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Complete market research

Market research for the federal government is the process of gathering and analyzing information about capabilities within the market by reviewing potential suppliers, products, and services to inform procurement decisions. It plays a crucial role in ensuring the government gets the best value for its money while meeting its mission-critical needs; because of this, an OCO must complete acquisition planning and market research to determine whether OASIS+ meets their needs.

Market research serves the following purposes:

  • Identify capable vendors: Understand the landscape of existing solutions and potential providers who can meet specific government requirements.
  • Cost analysis: Compare prices and potential costs associated with different options to secure the most competitive deal.
  • Inform procurement strategy: Decide on the most appropriate acquisition method (e.g., solicitation, contract type) based on market availability and competition.

The OCO must complete acquisition planning and market research to determine whether OASIS+ meets their needs, as such the OCO must:

  • Determine whether the specific requirement is within scope of OASIS+.
  • Determine if an OASIS+ Small Business or Socioeconomic Small Business can perform the requirements and set-aside for small business concerns, if applicable.
  • Determine which OASIS+ contract to issue the task order solicitation under.

Task orders planned under OASIS+ are not exempt from FAR Part 7 - Acquisition Planning or FAR Part 10 - Market Research. Agencies may have different policies, regulations, standards, etc, that should be considered in the decision to use OASIS+ to fulfill an agency requirement.

OASIS+ offers several approaches to aid the market research, such as:

  • Research (or send an RFI to) OASIS+ contract holders and their capabilities within each OASIS+ contract, Domain, and NAICS code using eBuy;
  • Research (optional scope review) may be requested via OASIS+ Scope Review. The scope review is completed by GSA and will ensure the requirement is being placed under the appropriate OASIS+ contract and domain.
  • Research (or send an RFI) using Market Research as a Service (MRAS), a free service offering a streamlined innovative approach to conducting RFI’s quickly and efficiently. Contact the local GSA Customer Service Director for assistance with MRAS.

Gather pricing intelligence

There are several unique CALC+ tools available on buy.gsa.gov/pricing to support government acquisition professionals in finding awarded prices to use in negotiations for labor contracts. CALC+ offers ceiling prices, fully burdened costs, services data, and worldwide rates to help with services pricing business intelligence.

CALC+ Tools Guidance

  • When evaluating CALC+ pricing, including BLS QR, OCOs must exercise independent business judgment consistent with their authority, while remaining compliant with all applicable regulations and guidance.
  • Any results from CALC+ searches cannot be relied upon exclusively to demonstrate prices are fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.4. Federal acquisition professionals will need additional analysis techniques to make such a determination.

CALC+ Quick Rate for Hourly Labor Ceiling Prices

  • The CALC+ Labor Ceiling Rates tool is a pricing research tool created to support government acquisition professionals in services pricing business intelligence.
  • This tool allows users to review fully burdened Not-to-Exceed Ceiling Rates awarded under GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts. The OCO can use it to conduct market research and develop Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs).
  • The tool can be used to assess the relative competitiveness of a vendor’s price to other vendors’ prices on MAS contracts. However, the tool should only be used as part of a larger negotiation objective development strategy that seeks fair and reasonable pricing (in accordance with FAR 15.4).
  • Schedule prices represent not-to-exceed ceiling prices established with a range of order sizes, types, complexities, taken into consideration. This provides the contractor the opportunity to discount prices at the order level or the Ordering Contracting Officer (OCO) to seek price reductions.
  • Be sure to review the CALC+ User Guide for helpful information. In the coming months, the user guide will be refreshed to include more detailed guidance, tips, and tricks to assist users in maximizing the capabilities of the tool.

CALC+ Quick Rate BLS

  • The CALC+ Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Quick Rate (QR) tool is a pricing research tool to support government acquisition professionals in services pricing business intelligence.
  • The CALC+ BLS tool searches for the latest wage rate information provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Acquisition and program management staff can use BLS data to support market research, pricing analyses, develop Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs), compare against prices paid, and create budgetary project cost estimates.
  • CALC+ BLS allows users to:
    • Search hundreds of occupations such as maintenance, accounting, and legal services in regions all over the United States to match their acquisition objectives and level of contractor expertise needed to meet mission requirements.
    • Find the total hourly cost of services by adding fringe benefits, indirect costs (e.g. company overhead and administrative), and profit to BLS wage rates to develop a fully burdened labor rate for price analysis – the developed rate represents a quality estimated rate to support pricing analysis and price reasonableness determinations.
    • Pair your estimated rate from the BLS tool with prices paid data on buy.gsa.gov to improve your price analysis and overall estimated cost.
  • Be sure to review the CALC+ Quick Rate (QR) Tool BLS Rates User Guide for additional information.

CALC+ Quick Rate for Prices Paid

*Access is restricted to federal employees and federal contractors with .gov / .mil email

  • CALC+ Quick Rate Prices Paid allows users to review Prices Paid information from GSA’s Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and Multi-Agency Contracts (MACs) to develop IGCE’s and create budgetary cost projections; making it another pricing tool for users to leverage along with BLS and hourly labor ceiling prices.
  • CALC+ Prices Paid data is based on the contractor invoice data uploaded to GSA’s Contractor Payment Reporting Module (CPRM). Prices Paid are actual invoiced labor rates paid by federal agencies on awarded task/delivery orders for Time and Material (T&M) and Labor Hour (LH) contract line item numbers (CLINs).
  • The data represented in CALC+ Prices Paid is no more than three years old. Contracting professionals may select the data to be limited to invoices reported within the last 12 months, 24 months, or 36 months. Users should be aware that more recent data is less impacted by inflation and historical records are not adjusted for inflation.
  • CALC+ Prices Paid data includes invoices reported in the CPRM for the following contract programs:
    • Alliant 2
    • 8(a) STARS III
    • VETS 2
    • OASIS
    • HCaTS
  • Note: This tool is being introduced as a minimally viable product. New features and enhancements will be added in the future. Users are encouraged to submit feedback and enhancement requests by completing the form displayed on the Prices Paid tool.
  • Be sure to review the CALC+ Quick Rate (QR) Prices Paid User Guide for additional information.

Research agencies and sellers

We offer a variety of resources to help research the federal market; check out the websites below to learn more about agencies or prepare to become a GSA vendor.

  • Small Business Goaling Reports - Obtain data on small business utilization by department.
  • USASpending.gov - Obtain data on annual federal spending.
  • Federal Agency Procurement Forecasts - Explore planned federal contracting opportunities.
  • GSA Advantage - Browse the online catalog of products offered through GSA Schedules.
  • eBuy - Find business opportunities and submit quotes for a wide range of products and services.
  • eLibrary (coming soon) - OASIS+ contract information will be made available when contracts are awarded.

Get a scope review (optional)

OASIS+ contract holders may request an optional and complementary scope review. The scope review is completed by GSA and will ensure the requirement is being placed under the appropriate OASIS+ contract; having the appropriate contract will help best meet your requirements.

Get a detailed market report for your requirement

In addition to a scope review, GSA’s Market Research as a Service (MRAS) can help you by collecting and providing industry partner information specific to your needs; MRAS conducts Requests for Information, Sources Sought, and advanced product searches to help agencies compile business, socio-economic, and technical data in order to help conduct RFIs more efficiently. MRAS also helps provide feedback about agency requirements documents, industry trends, best practices, and the best GSA contract and NAICs for their acquisition.

MRAS is a free service and can be requested after completing an optional OASIS+ Scope Review. Find your agency point of contact for assistance with MRAS.

How do I initiate an MRAS request?

Learn more about MRAS

Send an RFI

You can send an RFI to OASIS+ contract holders and their capabilities within each OASIS+ contract, domain, and NAICS code using GSA eBuy.

Last updated: October 07, 2024