Why it matters:
These are the cheapest chances to shape what gets bought before the RFPs drop.
A response that doesn’t fit burns hours and tells the buyer nothing.
By the numbers:
$417.5M in combined ceiling on the six expiring contracts, $314.6M of it obligated.
3 days between this landing and the FEMA and FAA deadlines.
What to watch:
VA’s My HealtheVet period ends Nov 1, so an option decision is close.
NOAA’s $184.5M cloud order is the biggest item and has the longest runway, to Sep 2027.
The bottom line: Answer only where you can win: your vehicle, set-aside, and proof all line up. Pass on the rest.
A note before you read: this is the full version of the Brief, the one I'm turning into a paid edition next month. This week it's free so you can judge it for yourself. Starting in November, the item-by-item calls and the weekly moves go to paid subscribers. The summary and the dates stay free. If you want in early, reply "founding" and I'll put you on the founding member list.
My read
This week is a market scan instead of a single-contract teardown: open IT Requests for Information (RFIs) and Sources Sought notices from SAM.gov, plus expiring IT contracts from USAspending.gov whose follow-ons are being planned now.
The Quiet Window is the stretch before an RFP when positioning still changes the outcome. A Sources Sought is the last loud moment inside it. The agency is telling you what it thinks it needs and asking whether the market can do it. After the Bell, when the RFP drops, you’re mostly documenting a decision that was shaped months earlier.
The way I see it, buying is changing because the government is out of room on money and people. Tired offices stick to what they know unless a respondent shows them a better answer they can defend. A good RFI response does that. It shows you’ve solved this exact problem, you can prove it, and you can do it again for less.
That’s why an RFI response is cheap to write and expensive to waste. If you don’t hold the vehicle, fit the set-aside, and have the proof, save the hours.
An RFI response is cheap to write and expensive to waste.
The 12 at a glance
Each line: agency | type | due or end date | set-aside | best fit | call.
Open notices (by due date)
Deployment Management Solution: FEMA | Sources Sought | Due Oct 16, 2 PM ET | No set-aside | App dev and integration, any size | Answer if you’ve replaced a legacy system
TFDM Market Survey: FAA | Sources Sought | Due Oct 16, 5 PM ET | None stated | Aviation and ATC software | Answer only with NAS proof
Data Stream: FDA | Sources Sought | Due Oct 19, noon ET | WOSB | Certified WOSB IT firms | Answer if certified, or find a WOSB to team with
Data Hosting, Integration, and Sustainment: DHA | Sources Sought | Due Oct 26, noon ET | No set-aside | Cloud hosting and data integration, any size | Answer with cost tradeoffs
Software Development Recompete: MCC | Sources Sought | Due Oct 29, 6 PM ET | No set-aside | App dev with federal O&M, any size | Answer with one proven example
CenTAM Acquisition Update: Census | Special Notice | Response date Nov 6, noon ET | None stated | App modernization | Read the attachment now
[Source: SAM.gov notice pages, checked October 8, 2026. All six showed Active.]
Expiring contracts (by end date)
My HealtheVet Patient Portal Platform: VA | VA IDIQ order | Ends Nov 1, 2026 (options to May 1, 2027) | SDVOSB | SDVOSB digital services on the IDIQ | Watch the Nov 1 option
CMMI AMS Development: CMS | GSA Schedule order | Ends Dec 11, 2026 (options to Mar 11, 2027) | Small business | Small health-IT firms on the Schedule | Get ready for a new competition
Enterprise Credential and Access Management: IRS | Treasury agreement order | Ends Jan 31, 2027 | None recorded | Agreement holders, identity subs | Team with a holder
NIPR and SIPR Support: USSOCOM | Standalone contract | Ends Mar 31, 2027 | Small business | Cleared network-ops small businesses | Chase, the most open door
Cybersecurity and IA Risk Support: Air Force ACC | GSA order | Ends May 31, 2027 | None recorded | Cyber risk firms on the GSA vehicle | Holders only, crowded field
NCCF Cloud Development SMEs: NOAA | NOAA agreement order | Ends Sep 8, 2027 | Small business | Small cloud and data-engineering firms | Shape early
[Source: USAspending.gov award records, checked October 8, 2026]
Together the six carry $417.5M in ceiling, with $314.6M obligated so far. [Calculation from USAspending.gov award records] A SAM.gov search on October 6 found no public follow-on notice for any of them, whether a pre-solicitation, Sources Sought, or bridge justification. [Source: SAM.gov Opportunities API, October 6, 2026] That doesn’t mean nothing is happening. It means the planning is still happening where most firms can’t see it.
Part one: six open notices
A note on the Money lines: FY2027 started October 1 without a full-year spending bill. Congress passed a continuing resolution, P.L. 119-103, that funds agencies at FY2026 rates through December 11, 2026, and generally bars new starts. So every FY2027 figure below is a request, not money in hand. Where I couldn’t find a public line for the specific program, I say so and give the parent account. [Source: Congressional Research Service, R49353]
1. FEMA Deployment Management Solution (due Oct 16)
What it is: FEMA wants to replace its legacy Deployment Tracking System. The notice covers workforce readiness, qualifications, deployment tracking, incident staffing, reporting, secure cloud hosting, and links to existing FEMA and DHS systems. FEMA is open to commercial, configurable commercial, custom, or hybrid solutions, and puts the estimated value at $50 million to $100 million over five to ten years. The original due date was October 5. FEMA extended it. NAICS 541511. [Source: SAM.gov, 70FA3126I00000008]
Best fit: application development and integration firms. No set-aside, so large businesses can prime.
Positioned: you’ve replaced a legacy workforce or case-tracking system for a federal customer, ideally one that had to keep running during a major incident.
Money: FEMA’s FY2027 request moves $8.2M from the Disaster Relief Fund into Operations and Support to run the current Deployment Tracking System, which FEMA says has grown from a Stafford Act-only tool into an enterprise system. That’s upkeep for the old system. I found no public line for the replacement. FY2027 request, not enacted. [Source: FEMA FY2027 Congressional Justification, Operations and Support, p. 11]
Pass: your answer is a license quote. FEMA is asking how you’d move it off an old system.
2. FAA TFDM Market Survey (due Oct 16)
What it is: FAA is looking for vendors to provide second-level engineering, sustainment, development, and implementation services for the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM), its terminal flight data system. FAA runs this under its own Acquisition Management System, not the FAR. NAICS 541512. FAA says a later Screening Information Request is possible but not promised. [Source: SAM.gov, TFDM-MarketSurvey-2026]
Best fit: aviation and air traffic control software firms.
Positioned: you can name National Airspace System (NAS) sustainment work.
Money: TFDM has its own budget line, Facilities and Equipment 2B06. FAA asked for $170.0M for FY2027, after $55.1M enacted in FY2025 plus $300.0M from P.L. 119-21. FAA says TFDM is operational at 13 sites and is headed to 89. FY2027 request, not enacted. [Source: FAA FY2027 Budget Estimates, Facilities and Equipment, p. 60]
Pass: no air traffic control or NAS past performance, even if you’re a strong application shop. Three days is not enough time to build that story.
3. FDA Data Stream (due Oct 19)
What it is: FDA market research on a data-management modernization effort, with the Statement of Work attached to the notice. Set aside for SBA-certified Women-Owned Small Businesses (FAR 19.15). NAICS 541512. FDA says it won’t answer questions or hold discussions on this RFI, so the written response is all you get. [Source: SAM.gov, FDA-RFI-27-1251190]
Best fit: SBA-certified WOSB IT firms.
Positioned: you have federal data-management work you can describe in specifics.
Money: no specific public line found. The parent is FDA’s Salaries and Expenses account, with $3.35B in FY2026 enacted budget authority and $3.30B requested for FY2027. [Source: FDA FY2027 Justification of Estimates, Figure 6, p. 10]
Pass: not certified, including large businesses. Your move is finding a certified WOSB that wants a teammate.
4. DHA Data Hosting, Integration, and Sustainment RFI (due Oct 26)
What it is: the Defense Health Agency wants approaches, constraints, and estimated costs for hosting, integrating, securing, and sustaining data from vendor-built and VA applications for its OBHAT/BHAS program. DHA says the answers will feed a future data-hosting strategy. NAICS 518210. [Source: SAM.gov, HT942726RFI707]
Best fit: cloud hosting and data-integration firms. No set-aside, so large businesses can prime.
Positioned: you can show cost and security tradeoffs on health data, not just a hosting price.
Money: no specific public line found for OBHAT/BHAS. The parent is the Information Management line in the military health budget, which the FY2027 request moves from the old Defense Health Program into a new Combat and Operational Medicine Program. It got $2.27B enacted for FY2026 (plus $100.0M in mandatory spending), and $2.60B is requested for FY2027. [Source: Military Health System FY2027 Budget Estimates, Vol. I, Funding by Budget Activity]
Pass: on-premises-only product shops without hosting past performance.
5. MCC Software Development Recompete (due Oct 29)
What it is: application engineering, operations and maintenance, platform configuration, and Tier 3 user support across enterprise applications for the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s OCIO Digital Services Team, plus program management. The notice says the contractor must have proven experience doing this work within a federal agency. NAICS 541512. [Source: SAM.gov, 95332427K0001]
Best fit: application development firms with federal O&M work. No set-aside, so large businesses can prime, but a small agency with an open competition is a real door for a mid-size firm.
Positioned: you’ve run enterprise platforms for a federal agency and can show it.
Money: MCC’s IT budget sits inside Administrative Expenses, $16M enacted for FY2026 and $15M requested for FY2027. That line covers all of MCC’s IT, so this contract is a slice of it. MCC’s whole FY2027 request is $609M, down from $830M enacted for FY2026. [Source: MCC FY2027 Congressional Budget Justification, pp. 11 and 12]
Pass: product-only vendors and firms without custom development past performance. “Recompete” in the title means there’s an incumbent, so a generic response won’t move anyone.
6. Census CenTAM Acquisition Update (response date Nov 6)
What it is: Census is telling industry about an update to its Census Transformation and Application Modernization (CenTAM) acquisition framework and how it is ranking upcoming CenTAM procurements. The details sit in the attachment. NAICS 541511. [Source: SAM.gov, YA1323-27-CENTAMSN-0003]
Best fit: application modernization firms with Census or statistical-systems work.
Positioned: you’re already tracking CenTAM. This notice is a map of which buys come first.
Money: no specific public line found for CenTAM. The closest program activity is Enterprise Data Collection and Dissemination Systems in the Periodic Censuses and Programs account, $185M in estimated FY2026 obligations and $163M in the FY2027 request. The account as a whole asks for $1.723B, mostly for the 2030 Census, and the CR gives Census extra room for 2030 Census systems. [Source: FY2027 Budget Appendix, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Congressional Research Service, R49353]
Pass: anyone outside custom software. If you’re inside it, read the attachment this week even if you never respond.
Part two: six expiring contracts
These are awards, not notices. Each one is headed toward a follow-on decision. “Current end” is today’s period of performance. “Potential end” assumes every option gets used.
1. VA My HealtheVet Patient Portal Platform, APIs and Backend Services (36C10B25N00070008)
Incumbent: Oddcore JV, LLC. Ceiling $27.9M, $14.2M obligated. Current end November 1, 2026, potential end May 1, 2027. SDVOSB set-aside, 4 offers. Order under VA IDIQ 36C10B25D0007. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: the current period ends three weeks after publish, so the next option decision is close. Dates can move if VA doesn’t exercise it.
Best fit: SDVOSB digital-services firms on the parent IDIQ. Large businesses should look at sub roles only.
Positioned: you’ve shipped patient-facing products.
Money: this order is paid from VA’s IT Systems account, with some Toxic Exposures Fund money. VA’s FY2027 request raises My HealtheVet planned obligations by $23.8M (+151.1%) inside a Digital Experience group of $222.9M. VA doesn’t publish the My HealtheVet total. FY2027 request, not enacted. [Source: VA FY2027 Budget Submission, Volume 5, p. 60. USAspending.gov]
Pass: non-SDVOSB firms as prime, and anyone not on the IDIQ.
2. CMS CMMI Analysis and Management System Development (75FCMC22F0036)
Incumbent: SemanticBits LLC. Ceiling $40.2M, $39.9M obligated. Current end December 11, 2026, potential end March 11, 2027. Small business set-aside, 4 offers, GSA Schedule order (GS35F192BA). [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: the order has used about 99% of its ceiling. The next step is likely a new competition.
Best fit: small health-IT firms on the GSA Schedule.
Positioned: you’ve built or run a CMS or health-data platform.
Money: this order is paid from the CMS Innovation Center account, which the Social Security Act funds directly at $10B per decade, available until spent. It’s mandatory money, not part of the annual spending bill, so the CR doesn’t set its level. The order drew $5.5M from that account in FY2026. [Source: Social Security Act Sec. 1115A(f). USAspending.gov]
Pass: large businesses as prime while the small business set-aside holds.
3. IRS Treasury Enterprise Credential and Access Management (2032H523F00159)
Incumbent: IT Federal Sales LLC. Ceiling $85.4M, $77.1M obligated. Current and potential end both January 31, 2027. Full and open, no set-aside recorded. Order under parent agreement 2032H523A00008. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: no options remain, and the end date is under four months after publish. Expect a follow-on, a bridge, or an extension decision soon.
Best fit: holders of the parent agreement, any size, plus identity, access management, and cyber risk specialists as subs.
Positioned: you hold the parent agreement or already work with a firm that does.
Money: this isn’t IRS appropriations. USAspending shows the order paid from the Treasury Franchise Fund’s Shared Services Program, $24.9M in FY2025 and $16.6M in FY2026. The closest named Treasury program is Enterprise Systems Identity Management, with $133.7M in estimated FY2027 obligations, but Treasury doesn’t say this order sits inside it. [Source: USAspending.gov. Treasury Departmental Offices FY2027 Capital Investment Plan, p. 17]
Pass: no vehicle and no relationship with a holder. The window for a cold start has closed.
4. USSOCOM NIPR and SIPR Support (H9240422C0005)
Incumbent: Compass Point LLC. Ceiling $39.9M, essentially all obligated. Current and potential end March 31, 2027. Small business set-aside, 1 offer last time. Standalone contract, no parent vehicle. Place of performance Tampa, Florida. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: no vehicle gate and a single bidder last time. Of the six, this is the most open door for a cleared small business.
Best fit: small cleared network-operations firms.
Positioned: you have classified and unclassified network support past performance near MacDill and cleared people ready to staff it.
Money: USAspending ties only FY2022 money to a federal account, $7.0M from Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide under Training and Recruiting. USSOCOM’s only line in that budget activity, Professional Development Education, was $28.3M enacted for FY2026 with $30.0M requested for FY2027. I can’t confirm later years came from the same line. [Source: USAspending.gov. USSOCOM FY2027 Operation and Maintenance OP-5, p. 6]
Pass: large businesses as prime, and any firm without cleared staff.
5. Air Force ACC Cybersecurity and IA Risk Support (FA489022F0040)
Incumbent: CDO Technologies Inc. Ceiling $39.6M, $18.3M obligated. Current and potential end May 31, 2027. Full and open, 10 offers. GSA order under 47QTCA19D000H. Place of performance Scott AFB, Illinois. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: guidance to cut the cybersecurity risk that IT assets pose to DoD and Air Force networks. Ten offers last time means a crowded field.
Best fit: cyber risk and assessment firms on the parent GSA vehicle, any size.
Positioned: you have Air Force risk management framework and assessment past performance.
Money: no specific public line found, and USAspending ties no federal account to this order. The likely parent is Operation and Maintenance, Air Force, Cyberspace Activities: $857.1M enacted for FY2026 and $1.156B requested for FY2027. [Source: Department of War FY2027 Operation and Maintenance Programs (O-1), p. 34]
Pass: firms not on the parent vehicle, and commercial security providers without a DoD authorization record.
6. NOAA NCCF Subject Matter Expertise for Cloud Development and Innovation (1332KP22FNEEA0040)
Incumbent: GAMA-1 Technologies, LLC. Ceiling $184.5M, $125.3M obligated. Current and potential end September 8, 2027. Small business set-aside, 12 offers. Order under NOAA agreement 1305M421ANAAA0038. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The read: the biggest item in the set and the longest runway. Eleven months out is right in the Quiet Window, and 12 offers last time means early shaping will count.
Best fit: small cloud and data-engineering firms.
Positioned: you hold the NOAA agreement, or a holder wants you as a teammate.
Money: NCCF has a named home in NOAA’s budget, the Common Ground Services line under NESDIS construction, at $90.0M enacted for FY2026 and $90.4M requested for FY2027. NOAA’s note on the increase says it will prioritize NCCF. USAspending shows the order also draws on NOAA’s operations account. FY2027 request, not enacted. [Source: NOAA FY2027 Congressional Justification, pp. NESDIS-7 and NESDIS-54]
Pass: large businesses as prime while the set-aside holds.
Longer runway: the 21st Contracting Squadron base operations IT order in Colorado Springs (FA251724F0034) runs to January 31, 2028, and the Army Cyber Center of Excellence Regional Signal Training Sites order (W9124923F0016) runs to February 10, 2028 with options. Both sit outside this scan window but are worth watching. [Source: USAspending.gov]
The move this week
Today: decide yes or no on FEMA and FAA. If you can’t name the past performance you’d lead with, it’s a no.
By Friday: if you’re a certified WOSB, pull the FDA Statement of Work and outline your answer for Monday, October 19.
This week: read the Census CenTAM attachment and note which procurements moved up.
Before October 26 and 29: build the DHA and MCC responses around one proven example each, with cost tradeoffs where DHA asks for them.
This month: check whether you hold the parent vehicle for each expiring contract you care about. If you don’t, name the holder you’d team with and call them before the follow-on notice posts.
Bottom line
You find where you can win by ruling things out. No vehicle on a vehicle-gated order is a pass. So is no clearance for USSOCOM, no NAS proof for FAA, no certification for FDA or VA, and any response you can't finish well before the due date. If you sell product licenses, skip all twelve. These are labor and solution buys. Whatever survives that filter deserves your best response.
What this scan can’t show
This scan can’t show which of the six expiring contracts already have follow-on plans inside the agency, or how many firms answered each notice. The public record shows the clocks and the gates, not the conversations.
This was the full paid edition, free this week. Paid opens in November. If the best-fit and pass calls and the moves were worth your time, reply “founding” and you’ll hear first when founding memberships open. Paid subscribers will also get the full scan file behind each issue, tagged Chase, Shape, or Watch.
If one of these is already on your pipeline, reply with the notice ID or contract number.
If you know a firm sitting on the FEMA or FAA decision, send them this before Friday.
Sources
SAM.gov notice pages, checked October 8, 2026:
1. FEMA’s Deployment Management Solution, 70FA3126I00000008: https://sam.gov/opp/b62b925cfbaf40ebbe5e60d0bc77b2b1/view
2. FAA TFDM Market Survey, TFDM-MarketSurvey-2026: https://sam.gov/opp/709fb399b6974190b30e7a87b2eab0d0/view
3. FDA, “Comprehensive Data Management & Streamlining Solution for Business-Critical Data (Data Stream),” FDA-RFI-27-1251190: https://sam.gov/opp/33052ba44678476e9ba02941ea419320/view
4. DHA Data Hosting RFI, HT942726RFI707: https://sam.gov/opp/64a6a1117b6940ff94860cee2104782e/view
5. MCC Software Development Recompete, 95332427K0001: https://sam.gov/opp/ec4254f4fdf24f8998bd4e10d5b58050/view
6. Census CenTAM Special Notice, YA1323-27-CENTAMSN-0003: https://sam.gov/opp/21bc5d3235c24cf28f22aae9907d9019/view
USAspending.gov award records, checked October 8, 2026:
7. VA 36C10B25N00070008: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_36C10B25N00070008_3600_36C10B25D0007_3600
8. CMS 75FCMC22F0036: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_75FCMC22F0036_7530_GS35F192BA_4732
9. IRS 2032H523F00159: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_2032H523F00159_2050_2032H523A00008_2050
10. USSOCOM H9240422C0005: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_H9240422C0005_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-
11. Air Force ACC FA489022F0040: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA489022F0040_9700_47QTCA19D000H_4732
12. NOAA 1332KP22FNEEA0040: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_1332KP22FNEEA0040_1330_1305M421ANAAA0038_1330
13. FA251724F0034: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_FA251724F0034_9700_HC102818D0024_9700
14. W9124923F0016: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_W9124923F0016_9700_W52P1J18DA092_9700
Budget sources (Money lines and CR note), checked October 8, 2026:
15. FY2027 continuing resolution status, P.L. 119-103: Congressional Research Service, R49353: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R49353.html
16. FEMA FY2027 Congressional Justification, Operations and Support, p. 11 (Transfer 3, Deployment Tracking System): https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/26_0403_ocfo_fy27-budget-federal-emergency-management-agency.pdf
17. FAA FY2027 Budget Estimates, Facilities and Equipment, 2B06 Terminal Flight Data Manager, p. 60: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/FAA_FY_2027_Budget_Estimates_CJ.pdf
18. FDA FY2027 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, Figure 6 Budget Authority Crosswalk, p. 10: https://www.fda.gov/media/191778/download
19. Military Health System FY2027 Budget Estimates, Vol. I, Funding by Budget Activity, line 0130D 040 Information Management: https://comptroller.war.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2027/budget_justification/pdfs/09_Military_Health_System/MHS_PB27_J-Book-Vol1-COMP_PSCP.pdf
20. MCC FY2027 Congressional Budget Justification, Administrative Expenses table and Information Technology, pp. 11 and 12: https://assets.mcc.gov/content/uploads/pub-2026001314701-cbj-fy27.pdf
21. FY2027 Budget Appendix, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Periodic Censuses and Programs (013-0450), Program and Financing: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/com_fy2027.pdf
22. VA FY2027 Budget Submission, Volume 5, Digital Experience, p. 60: https://department.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Volume-5.pdf
23. Social Security Act Sec. 1115A(f), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation funding: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title11/1115A.htm
24. Treasury Departmental Offices FY2027 Capital Investment Plan, Enterprise Systems Identity Management, p. 17: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/266/FY-2027-Departmental-Offices-Salaries-and-Expenses-Capital-Investment-Plan.pdf
25. USSOCOM FY2027 Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide OP-5, Financial Summary, p. 6: https://comptroller.war.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2027/budget_justification/pdfs/01_Operation_and_Maintenance/O_M_VOL_1_PART_1/SOCOM_OP-5.pdf
26. Department of War FY2027 Operation and Maintenance Programs (O-1), Operation and Maintenance, Air Force, SAG 012D Cyberspace Activities, p. 34: https://comptroller.war.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2027/FY2027_o1.pdf
27. NOAA FY2027 Congressional Justification, NESDIS Common Ground Services, pp. NESDIS-7 and NESDIS-54: https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/FY2027-NOAA-CJ-Submission.pdf
USAspending.gov federal account funding for items 7 through 12 comes from each award page’s federal account funding data (sources 7 to 12).
Follow-on check: SAM.gov Opportunities API search, October 6, 2026 (pre-solicitation, justification, sources sought, and special notice types posted July 6 to October 6, 2026, with response dates after October 6). No strong match for any of the six expiring contracts.