Ebsco Information Services, LLC

Ebsco Information Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Ebsco Industries Inc. and a for-profit limited liability company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, operates as a prime contractor delivering electronic database subscriptions, digital research resources, and library services to federal agencies across 51 customer organizations—operating 100% as a prime contractor with no subcontractor footprint. The vendor does not compete under small-business set-asides; all recent awards are full-and-open or sole-source procurements reflecting Ebsco's established market position.

Ebsco's federal capability portfolio centers on subscription management for peer-reviewed journals, academic and medical databases, e-books, and specialized research platforms. Representative work includes a $10.3 million delivery order from the National Library of Medicine for biomedical literature subscription services covering approximately 6,000 subscription titles (awarded July 1, 2026, under a $54 million single-award IDIQ through June 30, 2027); a $25.7 million firm fixed-price contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs for CINAHL Ultimate, Medline Complete, and Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection subscriptions supporting VHA healthcare delivery nationwide (awarded June 12, 2026, through May 31, 2031); and a $2.7 million purchase order from the Department of Defense Education Activity for a Readers Advisory subscription platform with 225 micro lessons and 250 animated videos to support DoD Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Libraries across all military branches (awarded September 30, 2025, through September 29, 2029). Ebsco also delivers test preparation databases, library link resolvers, and federated authentication platforms supporting defense and civilian education missions.

Customer concentration sits heavily with health and research agencies. The top five customers by potential value account for 48% of combined potential value, led by the National Library of Medicine with four awards worth $133.9 million combined potential value, followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center with four awards worth $34.9 million. The Department of the Treasury Departmental Offices place the highest award count at 23 awards (35% coverage threshold), but dollar concentration is distributed: Treasury represents $15 million combined potential value while the National Library of Medicine and VA together represent $168.8 million. This divergence reflects the National Library of Medicine's single large IDIQ ceiling ($54 million awarded July 2026) and VA's multi-year subscription contracts running through 2031, versus Treasury's pattern of smaller monthly and quarterly serial management task orders.

Ebsco holds a portfolio of parent vehicles enabling governmentwide ordering. The Library of Congress FEDLINK Indefinite Delivery Contract (LCFDL23D0067) serves as the highest-volume vehicle with 31 task orders worth $27.5 million combined potential value, through which Ebsco delivers electronic resources services and database subscriptions to civilian and defense agencies government-wide (awarded August 15, 2023, extending through September 30, 2028, with a $102 million ceiling). The General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule under Special Item Number 511120 carries 15 task orders worth $35.1 million and extends through May 1, 2030, with a $36 million ceiling, offering direct federal agency ordering from a published price list covering over 70 databases with subscription pricing ranging from $932.94 to $85,433.17 per database annually. The Department of the Treasury Departmental Offices IDIQ (contract 2032H323D00002) anchors 14 task orders worth $1 million combined potential value for serial management services through July 5, 2027, with a $3.7 million ceiling. Ebsco also holds a $5.4 million single-award BPA with the Division of Administrative Services for library subscription services through January 30, 2031, and a $24 million single-award BPA with the International Development Finance Corporation for subscription management services through April 26, 2036.

Activity has accelerated sharply year over year. Ebsco received three federal awards in 2022, 22 in 2023, 46 in 2024, 29 in 2025, and 25 awards through September 2026—demonstrating sustained expansion across the federal customer base. Twenty-five awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $16.3 million facing recompete exposure. SCI-reported invoicing shows $1.8 million in FY2023, $4.1 million in FY2024, and $5.7 million in FY2025 across SCI-reportable prime service contracts above the $150,000 threshold—a strict subset of the vendor's total federal revenue and substantially smaller than combined potential value figures across all awards. SCI data reflects minimal FTE reporting (0.1 FTEs in FY2025 across 7 records), consistent with Ebsco's model of delivering licensed access to third-party databases rather than professional services labor. Government-paid hourly rates derived from SCI invoiced dollars run highly variable—median around $50,204 per hour, with 10th percentile at $10,129.48 per hour and 90th percentile at $96,056.10 per hour—reflecting the blended cost structure of subscription management, platform licensing, and specialized reference services. Ebsco self-performs 100% of SCI-reported hours with no subcontractor engagement, positioning the vendor as a direct provider rather than a feeder to larger prime contractors.

Ebsco's award portfolio is concentrated in three NAICS categories: Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (75 awards), Periodical Publishers (18 awards), and Libraries and Archives (12 awards), with PSC codes dominated by Newspapers and Periodicals (32 awards) and IT and Telecom platform services (21 awards). The vendor operates nationwide with place of performance split between its Birmingham, Alabama headquarters and distributed federal sites. Federal work runs through single-award and multiple-award IDIQs, blanket purchase agreements, GSA Schedule vehicles, and direct purchase orders—all at full-and-open competition, reflecting Ebsco's scale and established vendor relationships across federal agencies.