The Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) system provides a single point of entry for accessing information about Federal contracting opportunities via the Web. ISC provided the technical leadership for the development of the FedBizOpps system, performing the work in partnership with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) under contract with the General Services Administration (GSA). ISC led FedBizOpps’ development to deliver a system that provides functionality highly valued by users as well as one that is highly reliable, scalable and poised to evolve in the future. The system is a key accomplishment for the government in its effort to promote the use of electronic technologies to transform government acquisition and improve agency operations.

Single Point of Entry on the Web - The FedBizOpps site is the single point of entry on the Web for accessing announcements of Federal contracting opportunities over $25,000 that are competed in the open market. This site serves as the Federal government's sole Internet portal for agencies to use in complying with Federal requirements for electronically advertising open market procurements. FedBizOpps provides prospective contractors with a single point on the web where they can access and download solicitations and related information issued by agencies governmentwide.

High value functionality - A key part of the ISC design's attractiveness for users is that the system is entirely web-based and thus enables users to interact with the system simply by using their standard web browsers. Prospective contractors can search for Federal contracting opportunities governmentwide either by using search criteria that target specific contracting agencies, geographic areas, NAICS and Federal procurement classification codes, and set-aside types, or by conducting full text searches using key words. In addition, users can register to receive email notices announcing new opportunities in specific categories. When users find particular opportunities of interest, they can register to receive email notices of solicitation amendments and other new activity regarding specific contracting opportunities. Users can download notices, solicitations and other documents posted on the system by the agencies.

Better competition for government contracts and improved support for agency missions - These FedBizOpps functions enabled the contract advertising, research and communication processes to be reengineered to shorten information access and delivery times and decrease the administrative burden and costs for agencies as well as prospective contractors. The system thereby promotes strong competition for agency contracts and substantially levels the playing field for small companies lacking the resources of their larger competitors. The result is greater, more effective competition for agency contracts and more efficient and effective support for agency missions. The FedBizOpps system takes a big step toward the E-Gov goal of doing business in ways that take full advantage of Internet and other electronic tools.

Highly interoperable technology choice - In choosing the most appropriate technology and design for FedBizOpps, ISC understood that the best way to achieve the agencies’ buy-in for the system and broad contractor acceptance was to design a system with the flexibility to interoperate across the full range of agency as well as personal computer platforms. The precursor system used proprietary technology that hindered interoperability across agencies and was not easily scaled to accommodate increasing demand. ISC developed FedBizOpps using technologies such as JAVA that allow the system to interact with other government and commercial applications regardless of their platform, operating system, and location. The system has rich features which for example give agencies flexibility either to host their procurement announcements and solicitations on the FedBizOpps server, or to continue to operate their own legacy systems. At agencies that choose FedBizOpps hosting, contracting officials can use their standard web browsers to post documents to the FedBizOpps system. For those agencies that choose to continue to operate their own systems, FedBizOpps provides email and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) interfaces for communication between the systems allowing information to be posted on FedBizOpps without further human intervention.

Exemplar of evolutionary deployment - The current FedBizOpps system is an exemplar of disciplined evolutionary deployment mandated by the Congress and the Administration and subscribed to by ISC. As such the system is poised to evolve. The system, which is based on open standards and is entirely web-based, is designed in accordance with the mandate in the Clinger Cohen Act and Office of Management and Budget Guidance for evolutionary deployment. The system is based on open standards and upgrades and enhancements are deployed in a staged or modular fashion thereby delivering useable functionality early and controlling costs and risks.

High demand and user satisfaction - Today, FedBizOpps is one of the most used Federal websites (fourth according to Google) - having over 500,000 registered users, handling nearly one million hits per day, and generating several million email notices per day. ISC now operates and maintains FedBizOpps in partnership with SAIC and GSA. ISC and its partners ensure maintenance issues are identified and resolved before they become problems for users. A recent customer survey done by GSA's Inspector General gives the FBO system high marks for its performance in terms of both functionality and reliability (88% of participants ranked it positively and 86% do not use any other source to identify Federal business opportunities).

Prominent E-Gov success - The establishment of a single point of entry for electronically accessing information about Federal contracting opportunities is a prominent accomplishment for the Administration and the Congress in their effort to promote the use of electronic technologies to transform government acquisition. On September 30, 2003, the Department of Defense showed its full confidence in the FedBizOpps system by shutting down its separate DODBusOpps website for electronically posting notices of contracting opportunities. The system's success has repeatedly been recognized outside the government, most recently by a 2003 Government Computer News Award for Excellence in IT, and as a semi-finalist for the 2004 Innovations in American Government Top 50 Award sponsored by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

FedBizOpps’ future - The system is now a critical, highly valued and assumed part of the Federal contracting process and a highly visible E-Gov success. However, the system's full potential has yet to be realized. Reflecting with ISC's practice of designing systems to evolve continuously, FedBizOpps has the designed-in flexibility to take advantage of opportunities to insert new technologies that enable further transformation of government acquisition. ISC is now in the process of developing proposals for doing so and realizing the potential for achieving the breakthrough mission performance that benefits citizens.   .