After deciding to stick with its FirstSource contracting vehicle to continue procuring information technology commodities, solutions and services from small companies, the Department of Homeland Security expects to release the solicitation for FirstSource III in early 2020, says the department’s procurement chief.
“DHS expects to release the FirstSource III solicitation on or around the January 2020 timeframe,” Soraya Correa says in an Aug. 19 letter to Industry Partners that was published on the government’s business opportunities website. “As we continue to develop our requirements for FirstSource III, I can assure you that DHS will have multiple industry engagement opportunities.”
Correa last month notified industry that DHS would maintain the FirstSource contract vehicle give the success of the first two versions of it and that the upcoming version would have set-aside tracks for each of the five socio-economic categories. At the time, she didn’t specify when the solicitation for FirstSource III would be released and that the scope and timelines of the new contract were still being worked out with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
In the latest letter, Correa says the current FirstSource II contract vehicle will be extended until Sept. 15, 2020 “To ensure there is no gap in the Department’s ability to have continued, streamlined access to IT goods and services, and to uphold our long-standing commitment to small business.” She adds that any work that is contracted under FirstSource II will end by Sept. 14, 2021.
Through the first two quarters of fiscal year 2019, DHS had awarded more than $2.8 billion in orders to small businesses under FirstSource II to dozens of contractors. FirstSource II was awarded in Jan. 2013 and the second, and final option, was set to expire in Jan. 2020. The contract vehicle has a $3 billion ceiling.
Correa says it is important to get the new contract vehicle right, so “careful planning and proper collaboration is key to developing the right solution for the Department.”