OVERLAPPING CONTRACTS, PROTESTS, AND GROWING DATA DEMANDS: THE CURRENT STATE OF IDIQ CONTRACTING

Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (MAIDIQ) contracting is at a crossroads. The use of these contracts, some of which are better known as Government Wide Acquisition vehicles (GWAC’s), soared in the late 1990’s in response to legislative changes designed to spur innovation, especially in IT contracting.  Today, MAIDIQ’s are a strong foundation of both IT and professional service acquisition.  Are there, however, cracks in that foundation?  A quick look at the market shows that there are and, if neither government nor industry pays proper attention, the use of this popular acquisition method could decline to the detriment of both parties.

Issue number one with MAIDIQ’s is that there are simply too many of them.  GSA has multiple contract vehicles, yet is in the process of creating even more, notably the ASCENDENT contract for cloud solutions.  NIH can’t let go of its plagued CIOSP program.  Each military branch has its own portfolio of MAIDIQ’s.  The result is that the benefits of these contracts are diminished.  There is no economy of scale being realized because of the micro-segmentation of the market.  This means that overhead for both government and industry remains higher than it should be.  The government ultimately pays at least part of the industry cost, too, as each company must maintain a comprehensive MAIDIQ contract management unit.  Some companies literally have hundreds of MAIDIQ’s.  Incentivizing the acquisition workforce to use existing vehicles, instead of creating new ones, is one important step that needs to be taken to stop the MAIDIQ multiplication madness.

Issue two is protestsAll small businesses need to stop and re-read Aesop’s story about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.  While it’s disappointing to lose out on an MAIDIQ award, companies need to think beyond one specific situation and look at the totality of how they want to reach the government market.  As noted above, there are multiple lanes on the MAIDIQ highway.  Keep protesting, however, and don’t be surprised if the small business lane eventually merges. Adopt the philosophy of the parents of successful teenagers and pick your battles.

Issue three is growing data collection demands of the agencies that manage MAIDIQ vehicles.  While some data collection from contractors has been a part of many MAIDIQ’s, there is no denying that the depth and breadth of information agencies expect industry to collect and remit is growing.  Look no further than the Multiple Award Schedule program where GSA would like to expand data collection requirements currently in place for Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) contracts throughout the program.  Data is a great tool for the government to use, but no one should expect companies to endlessly gather more and more of it without a cost, or a review of Paperwork Reduction Act issues.  Government agencies shouldn’t be too surprised, either, if demanding data quests don’t eventually trigger an Administrative Procedures Act case.  The government should absolutely obtain good data to ensure good use of taxpayer dollars.  Nothing comes for free, however, and adjustment is probably due right about now.

MAIDIQ’s, GWAC’s and other IDIQ contract vehicles are popular for a reason: They’re fast (once they’re eventually stood up), competitive, and believe it or not, usually offer good small business opportunities.  Like any program, though, neglecting common sense can lead to flaws that bring the whole thing down.