Technical, Acquisition and Business Support Services (TABSS)

The Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard established TABSS, a Department-wide multiple-award master IDIQ for technical, acquisition, and business support services, with a last date to place orders of July 31, 2018, and a combined shared ceiling of $11 billion.

The vehicle is no longer active for new orders. Ordering closed in July 2018, nearly eight years ago. The most recent task order award was issued in September 2017. Activity peaked in 2013–2014 with 126 and 151 orders respectively, then declined sharply: 110 orders in 2015, 45 in 2016, and 12 in 2017. Across the life of the vehicle, 452 task orders were awarded with a combined potential value of $1.44 billion, of which $1.15 billion (80 percent) has been obligated.

Work spans three service domains: Program Management, Engineering and Technology Support Services; Business, Financial Management and Audit Support Services; and Contract Management Support Services. Task orders show heavy concentration in Coast Guard acquisition and operations support—program and project management, engineering logistics, technical documentation, system configuration management, cybersecurity initiatives, requirements analysis, administrative support, and financial/procurement process improvements. Recent orders included transportation security capability analysis, front-office programmatic support for the Science and Technology Directorate, cybersecurity division support, logistics support for legacy systems (Rescue 21, NESSS), vessel platform development studies (47' MLB, C27, WMSL), and engineering support for information systems modernization.

Five firms captured 51 percent of orders by count and 50 percent of combined potential value: Versar National Security Solutions LLC led with 71 orders and $201.4 million; Avantus Federal LLC, 38 orders and $182.2 million; Zantech IT Services, Inc., 54 orders and $119.6 million; Sev1Tech, LLC, 22 orders and $117.2 million; and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., 18 orders and $101.9 million. Competition remains distributed across 32 distinct primes, with a long tail of smaller integrators and specialist firms.

Coast Guard dominated customer spend: 279 orders and $613.1 million (62 percent of portfolio). Other DHS components followed—Customs and Border Protection, 31 orders and $275.3 million; Transportation Security Administration, 21 orders and $118.8 million; Office of Procurement Operations, 19 orders and $75.7 million; and Science and Technology Directorate, 15 orders and $51.9 million. These five customers accounted for 81 percent of all orders.

Set-aside activity mixed: 44 percent of orders (198) carried no set-aside; 30 percent (136 orders) were competitive 8(a); 22 percent (98 orders) totaled small business; 4 percent (17 orders) were service-disabled veteran-owned; and 2 orders were 8(a) sole-source. Nearly three-quarters of work was either unrestricted or small-business designated.

Task orders ranged from under $35,000 to $41.8 million ceiling value, with typical firm-fixed-price orders between $200,000 and $3 million. Larger awards included $31.1 million obligated (ceiling $41.8 million) for base-year-plus-options work, $16.4 million obligated (ceiling $19 million) for HSPD-12 card management, and $11.5 million obligated for engineering support to the Office of Information Technology. Time-and-materials and labor-hour contracts also appeared, particularly for longer-term support and advisory roles.

The TABSS vehicle is a Department-wide, multiple-award IDIQ contract providing technical, acquisition and business support services.