Part 510 - Market Research

510.001 Policy.

510.002 Pre-Award Procedures.

Parent topic: General Services Administration Acquisition Manual

510.001 Policy.

Requiring activities and contracting officers shall use the results of market research to identify if

there are existing tiered solutions (i.e., Tier 3, Tier 2, or Tier 1 solutions) that can meet the need

prior to proceeding with establishing a Tier 0 solution (see subpart 507.71).

510.002 Pre-Award Procedures.

(a) Market research must be conducted in accordance with 523.104(a)(1).

(b) Ensure statement of work includes sustainability requirements in accordance with 523.104(a)(2).

(c) Market research activities related to cyber-supply chain risk management for information

technology, GSA-funded acquisitions.

(1) The acquisition planning team must include the GSA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO),

or representative, in market research activities and ensure that entities’ cyber-supply chain risk

management capabilities are considered, as much as possible, before developing requirement

documents for an acquisition and before soliciting offers if the acquisition is to acquire a--

(i) Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 199 High-Impact Information System. A highimpact information system could be expected to have a severe or catastrophic adverse effect on

organizational operations, organizational assets, or individuals if there was a breach of security

resulting in a potential loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability; or

(ii) FIPS 199 Moderate-Impact Information System. A moderate-impact information system could be

expected to have a serious adverse effect on organizational operations, organizational assets, or

individuals if there was a breach of security resulting in a potential loss of confidentiality, integrity,

or availability.

(iii) FIPS 199 Low-Impact Information System. This paragraph (c)(1) does not apply to acquisitions

of low-impact information systems.

(2)The acquisition planning team should:

(i) Search the System for Award Management (SAM). As potential capable sources are identified,

and when determining the acquisition strategy, consider searching SAM (https://www.sam.gov) to

review self-certifications, submitted in response to the provision at FAR 52.204-26 (or FAR

52.212-3(v) for commercial items or commercial services), as to whether the source provides

covered telecommunications equipment or services as a part of its offered products or services to
the Government in the performance of any contract, subcontract, or other contractual instrument

and whether the source uses covered telecommunications equipment or services, or any equipment,

system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services.

(ii) Review the Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Management Page. The C-SCRM page on the GSA

Acquisition Portal (http://insite.gsa.gov/cscrm) is frequently updated to include guides, samples and

templates, and other considerations to assist acquisition teams during market research related to CSCRM. The page also includes helpful points of contacts within the agency that may be able to

provide additional information.

(iii) Review GEAR. As the acquisition team is determining the availability of certain commercial

products or commercial services, the GSA Enterprise Architecture Analytics and Reporting (GEAR)

application (https://ea.gsa.gov/), which comprises the authoritative list of approved and denied

Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software within GSA, should be reviewed.

(iv) Review the FedRAMP Marketplace. If the acquisition may include cloud services, the acquisition

team should review the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)

Marketplace (https://marketplace.fedramp.gov/) for potential cloud services solutions.

(v) Review Governmentwide Vehicles and Shared Services. Consider Government-wide Acquisition

Contracts (GWACs), Multi-Agency Contracts (MACs), or GSA Schedules that have already evaluated

their awardees for Supply Chain Risk Management process and procedures at the master contract

level and have incorporated relevant provisions and clauses. Additionally, shared services, such as

Quality Service Management Offices (QSMOs), provide an online platform for acquiring high-quality,

cost-efficient services that may help reduce the time and cost involved in sourcing and maintaining

cybersecurity solutions.

(vi) Other Sources. If a compliant supplier cannot be identified, the acquisition planning team should

look for other ways to satisfy the requirement, including identifying other acquisition strategies,

changing the requirement description, changing the requirement, insourcing, or determining

another solution.

(d) Market research activities related to cyber-supply chain risk management for non-information

technology, GSA-funded acquisitions. The acquisition planning team should:

(1) Search the System for Award Management (SAM). As potential capable sources are identified,

and when determining the acquisition strategy, consider searching SAM (https://www.sam.gov) to

review self-certifications, submitted in response to the provision at FAR 52.204-26 (or FAR

52.212-3(v) for commercial items or commercial services), as to whether the source provides

covered telecommunications equipment or services as a part of its offered products or services to

the Government in the performance of any contract, subcontract, or other contractual instrument

and whether the source uses covered telecommunications equipment or services, or any equipment,

system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services.

(2) Review the Cyber-Supply Chain Risk Management Page. The C-SCRM page on the GSA

Acquisition Portal (http://insite.gsa.gov/cscrm) is frequently updated to include guides, samples and

templates, and other considerations to assist acquisition teams during market research related to CSCRM. The page also includes helpful points of contacts within the agency that may be able to

provide additional information.

(3) Review Government-wide Vehicles and Shared Services. Consider Government-wide Acquisition

Contracts (GWACs), Multi-agency Contracts (MACs), or GSA Schedules that have already evaluated
their awardees for Supply Chain Risk Management process and procedures at the Master Contract

Level and have incorporated relevant provisions and clauses. Additionally, shared services, such as

Quality Service Management Offices (QSMOs), provide an online platform for acquiring high-quality,

cost-efficient services that may help reduce the time and cost involved in sourcing and maintaining

cybersecurity solutions.

(4) Other Sources. If a compliant supplier cannot be identified, the acquisition planning team should

look for other ways to satisfy the requirement, including identifying other acquisition strategies,

changing the requirement description, changing the requirement, or determining another solution.