As any experienced government contractor or frequent GSA/Fed Marketing Blog reader could tell you, the GSA Schedule Contract is perhaps the single best option in Federal Contracting. Such an individual would likely highlight some of the features unique to GSA Schedules. Features like the pre-negotiated, government-wide contract terms which allow GSA Schedule Contract holders to literally cut to the front of the Federal Contracting line. An experienced contractor might also remind you that government contracting officers simply prefer to contract with GSA scheduled firms.
What this individual might not be so well versed in, however, is the vast range of GSA Schedules available and the diversity of products and services sold within the many subcategories of each program, referred to as Special Item Numbers, or SINS for short. It is this knowledge, this understanding of which GSA Schedule Contract best fits your firm’s range of products and services, that is the crucial first step towards successful federal contracting.
See GSA Mobis for more information and GSA Mobis Schedule sales figures.
One of the most diverse and second most utilized GSA schedules is Schedule 874 – Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services, or MOBIS. In essence, the GSA MOBIS program provides government agencies with access to a wide variety of consulting services, and provides consultants with a window into federal contracting. The following MOBIS sub-schedules describe the diversity of services purchased under Schedule 874:
874 1: MOBIS Consulting Services
874 2: MOBIS Facilitation Services
874 3: MOBIS Survey Services
874 4: MOBIS Training Services
874 5: MOBIS Support Services
874 6: Acquisition Management Support
874 7: Program and Project Management
874 8: DAU and FAI Certified DAWIA and FAC Acquisition Workforce Training for GS-1102 and non-1102 Personnel
874 9: Off-the-Shelf and Customizable Print, Audio, and Visual Instructional Training Devices – Off-the Shelf Training Devices
874 99: Introduction of New Services
As you can see, GSA Schedule 874 covers a very broad range of consulting services and related training products. DSIN 874 99 even acts as something of a ‘catch-all’ for emerging issues not provided for under one of the other contracts. In this way, the GSA MOBIS schedule is truly a comprehensive consulting contract that enables your firm to market its full range of applicable services across the federal government’s many agencies and departments.
With more than $5 billion in sales in the 2010 fiscal year, GSA Schedule 874 is not only the 2nd most popular GSA contract in terms of sales dollars, but also one of the fastest growing sectors in federal contracting. Schedule 70 for information technology products and services is still the largest, but perhaps agencies are turning to management consultants, through Schedule 874, for advice and training on the ideal utilization of the of new technologies acquired under schedule 70. And due to other congressional and Presidential initiatives and requirements, the demand for MOBIS consulting, facilitation, training and support services should continue to increase rapidly.
As the private sector continues on its path to economic recovery, management-consulting firms would be well served by looking to the federal government for sales opportunities. While private firms might be foregoing consultants as something of a discretionary expense in an effort to improve their short-term profitability to pre-recessionary levels, federal government agencies are spending on consultants at unprecedented levels. As this demand only continues to rise, the GSA MOBIS Program, specifically GSA Schedule 874 could be the big contract your firm has been waiting for.
With $5.15 Billion in sales and nearly 2,300 MOBIS contractors in the 2010 fiscal year, the average sales of the GSA MOBIS Program is over $2.2 million per contractor. To land your share of this federal spending, however, you will need a GSA MOBIS Schedule Contract. To determine if a MOBIS Contract is righr for you, we offer several free tools to help you decide.
Obtain our MOBIS Contract toolkit.
You receive:
An overview of the GSA Schedule program benefits and requirements
A checklist to determine if your firm is ready for a MOBIS Schedule
A spreadsheet containing MOBIS GSA sales over the past few years
Sales by MOBIS service area
