Report looks at how companies get an edge on federal contracts over $50M

A new report looks to assess the competitive landscape for major federal services contracts.

Federal market research and analysis firm Nation Analytics has compiled its "Government Services Competitive Intelligence Report," determining the status of incumbents, opportunities and testing factors for challengers, and information on requirements and contract vehicles for every competitively awarded services contract and task order valued at $50 million or more issued in fiscal year 2016.

Analyzing roughly 250 competitive contracts and task orders, most of which were $50 million-$100 million re-competes involving periods of performance of three to seven years, Nation Analytics found various forces driving wins and loses in the federal market, as well as information on agency and competition trends.

Some takeaways include the fact that incumbents only have a slight edge, at 63 percent of awards, and many of those were "competitive one-bids." Subtracting those, the incumbent advantage narrows to 52 percent, meaning opportunities exist in situations where there are multiple bids (and bid average varies by agencies, ranging from two to five typically). 

Of the military branches, Navy offers the most security for incumbents, maintaining them 76 percent of the time. 

Governmentwide new requirements are in the minority, making up just 14 percent of major opportunities, but health, cyber and business intelligence/data analytics can find remain top areas. 

A sample of the report, available for purchase, can be previewed at NationalAnalytics.com.