The portal for contractors to unearth active opportunities to work with the federal government will be shifting to a new website beginning this Friday.
Federal Business Opportunities, or FedBizOpps.gov, is moving to beta.sam.gov, which will include filters to search for opportunities by number, keyword, or location, a design intended to allow users to reference key information quickly with better navigation, access to previous versions of opportunity notices, a notification feature to be pinged when frequently used contract opportunities are updated, and more.
Watchlist will become Follow in beta.SAM.gov and Search Agent will become Saved Search. “Current Interested Vendor lists (IVL) will transfer to beta.SAM.gov,” said GSA. “Non-federal users need an account tied to an entity to use the new IVL.”
“In order to transition roles from FBO.gov to beta.SAM.gov, you will need to create a new account in beta.SAM.gov. As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security and to move to single sign on for all IAE applications, we are implementing login.gov in beta.SAM.gov,” said GSA. “A few weeks before the transition, you will need to create a new login.gov account or be ready to use your existing login.gov account. You also will be able to use your government issued CAC/PIV card to log in.”
“The entire process of building beta.SAM.gov has been a collaborative effort between and among our users and stakeholders. This remains true with the transition of FBO.gov. Please participate in the process and, as always, provide us with your thoughts and feedback.”
Read GSA’s Contractor Quick Start Guide or the FBO Transition Fact Sheet. Agencies can access more information at the Federal User Transition Quick Start Guide.
GSA advised vendors that System for Award Management registration is free and to watch for scammers: “If you get an e-mail from a company offering to help you register in SAM.gov asking you to contact them and pay them money, be cautious. These messages are not from the Federal Government.”
Some agencies may be quicker to make the Veterans Day weekend transition than others. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration notified vendors that they should go to https://faaco.faa.gov for FAA procurement related announcements after FBO is gone.
“The FBO (FedBizOpps) transition to beta.SAM.gov is scheduled for Nov. 8-11, 2019, and FAA contract opportunities are not currently planned to transition to beta.SAM.gov. This is an interim notification and FAA anticipates resolution of system compatibility issues to allow for publication to beta.SAM.gov in the future,” the FAA said, noting that the agency is “currently testing compatibility of procurement field entries with those required for beta.SAM to assess potential transition and use of beta.SAM for announcement of FAA contract opportunities.”
