Anyone who wants to get into government contracting is going to run into beta.SAM.gov (Beta SAM). There's no way around it. The next question most of us will have next is:

"What can I do with Beta SAM and how do I use to search for contracts?"

If you're asking this question, then you've come to the right place. In this blog post, we'll take you from start to finish on Beta SAM. After reading this, you will have a comprehension of...

• What happened to FedBizOpps? 
• What is Beta SAM?
• Registering for Beta SAM
• Finding Government Contracts on Beta SAM

In the first quarter of the fiscal year, the Pentagon awarded its prestigious $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft. 

For now. 

That's because if you've been reading up on this contract, you would know it was riddled with disputes. One of which was a bid protest made by Oracle Corporation. Then, right after Microsoft was awarded, it was expected Amazon Web Services would file one as well. 

In this blog post, we're going to give you the rundown on bid protests.

We are going to answer:  

• What is a bid protest? 
• Why are bid protests filed?
• Where do I file a bid protest? 
• How should I approach bid protests? 

Let's begin. 

In this episode of “The Government Buys...a Podcast” (TGAP),  we sit down with USFCR President Eric Knellinger to discuss the upcoming merger of beta.SAM and FBO.gov. Join us as we deconstruct these impending changes and discuss how The Advanced Procurement Portal can keep you ahead of the curve. 

On some contracts, you will have to provide documentation on your team's key personnel. Episode 5 of "The Government Buys a...Podcast" explains how to select your team's experts and when it is required.

Building relationships with contracting officers is important for winning contracts. This episode of "The Government Buys...a Podcast" will show you how to forge a working relationship with government agencies. 

So you already know that the federal government puts up solicitations on FBO and a bunch of other websites. However, the opportunities with Uncle Sam don't end there. Actually, you might be able to create your own with an unsolicited proposal.

Anyone who works in the federal sector should at least know about FedBizOpps and how to use it. What you should also know is that FedBizOpps ISN'T the only place where you can find contracting opportunities with the federal government. So, from Unison (formerly FedBid) to DIBBS, we're going to show you 5 OTHER places where you can find contracting opportunities.

In 2017, $170,205,689,253.41 was spent by the government on contracts which only received one bid. Only one business submitted the bid for the contract and it was granted to them.
There are a few factors on why it could have been a one-bid contract:

Over the last 5 years, the federal government has spent around $540 billion each year towards federal government contracts, according to data on the USA Spending website. As the fiscal year closes, many procurement officers rush to spend the last of their budgets. This makes August and September an excellent time for contractors to search for and bid on new contracting opportunities. There are currently 32,700 available solicitations up for bid onFedBizOpps. Only properly registered government contractors are allowed to submit their bids to win these contracts.

Contractors may soon kiss paper bids goodbye - at least when bidding on contracts with the Department of Homeland Security.  The Federal Times recently reported on the announcement by Undersecretary for Management Rafael Borras that DHS is working on the creation of web-based portals which would allow contractors to submit their proposals electronically.  Currently most bids must be submitted on paper.  The move to exclusively electronic bidding could save contractors money and time, permitting them to pay more attention to their actual proposal rather than the format it must be submitted in.