Navigating the OASIS+ Solicitation: Strategies for Successful Proposal Submission (Leverage the Power of the J.P-3 Form!)

Introduction

The OASIS+ solicitation from the General Services Administration (GSA) offers a special chance for companies to win government contracts. Bidders must provide documentation supporting any claims made in their self-scoring proposals as part of the bid process. The Project Verification Form (J.P-3) is a useful tool that bidders can use to speed up the process. Customers’ signatures on this form serve as evidence of the relevance of prior performance and other crucial score factors. This blog article looks at methods for responding to the OASIS+ request using the J.P-3 Project Verification Form as the main instrument.

Leveraging the Power of the J.P-3 Form

The J.P-3 form can be pivotal in verifying claims about Qualifying Projects (QP), Relevance, and Federal Experience Projects (FEP). Bidders and GSA evaluators can both benefit from the J.P-3 form’s ability to expedite the verification process. The J.P-3 form can support offeror information, project identification (including total contract amount and period of performance), as well as all integrated management and staffing, scale, specialized functional experience, and other scoring project features.

Backing Your Claims with Substantiating Evidence

Although the J.P-3 form makes verifying claims easier, your clients may need substantiating proof to approve claims. Therefore, while you can avoid providing “tagged” artifacts to GSA as evidence, you still need to be prepared to back up your claims with evidence for your customer. Customers could hesitate to approve every detail without time to research each claimed fact. They may find it challenging to validate some factors, such as the number of cleared employees, subcontractors, and labor categories, so these should be backed up by additional proof. To relieve customers from the work of finding and confirming information to support each claim, the requirement for “tagged” evidence is often still necessary and important.

Ensuring Clarity with J.P-4 and J.P-5 Files

To provide your customer with a clear understanding of project relevance, we recommend you furnish the J.P-4 and J.P-5 files to the signing official for reference. These files detail the domains and sub-areas you claim and identify the domains that are automatically relevant based on project NAICS or PSC codes. This background information is essential when asking your customer to sign off on the relevance of a past performance project to a specific domain area. If not auto-relevant, it can be helpful to tag or highlight the relevant aspects of the PWS and clearly explain how you arrived at the annual dollar relevance figures.

Comprehensive Submission of Additional Scoring and Non-Scoring Elements

Additional scoring elements, including systems, responsibilities, certifications, and clearances, are not required but earn the bidders additional points. In addition to scoring elements, bidders must remember to submit all non-scoring elements such as Reps and Certs, financial statements, and signed SF33/SF30 forms. If GSA disagrees with a claimed scoring element, it just means that those points are eliminated. Non-scoring elements are simply pass/fail, but your entire proposal fails without them.

Conclusion

Successfully navigating the OASIS+ solicitation requires a strategic approach that balances the use of the J.P-3 form, substantiating evidence, and tagged proof artifacts. Be aware that while getting your client’s signature to verify claims may make your submission simpler, you’ll still need the supporting documentation to convince your customer that your claims are accurate. In this high-stakes environment, paying close attention to every detail and doing extensive research are essential for achieving a qualifying score on OASIS+.

So, stay tuned for more information and blogs about OASIS+ as GSA modifies and amends the solicitation.

Free OASIS+ Tool and Training Video

To help you respond to OASIS+, Lohfeld Consulting offers a free OASIS+ management tool and training video that you can access here: OASIS+ Proposal Management Tool Update – FREE | Lohfeld (LohfeldConsulting.com)

By Maryann Lesnick, Managing Director at Lohfeld Consulting Group, CP APMP, PMP, CSM, MOS

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals.
As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.