and manage their business.

How R3 addresses this scenario

In this scenario, we typically deploy our IDIQ system as a stand-alone system for that IDIQ and that Business Group. It is often then optimized to maximize their way of winning business for that IDIQ or set of related IDIQs (see the Case Study). This is an opportunity for them to add their “special sauce”. We often then add the R3 Program Management solution which natively integrates with the IDIQ system.  This adds the ability to manage the work of post-award task order such as managing contract deliverables and overall program management reporting, updates and control. Together, the business group now has an end-to-end way of managing their business that is optimized for their situation.

Case Study: Mid-Tier General Contractor Can Now Scale to Grow their AEC MATOC Task Order business

IDIQ SAC

“IDIQ Style” Single Award Contract (SAC)

Surprise! This top IDIQ scenario is not a multiple-award contract. The Government is increasingly releasing Single Award Contracts that function in the “IDIQ Style”. The Task Order is not formally competed. However, these “requests” are handled similarly to a MAC request. You still have to go through the full process: track the request, get people and teaming partners engaged, plan and estimate the work, and prepare and submit your estimate in a response. Either you will be awarded the work or not. It is best to treat this as you would a competitive MAC because in truth you still have to do your homework, be responsive and get awarded the business.

How R3 addresses this scenario

We treat this similar to the BG-Managed IDIQ. We provide them with our IDIQ system to manage the pre-award work. We then change and enhance it to the situation of their SAC. In addition, we typically provide customers with the R3 Program Management solution which is even more important in these scenarios as they are solely responsible all aspects of the full program. One aspect of this solution that is quite relevant to the SAC scenario is the R3 Customer Portal. This allows the customer to directly interact with you online which can be used to increase customer satisfaction and customer intimacy.

To Learn More…

• Watch short video of R3 IDIQ Task Order Management (below).
• Visit the R3 IDIQ Task Order Management product page.