Before an order is processed, the ordering agency must identify its requirements and determine if the SATCOM-II Contracts can satisfy the requirements. The ordering agency has two options for placing orders: Direct Order/Direct Bill (Section G.2.1) or GSA-Assisted Ordering/Billing (Section G.2.2).
Customers can interact directly with the SATCOM II Awardees. In this scenario, the agency is responsible for all aspects of the acquisition where GSA only provides the contract vehicle. The customer agency contracting officer – or other designated entity will be subject to the rules, regulations, and conditions promulgated and enforced by that customer agency. Under Direct Order/Direct Bill, Agencies may go directly to the SATCOM-II Contractors to place orders. The billing for these services is directly between the Ordering Agency and the SATCOM-II Contractors.
The chart above illustrates the process:
The Ordering Agency will:
• Determine its requirements
• Develop a statement of work
To finalize these steps, the Agency may request information directly from each Contractor to determine what services and equipment exist on contracts to satisfy their needs. The Contractor may receive this request via e-mail or in hard copy with a suspense date as defined by the requesting customer. To support this effort, each Contractor must also identify a fixed URL which will link to the redacted contract on its website. This URL will be included in the Contractor POC lists maintained and publicly accessible on the GSA web portal. Only the prime contractor may provide quotes directly to the customer. Affiliates of the prime contractor (e.g., business partner, subsidiary or subcontractor) are not authorized to provide quotes to potential customers.
In accordance with the FAR 16.505, each customer agency must provide each SATCOM-II Contractor with a "Fair Opportunity to be Considered", unless one of the exceptions cited in FAR 16.505(b)(2) applies, and the appropriate Agency Contracting Officer or other designated agency official appointed in accordance with agency regulations fully documents and signs the justification citing the rationale for using one of these exceptions. This documentation is to remain in the customer's official task/delivery order file and must be provided upon request to the GSA PCO.
In the case of exact offerings (such as a particular Globalstar handset, or bandwidth on a particular satellite) the requirements of the "Fair Opportunity to be Considered" process shall be deemed to have been met if the customer compares the various products and services offered on each Contractor's Section B prices and so documents it in its official task/delivery order file. In evaluating prices, pricing from other contracts and SATCOM-II contractors' catalogs shall be compared, taking into account Contractors' past performance history, delivery schedules, prices, and other factors pertinent to the particular task/delivery order.
If the desired service and/or product is available on contract, the contractor will respond to the request for proposal with the applicable existing CLIN(s) and pricing. If the request is for Type IV services, only the SATCOM-II small-businesses can respond. The response must include a fixed price for the desired service using the fixed price labor categories and pricing on contract, and resumes of personnel that meet the contract labor category requirements. Resumes shall be provided for personnel used on a task order basis to the GSA or the user ordering activity Contracting Officer upon request. In the event the individual proposed does not meet the years of experience or education requirement, the loaded hourly rate shall be reduced by 15 percent (15%).
If the desired service and/or product is NOT currently available on contract, the Contractor shall advise the requesting Agency that it does not currently have the desired service/product on contract. If the contractor wishes to compete for a particular task order requiring new services/products then it shall submit to GSA a Modification proposal to add products, services, custom solutions or price decreases. The Modification process will be discussed in Section 3.
Once a customer Agency has evaluated proposals, it will select the winning Contractor and place a Task Order with that Contractor. The Contractor will then deliver the required products and services per the Task Order requirements.
Performance starts in accordance with the order. The Agency Contracting Officer for each task order will be responsible for closing out the task order when completed. The SATCOM-II Contractor must work in partnership with the Government to closeout orders as soon as possible by using procedures described in FAR 4.804 in accordance with Section H.10 of the Contract.
GSA takes on all of the associated responsibilities on behalf of an agency. This allows an agency to avoid going through an acquisition process themselves and focus on more mission-critical tasks. In this scenario, the Procuring Contracting Officer delegates authority to all warranted Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) contracting officers.
The Customer Agency may, at its discretion, task GSA to serve as the Ordering Agent for the Agency. GSA-Assisted responsibilities are similar as the Ordering Agency responsibilities under Direct Order/Direct Bill:
Under GSA Assisted, GSA may perform any or all of the following:
• Assist and/or developing a statement of work
• Ensuring fair opportunity and contractual compliance in accordance with the Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505 (as stipulated in the Section G.2 of the Contract)
• Verification, obligation, and ensuring proper use of funds
• Evaluating proposals and awarding orders
• Maintaining all award documentation
• Processing order closeout
The task order will be placed following the steps shown in the figure above, similar to those described for the Direct Order/Direct Bill Process.
For GSA-Assisted orders, SATCOM-II Contractors are required to register in two automated ordering systems, the IT-Solutions Shop (ITSS) and the Tracking and Ordering System (TOS).
ITSS - For registration information and procedures, visit the following website: https://web1.itss.gsa.gov or call ITSS Registration Assistance at (877) 243-2889 (Option 2).
TOS - For TOS registration and procedures, visit the following website: https://enable.its.gsa.gov or call the TOS Helpdesk at (703) 306-7759.
Performance starts in accordance with the order. The GSA Contracting Officer for each order will be responsible for closing out the task order. The SATCOM-II Contractor shall agree to work in partnership with the Government to closeout orders as soon as possible by using procedures described in FAR 4.804 in accordance with Section H.10 of the Contract.
