Still reeling from CIO-SP4? Trying to make sense of the latest draft RFP? Prepping for the alleged release on December 21? Ready to ruin your Christmas vacation? Come listen to our experts debate strategy, teaming arrangements, racking up points on the scorecard and legal lessons learned from CIO-SP4. Our goal is to provide an engaging, candid discussion that will help your company make the right decisions to pursue or not and what teaming strategies you should employ.
On October 21, 2021 the govmates team hosted a virtual Institute to discuss Leveraging OTAs as a Tool for Growth. Our speakers included Bob Tuohy, Retired COO, Advanced Technology International (ATI), Jason Havel, VP, Alluvionic Inc and Jim Ghiloni, Director, Wolf Den Associates moderated by govmates Co-Founder Stephanie Alexander.
The panel provided several comments and important takeaways for businesses looking to utilize OTAs in their capture strategy.
What is the Biggest Mistake Small Businesses Make When Pursuing OTAs?
One of the biggest mistakes our panelists have seen is stretching themselves too thin and joining too many consortia whose technology areas may not be the best fit, instead of focusing on the 2 or 3 that best align with the company’s capabilities. In this case, more does not equal better. Invest your time and resources in consortia that actually compete for opportunities that align with your company’s skillset.
How can a company best utilize OTAs?
An important note made to kick off the discussion was that OTA’s are not magic bullets or get-out-of-jail-free schemes to circle around the government bureaucracy(though wouldn’t that be nice!). Instead, the panel suggested bringing the OTA opportunity to your customer and educating them about the option and how it will be beneficial to their mission. In essence, OTA’s are tools, and helpful ones at that. They provide for increased free and open collaboration, the opportunity to discuss the art of possible and understand how to best provide solutions to the real problems that need solving.
In a good model, you have collaboration events amongst the members. Within OTA consortia, you’re incentivized to team. These collaborations build teams that may not have been built before, and open doors to new partners they you may not have met under conventional (FAR-based) circumstances.
How Do You Educate Your Government Customer About the Use of OTA Vehicles?
While OTAs might be an older vehicle, they may be very new to your customer. In that circumstance, don’t be alarmed if they determine they need to consult with others within their organization to determine if they want to move forward.
In short, start with the capability you’re selling. What solution or innovative capability do you have and how can you adequately convey the need for your solution, to your customer? Identify and present examples of other government customers who have used OTAs and the success they achieved. From there, get cozy with the program managers, contracting shop, and your points of contact. Establish a good relationship early on and continue to feed it as you move through the process.
Where is the Trend of OTA Use headed?
Wolf Den Associated identified significant growth from 2015 to present, in fact, a 92% growth. The majority of the spend is still within DoD which resulted in about $16 billion in FY2020, up from less than $1 billion 5 years ago. The vast majority of the spend is for R&D, while there is some spend in services and products (albeit minimal). There was a thought at one point about using OTAs to get to products but that’s not come to fruition yet. As they’re primarily being used for R&D a lot of the spend is flowing through consortia.
To take this further within OTA consortia, prototypes are moving into production which will be a key metric to measure. The industry will see increased activity in that space especially when non-traditionals have reached the point where they can prime those production contracts.
Joining a Consortia
Sometimes it’s tough for small businesses to know which consortia to join. It’s helpful if you look at the last batch of RFPs that went thru a consortium to determine if it’s a good fit for you. If those RFPs align with your trajectory, then it’s worth giving thought to joining. Additionally, If you see your competitors in the consortia, then that could mean (depending on your school of thought) it might be an opportunity for you as well.
We want to give a big thank you to our panelists and attendees for providing their thoughts on this discussion. To see the replay in full, please visit: https://youtu.be/BKmajxoEoeQ
Oct. 5, 2021 (SUMMERVILLE, S.C.) – Advanced Technology International (ATI) is proud to launch the Innovation Resource Hub, the first-ever ecosystem of resources dedicated to helping non-traditional defense contractors succeed in federal R&D. ATI has partnered with govmates, the premier teaming partner platform for government contractors, to create the offering for all ATI-managed consortia.
The Innovation Resource Hub includes access to the govmates matchmaking platform, as well as a plethora of resources and support to common challenges for non-traditionals and small businesses, such as: access to capital, cyber and supply chain security, infrastructure support, legal and intellectual property rights, human capital, mergers and acquisitions support, and more.
With 23 active collaborations spanning various technology areas, ATI is adding to its suite of services offered to more than 3,700 collective consortia members.
“ATI is excited to join forces with govmates in launching the Innovation Resource Hub. The platform will offer a suite of services focused on supporting non-traditional contractors to better serve their federal Government clients,” said Chris Van Metre, President and CEO of ATI. “The ATI and govmates strategic partnership will enhance collaboration opportunities and foster teaming among consortia members and other companies seeking to expand their business into the government contracting market.”
The govmates matchmaking platform facilitates formulaic and methodical teaming introductions in support of federal contracts. With more than 29,000 matches and 5,600 teaming and procurement introductions across a membership of 4,500 non-traditionals, the govmates platform equips ATI consortia members with more capabilities to win government projects through greater visibility among government, industry, and academia.
“govmates chose to partner with ATI, because ATI shares our core values of ethics and collaboration,” said Katie Bilek, Co-Founder and Partner of govmates. “Together, we’re accelerating impact and supporting the continued evolution of innovation in support of the U.S. government.”
The partnership demonstrates ATI’s deep commitment to supporting the innovation community to help solve our nation’s greatest technological challenges. Both ATI and govmates are united in bringing forth the best and brightest technology providers of all backgrounds to deliver innovation that saves lives, enables the warfighter, and diversifies the industrial base. By leveraging the resources of ATI – the pioneer in R&D collaboration management – with the technology and agility of govmates, the federal government will receive more national security solutions to meet its mission-focused needs.
| ABOUT ATI: |
ATI, a public-service nonprofit based in Summerville, S.C., builds and manages collaborations that conduct research and development of new technologies to solve our nation’s most pressing challenges. Fueled by a community of experts from industry, academia, and government, ATI accelerates impact by using the power of collaboration to help the federal government quickly acquire novel technologies.
On September 16, 2021, govmates hosted a virtual panel event to discuss teaming with academic organizations and research institutions through the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Our panelists included Sidney Chocron, R&D Manager at the Southwest Research Institute, Matt Barsotti, Principal at Protection Engineering Consultants, David Stevens, Principal Engineer at Protection Engineering Consultants, and Ted Reutzel, Director of Center for Innovative Materials Processing at The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University. Mr. Chocron and Mr. Reutzel offered their views as members of large research institutions with STTR experience, while Mr. Barsotti and Mr. Stevens provided the perspective of a small business that has successfully completed STTR awards.
Why choose to pursue an STTR?
The STTR program is different from other federal opportunities in that the end customer is not looking for a product or service, rather a problem to be solved. STTRs are research-heavy and have aggressive timelines. Small businesses may choose to pursue an STTR because it allows the company to develop new skills and capabilities.
The program offers an avenue for both the small business and the research institution to explore a niche R&D priority. A research institution can get substantial funding if a project moves from Phase I to Phase II. Academic institutions specifically are excited about the opportunity to involve graduate students and further their research goals.
How do I find a teaming partner?
It typically falls on the small business to find a teaming partner. The right teaming partner may be an institution with access to specialty equipment, or a university with plenty of graduate students to spare for the project. The small business must consider their own capability gaps and requirements before reaching out to prospective partners.
As our panelists emphasized, it is so important for the small business to go to the research institution with a clear plan and an open mind. The small business is usually the lead on the project; they must come to the table with the motivation and drive to win while still allowing their team members to be full and equal partners.
How does the teaming partnership work?
Finding the right partner is not easy. Our small business panelists emphasized that it is important to find a partner willing to work on your timeline. STTRs often move fast, sometimes requiring work to start before an agreement is official. Universities and other research institutions are also allowed to work on multiple Phase I proposals at once. There may be multiple companies vying for the attention of a single research institution; that institution can work with as many or as few as feels appropriate.
What other advice do you have for companies interested in pursuing an STTR?
Pursuing an STTR and need a teaming partner? Contact us at matchmaker@govmates.com today!
Author: Hannah Altman, Program Analyst
Stephanie Alexander and Katie Bilek explain what an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) is and how it helps government agencies find and attract innovative contractors.
