accelerate modern solutions
Rise8’s SDO IDIQ
Modern Software Delivery and Enablement for Autonomy, Software Transition Programs, and other Government-led Software Programs
Rise8’s leadership in digital transformation has been recognized by the Department of Defense (DoD) with the issuance of the AFWERX Software Delivery Organization (SDO) SBIR Phase III Government-wide Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. Administered by AFWERX, this IDIQ was established to accelerate the delivery of modern software solutions for autonomy, software transition programs, and other government-led initiatives.
Rise8’s SDO IDIQ is designed to empower government agencies to rapidly deploy and scale innovative software capabilities that meet the most critical mission requirements. From strategy and vision implementation to software development, deployment, and sustainment, the SDO IDIQ offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored to drive mission success in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Leveraging our expertise in lean product management, user-centered design, and continuous Authority to Operate (cATO), Rise8 is committed to transforming how the government builds, deploys, and utilizes mission-critical software—delivering secure, scalable solutions faster than ever before.
01.
Continuous Delivery
A Software Delivery Organization (SDO) is built to ensure continuous delivery of mission-critical software across diverse environments, from cloud to on-premises systems. SDOs drive end-to-end software development, deployment, and operation at scale, ensuring secure, high-quality software that adapts to evolving mission needs. Continuous feedback loops and iterative development enable the rapid deployment of updates and new features, allowing government agencies to stay agile and responsive.
02.
DevSecOps
At the heart of an SDO is the integration of DevSecOps practices, embedding security into every phase of the software development lifecycle. From inception to deployment, security is treated as a foundational element, ensuring that all applications are developed and deployed with a secure baseline. By leveraging automated testing, continuous integration, and security scanning, SDOs reduce vulnerabilities while maintaining speed and flexibility in delivering software solutions.
03.
User-Centered
SDOs prioritize user-centered design, ensuring that software solutions are tailored to the specific needs of end users, whether they are warfighters or government administrators. By incorporating lean product management and agile methodologies, an SDO integrates user feedback into every phase of development, continuously refining and improving the software. This user-centered approach ensures that applications not only meet mission requirements but also deliver exceptional user experiences.
04.
Continuous Risk Management
SDOs implement continuous risk management frameworks to ensure compliance with security standards and proactively address potential vulnerabilities. Through a continuous Authority to Operate (cATO), software solutions are rapidly deployed with real-time security assessments and risk mitigation, allowing for secure, compliant pathways to production without the traditional bottlenecks of security authorizations. This ensures that software can be deployed faster, with fewer delays.
05.
Modernization and Cloud Migration
SDOs are designed to sense and respond to the ever-evolving technology landscape, ensuring that systems remain optimized, efficient, and automated. They excel at transforming legacy systems into modern, scalable platforms while leveraging best-in-class patterns, technologies, and architectures. SDOs have a deep understanding of the trade-offs between various technologies that allow the organization to make strategic decisions that balance performance, security, and compliance. This adaptability allows them to continuously optimize applications for scalability and operational efficiency, enabling the organization to fully harness cloud technologies while maintaining mission-critical readiness.
06.
Outcome Oriented Leadership and Culture
A high-performing SDO thrives on a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and feedback, driven by leadership that fosters ownership, innovation, and alignment with mission-critical outcomes. This culture prioritizes adaptability and responsiveness, enabling teams to move quickly while maintaining security and quality. Leaders cultivate psychological safety, encouraging open communication and calculated risk-taking to fuel innovation and accelerate problem-solving. By balancing speed with deliberate reflection, SDOs ensure sustainable improvement without burnout, allowing teams to deliver impactful software rapidly and consistently meet evolving stakeholder needs.
How to Use SDO
Getting started with the SDO IDIQ is straightforward. Any U.S. Federal Government agency or organization can issue a Task Order under this contract, following FAR/DFAR-compliant SBIR Phase III acquisition guidelines. The decentralized nature of the SDO IDIQ is a significant advantage and offers flexibility to accept multiple colors of money, enabling agencies to efficiently manage their procurement needs across various funding sources, ensuring that mission-critical software solutions are delivered without unnecessary delays.
The SDO Procurement Process
- Define Objectives and Requirements: Start by documenting your program or project objectives, desired outcomes, and any current challenges or deficiencies.
- Conduct Scope Validation: Engage directly with Rise8 to discuss your needs, timeline, and constraints in relation to past performance, expertise, and core capabilities.
- Draft a Performance Work Statement (PWS): Prepare an initial Performance Work Statement (PWS), Statement of Work (SOW), Request for Proposal (RFP), or Request for Quotation (RFQ) to clearly express your project requirements.
- Request Use of the SDO IDIQ: Email your draft PWS to the AFWERX Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) and request use of the SDO IDIQ. The AFWERX PCO will conduct a scope-determination of your PWS to determine if the proposed project aligns with the permissible tasks under the SDO IDIQ. Most scope-determinations are completed within 2-3 days. Upon approval, the AFWERX PCO will issue a delegation of contract authority and control number, granting your organization permission to use the SDO IDIQ.
- Issue PWS to Rise8: Once approved, email your PWS directly to Rise8. Your local contracting office is then permitted to work with Rise8 to issue a Task Order for your requirements under the SDO IDIQ.
- Conduct Negotiated Award with Rise8: Collaborate with Rise8 to finalize the project scope, timeline, deliverables, assumptions, Government-furnished equipment and information, place and period of performance, and price. Once these details are finalized, issue the Task Order through your local contract management system.
- Schedule Kickoff: After the bilateral execution of the new Task Order with Rise8, send a copy to the AFWERX PCO and schedule your project kickoff. Task Order modifications, closeout, and reviews will be managed by your local contracting office.
Connect with us for additional IDIQ questions
Acquisition Policies and Guidelines
SDO task orders follow SBIR Phase III acquisition guidelines
- No need to conduct market research
- No need to compete Task Orders
- No fair opportunity or sole-source justification documentation requirement (J&A, JOFOC, etc.)
- No need to publicly advertise intent to award
- No protests at Task Order level
- No Government Fees for use of SDO
- No MOU, MOA, IAA, or transfer of funds (Form 9, MIPR) required to AFWERX
Benefits
Using SDO provides significant benefits
- Speed: Accelerate mission success with rapid procurement and task order execution, ensuring faster delivery of modern software solutions.
- Flexibility: The SDO IDIQ offers broad flexibility, supporting multiple colors of money (RDTE, Procurement, O&M) and allowing seamless adjustment of project scope as mission needs evolve.
- Broad Scope: The SDO IDIQ covers a wide range of project types, including software development, cybersecurity, data modernization, cloud migration, and DevSecOps, offering comprehensive support for diverse mission-critical initiatives.
- No Competition Required: Avoid lengthy procurement cycles—SDO task orders are exempt from competition and market research requirements, eliminating the need for sole-source justifications and fair opportunity assessments.
- Direct Industry-Government Engagement: The decentralized nature of the SDO IDIQ allows for direct engagement between Rise8 and government organizations, ensuring close collaboration and tailored solutions that address specific needs.
- Access to Top Talent: Leverage Rise8’s elite teams of cybersecurity, software engineering, product management, design, DevSecOps, and digital transformation experts, ensuring access to the right talent to deliver innovative and secure software solutions at scale.
Task Orders Can Consist Of
- Support and Enablement
- Leadership Workshops: Vision Implementation and Strategy Alignment (VISA) sessions to guide leadership in defining and prioritizing mission objectives.
- Innovation Strategy Support: Provide ongoing support to leadership teams, including workshops on Function and Process Accountability, Value Stream Mapping, and Domain Driven Design.
- Portfolio and Practice Enablement: Enablement programs for executive, portfolio, and practice leaders across engineering, UX design, and product management to ensure rapid deployment and scaling of capabilities.
- Software Development and Transformation
- Agile Software Development: Full-cycle software development services from scoping to deployment, focusing on user-centered design, lean product management, and continuous delivery.
- Application Migration and Transformation: Migrate and transform existing software applications to cloud platforms, ensuring compatibility with modern DevSecOps pipelines and continuous Authority to Operate (cATO).
- Data Modernization
- Advanced Data Engineering and Science: Modernize legacy data architectures, implementing Massively Parallel Processing (MPP), In-Memory Data Grids (IMDG), and event streaming platforms to support faster decision-making and operational efficiency.
- Platform Engineering and Path-to-Production
- Platform Engineering Services: Build, deploy, and operate cloud platforms, ensuring high reliability, security, and scalability. Provide tailored cloud platform dojo services for hands-on enablement.
- Path-to-Production Implementation: Assess, design, and implement a comprehensive path-to-production strategy, including secure release pipelines, continuous compliance, and advanced release engineering.
- Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC)
- Continuous Risk Management and cRMF: Implement continuous risk management and cybersecurity frameworks, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and achieving continuous Authority to Operate (cATO).
- Cybersecurity Engineering: Enhance the security posture of DevOps environments with secure coding practices, automated security testing, and continuous monitoring.
- Training and Workshops
- Comprehensive Training Programs: Offer virtual or on-site training sessions, workshops, and bootcamps tailored to government teams, focusing on agile practices, cybersecurity, and DevSecOps methodologies.
Together, we create continuous impact
US Air Force
- Cybersecurity Assessment
- Continuous Risk Management Framework
- Platform Enablement and Onboarding
- Developer Experience Enhancement
- Pipeline Integration and Automation
US Space Force
- Workforce Enablement
- Low Code Development
- Application Modernization and Migration
- Greenfield Application Development
- Portfolio Management
- User-Centered Design
Veterans Affairs
- Platform and Site Reliability Engineering
- Secure Release Pipeline
- cATO Implementation
- Observability and Monitoring
- White Glove Developer Onboarding
- Service Design
If you’re ready to transform the way your agency or company approaches software development, consider partnering with Rise8. We’ll help you navigate the complexities of continuous delivery with a team that’s as committed as you are. Reach out to us today, and let’s start making real change together.
FAQs
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS CAN USE SDO?
All U.S. Federal Government Agencies and organizations are permitted to use SDO.
What can be purchased under SDO?
SDO’s contract line item numbers (CLINs) permit Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Labor, Commercial Off the Shelf Software (COTS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), hardware, and Travel. These contract level CLINs may be combined in any combination necessary to achieve the PWS requirements and task order deliverables.
What is the contract duration of SDO?
SDO was awarded as a base plus four (4) contract. The current last date of the last option period is June 6, 2028. Task Orders issued under SDO on or prior to June 6, 2028 may have an option period at the Task Order level that can extend to Government Fiscal Year 2030.
What is the SDO contract ceiling?
The SDO IDIQ has a $100,000,000.00 ceiling with no limitation on individual Task Orders.
Can I use O&M Money with this IDIQ?
SDO was designed to support the full lifecycle of program requirements. Federal organizations may use RDTE (research and development), Procurement (new capital expenditures), and O&M (sustainment) budget dollars to support Task Orders on SDO.
Can I issue option periods to my Task Order?
Yes, organizations may specify the initial base period of performance to the term commensurate with the PWS requirements, and include a single or multiple option periods to be exercised at the Government’s discretion.
Can I add project specific supplemental terms and conditions?
Yes. All Task Orders issued under SDO inherit the Contract level terms and conditions flow downs. Additional terms and conditions may be applied at the task order level, and must be mutually acceptable by Rise8.
If our local contracting shop is new to SBIR-based acquisitions, where can I get assistance?
AFWERX will provide an SDO Ordering Guide upon approval of your proposed PWS scope and issuance of the delegation of contract authority. The AFWERX Acquisition team can answer questions on the general SBIR Phase III procurement process under SDO.
Does my organization need to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or transfer funds to AFWERX?
No. Your organization does not need to establish an MOU, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), an Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA), or complete documentation to MIPR or transfer funding to AFWERX.
Does AFWERX charge my organization a fee to use SDO?
No. AFWERX does not charge a fee to U.S. Government organizations to use SDO.
Will AFWERX issue and manage the Task Order for my program?
No. AFWERX administers the SDO contract, reviews, and approves potential PWS actions that are permissible within scope, but does not issue the Task Order for your organization. This is a decentralized contract vehicle which means your local contracting shop will issue the Task Order, conduct any modifications, and eventually close out the Task Order.
Do I need to conduct market research?
No, per FAR 10.001(b)(2): “Agencies shall conduct market research appropriate to the circumstances before soliciting offers for acquisitions with an estimated value in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold... However, market research is not required where the procurement is conducted under a sole-source authorization or a statutory exemption.” The SDO IDIQ falls under a sole-source authorization.
Do I need to provide sole source justification or fair opportunity assessments?
No, per FAR 6.302-5(b)(2): “Contracts awarded under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-219) are exempt from full and open competition requirements.”
Does my organization need SBIR authority to use SDO?
No, SBIR authority is only required for Phase I and Phase II SBIR-funded contracts. Any agency or organization can use a Phase III because it is considered a continuation into production and commercialization of previously funded research from Phases I and II.
Can Rise8 provide personnel with security clearances?
Yes, organizations may specify the initial base period of performance to the term commensurate with the PWS requirements, and include a single or multiple option periods to be exercised at the Government’s discretion.
