NETWORX recompete has market implications

NS202 "Forbearance Interval" is a Game-Changer!

GSA has released the NS2020 Networks RFI, with a dozen pages of details on what they want for the next generation network-based and network-enabled services.

The stated purpose for the RFI is to inform industry, and provide a channel for industry to inform GSA, about the network strategy that will carry government for another decade and a half.

Quantified Perception has applied the Text Analysis Profiler(TAP), our proprietary analytics, to the RFI’s substantive statement to help make the RFI more accessible.

QPL’s Analysis

The NS2020 RFI is well structured and organized, relatively terse in presenting a broad subject area that certainly will engender a lot more text than the 20 pages of the released document. It is well-written, with a Microsoft-derived Flesch-Kincaid Reading level of 15.3. QPL gives it a 9.1 with our more rigorous Grade Level calculator.

With just under 3500 words after you drop the site table, there are a couple of interesting nuggets in the word and phrase frequency occurrences.

“Voice and data” are not surprisingly the most common substantive 3-word phrase, occurring nine times in the document. “The forbearance interval” occurs nine times, indicating that this concept for restricting awards will be a hard requirement to alter.

The RFI mandates that any domestic offeror must provide fixed price services in at least 50 of the designated CBSA’s (think “cities.”) During the Forbearance Interval (FI), contractors will be limited to bidding on projects by both geographic area and by the services required for a given task order. The RFI does a credible job in explain the concept, but it is likely to raise some discussion between GSA and potential offerors.

I predict that the Forbearance Interval will become a focal point in discussions and comments regarding NS2020. The parameters of the “FI” will have a huge impact on who can bid for specific task orders after award, with large companies in the drivers’ seats. We may see some interesting partnerships, alliances and even mergers of midsize network providers who are focused on the federal space, in order allow them to compete with the Majors.

Phase Analysis

There are several notable four- and five-word phrases repeated in the RFI, including mention of the “FI,” within longer word strings. “Voice and data services” is not surprising with nine mentions, but it is joined by “mandatory” three times and supplemented by “mandatory and optional services” an additional five times

“Mandatory and optional services” repetition reflects the importance of optional offerings to the forbearance interval. “Minimum set” and “minimum mandatory” are used five and six times each, again indicating the importance that the forbearance interval is likely to have on per-solicitation discourse.

“Comments and suggestions” are called for four times in the document, but are not explicitly requested around the forbearance interval, suggesting that there will be some resistance to modifying the language for that.

Other significant phrases include “geographic coverage, “infrastructure solutions”, and “domestic offerors.” Potential bidders should consider how these phrases will translate into requirements in the final RFP and make appropriate comments at this time – while GSA is still in “flexible” mode.

Five-word Phrases	Number of occurrences		ocabulary	Number of occurrences
structure and the forbearance interval	3		mandatory	20
mandatory voice and data services	3		information	20
how effective will the tiered	3		data	18
forbearance interval be in attracting	3		cbsas	16
for mandatory and optional services	3		coverage	16
			minimum	16
Four-word Phrases			agencies	15
voice and data services	9		requirements	15
mandatory and optional services	5		geographic	14
			service	13
Three-word Phrases			optional	12
mandatory and optional	5		strategy	11
tiered offeror structure	4		comments	10
comments and suggestions	4		forbearance	10
			solutions	10
Two-word Phrases			infrastructure	9
optional services	12		network	9
geographic coverage	10		global	8
forbearance interval	9		suggestions	8
data services	9
infrastructure solutions	8
domestic offerors	7
minimum mandatory	6
minimum set	5

UFRs!

UFR Time

If you are selling into the military marketplace, you should know about Unfunded Requirements, and the timeline to get your products purchased with these valuable year-end opportunities. The delay in getting an actual budget has put many organizations behind the power curve to get their acquisitions executed within the bounds of the fiscal year. It’s a great opportunity to squeeze small purchases ($100,000 - $250,000) into the year-end frenzy. Time, however is short – there are only a few weeks left to get into the game for UFRs.

UFRs have a short time frame - you have to get the right paperwork done at the right time. That time is NOW, but the window will close by the end of June.  Have you positioned your products for UFR funding?

Contact Quantified Perception, LLC (QPL) to get more information on how UFRs can work to your advantage.

don.arnold@qpllc.com

Veterans Affairs Analysis

Continuing in the analysis of Agency language exhibited on the Web, VA has been treated to a QPL Text Analysis. We are analyzing the speeches, strategic plans, and home page text of VA.GOV. As stated previously:

“One of the essentials of successful Federal business is to understand your customer. The objectives, the priorities, and the policies of an agency are key factors in successfully aligning your approach to their requirements. A winning company will read the Agency Strategic Plan, their IT Strategy, and other fundamental statements found on the Agency website. Meeting with key personnel to elicit their views is one way to get a handle on the agency’s foundations.

Another is to analyze those key documents that are found on the agency Homepage.”

Veterans Affairs has content similar to the Department of Homeland Security, but is a more cohesive agency with a cleaner focus. Three main divisions are a much more straightforward organization than DHS’s 24 bureaus and agencies. Examining the VA web should give a more coherent picture of the Agency’s concerns and language – and help you position proposals and white papers more in concert with the language of VA.

 

VA Vocabulary

Five of the six most frequently used words across all documents show a specific focus of VA. These words relate not to the mission of VA, but to performance and process. Service and services come in at a close number two, and are accompanied in the top twenty by care, claims, health, benefits, medical, and quality. The implication is that VA is focused on their constituents and on performing their mission for those constituents. Performance is key – and performance measurement is a priority (percent, results, report, improve.) The conclusion to draw is the VA cares about how well they meet their mission of serving veterans.

VA  Phrases

Maintaining consistency with the individual word counts, the top two 2-word phrases are “health care” and “accountability report.” VA is focused on serving their beneficiaries! They are also concerned with fiscal responsibility, and indicator of the financial pressures of their budget and growing constituency.

The analysis shows a tendency towards passive voice – the raw infinitive appears three times in the top fifteen 2-word phrases. This could be an indication of subjugating the Agency to the customer – an idea supported by the three verbs in question: improve, ensure, provide. Three-word phrases are more programmatic, with the emphasis on mission performance. This is continued in the four- and five-word phrases.

One interesting note is the recurrence of “oig” (Office of Inspector General), which confirms the VA’s focus on performance and oversight. 

Implications

The structural differences between DHS and VA are delineated by their vocabulary and the focus of their respective languages. This demonstrates the value of “know thy client.” When you are communicating with the VA, emphasize the preeminence of the Veteran and family, and use a more passive voice in your structure.  It’s not about you, it’s about the VA beneficiaries. Talk about measurable results – data and information that support your claims. Everyone will talk about health, and benefits, and claims. Strengthen your position by describing results – data, performance, percentages, and measurement.

Emphasize your integrated capabilities – perhaps you can span the VBA, VHA, and NCA areas, if you are working at the Departmental level. At the very least, be aware of these three components of the VA organization and how they interact now and in the future.

Maintain focus on financial management and performance. Be sensitive to oversight (OIG) and to the need for measurable results, and your relationship with VA will improve.