Position your business to win by understanding what United States Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) buyers value. To craft a competitive bid, you need to know the U.S. DoD expectations for both price and performance. This page shows you how to find the data you need to assess whether you can meet or beat the requirements in your category — or surpass them.
Pricing research
When looking for past pricing data, consider looking for past contract Award Notices to find contract value and type of award (e.g., fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, or indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity). Although you are unlikely to find per unit costing information, you’ll be able to use contract value and information from the Request for Proposal to assess if your company would be able to supply at the same price.Using SAM.gov to find Award Notices
- In SAM.gov, select Search
- Select Contracting, Contract Awards Domain
- To find Award Notices for contracts for a specific NCAGE code or PSC, enter those in the Product or Service Information.
- Select Active and Inactive/Closed under Status
- Select the Contract ID (PIID) for the award of interest.
- At the top of the Award Notice, you will find the name of the contracting agency, department and office.
- Under Modification Details, you will find information about the size of contract and date signed
- Under Awardee Information, you will find information like the name, address, CAGE Code and Unique Entity ID (UEI) of the company awarded the contract.
- Under Performance, you will find the Estimated Completion Date for the contract. This will give insights as to when the department might start looking for an alternate solution.
- Under Solicitation, you may find the original solicitation ID.
- If you want to find the Award Notice for a specific contract, enter the Contract ID (PIID) in the Simple Search bar
Using SAM.gov to find RFPs
To review current and past solicitations, including RFPs (request for proposals):- Login into SAM.gov
- Select Search
- Select Contracting, Contract Opportunities Domain
- Enter your NAICS code or PSC, under Product or Service Information.
- Select Active and Inactive under Status
Performance requirement research
When looking for past performance requirement data, using the following sections of RFPs to assess if your company would be able to meet U.S. DoD requirements:- Technical specifications: Required features, capabilities, and functionality
- Reliability and durability: Standards for system uptime, lifespan, and resilience
- Compliance and security: Adherence to cybersecurity standards (e.g., NIST, CMMC)
- Delivery timeline: Deadlines and milestones for delivery
- Sustainment and maintenance: Post-delivery support expectations.