USACE-RateCybersecurity Pilot ProgramApplicant Process
Construct a Bid Evaluation

Construct a Bid Evaluation

To evaluate the bids you receive, you must conduct a bid evaluation. You decide what factors you want to consider in your evaluation and how important each factor is to you. However, you must include the price of the Pilot-eligible equipment and services as a bid evaluation factor and that factor must be weighted more heavily than any other factor in your bid evaluation.

Preparing a Bid Evaluation Matrix helps you evaluate bids and also provides documentation of the process you followed to select your service provider. You must evaluate all bids received and select the most cost-effective solution. The entity that filed the Pilot FCC Form 470 must also have followed the Pilot Program competitive bidding rules and all applicable state and local contract and procurement rules and regulations.

You can receive services:

  • On a month-to-month basis. Some cybersecurity services may not require a contract. However, you must post a Pilot FCC Form 470 and conduct a competitive bidding process for month-to-month services that you will receive and seek reimbursement for during the Pilot Program period.
  • Under a contract. One-time equipment and services provided under contract are considered to be contracted services. If you intend to receive services under contract, remember that the contract must have been preceded by the filing of a Pilot FCC Form 470. The Pilot Program does not allow existing, non-qualifying contracts to be converted into eligible contracts. Existing contracts only qualify for the Pilot if they fall within the Pilot Program’s competitive bidding exemption (CBE).

The Pilot Program contemplates that participants will file their Pilot FCC Form(s) 470 by the August 18, 2025 deadline and their Pilot FCC Form(s) 471 by the September 15, 2025 deadline to cover the entire three-year term of the Pilot. To the extent a Pilot participant seeks to receive support for a license or service that covers only part of the term of the Pilot Program, it should solicit bids for those services when it files the Pilot FCC Form 470 at the beginning of the Pilot and then request the services for the term of the Pilot Program to be covered by the new or extended contract using the Pilot FCC Form 471.