Technical discriminators, which distinguish one technical
proposal from another, frequently determine contract awards in best
value procurements conducted by the federal government. Bid protest
decisions of the Government Accountability Office and the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims commonly address those discriminators that
agencies find significant in evaluating technical proposals.
Examples of such technical discriminators include the
following:
Quality of Technical Proposal
- Satisfies every agency requirement in statement of work
- Clearly organized
- Complete and detailed explanation of technical approach,
including:
- Staffing
Implementation - Schedule
- Sequence
- Testing
- Tasks
- Methodology
- Quality Control
- Staffing
- Substantiates proposed performance
- Demonstrates understanding of new developments in technology/industry
- Identifies solutions to problems with agency's existing systems/programs
Quality of Products and/or Services
- Use of standard materials
- Use of commercially available components
- Superior product design
- Superior product testing process
- Minimizes environmental impact of work
- Reduces energy consumption
- Tailoring of deliverables to specific agency needs
- Design adaptable to future needs
- Extended support services
- Regular reports to agency on technology/industry trends
- Broader and/or longer warranty
- Additions exceeding agency requirements
Quality of Personnel
- Experience related to proposed work
- Specialized expertise
- Highly qualified subcontractors
Quality of Contract Management
- Plan for retention of incumbent personnel
- Expedited recruitment of necessary employees
- Expedited commencement of work
- Accelerated schedule
- Streamlined workflow
- Coordination of tasks
- Minimized duplication of effort
- Cybersecurity enhancements
- Process for soliciting/addressing customer feedback
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.