GSA's POLARIS contract is one of the most valuable vehicles in federal IT procurement for small businesses. It's also one of the most misunderstood. Plenty of small IT firms know the name but couldn't tell you who qualifies, how task orders flow, or how to get on the next on-ramp. This guide covers all of it.
What POLARIS is
POLARIS stands for Polaris, and it's a Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) managed by GSA's Federal Acquisition Service. GWACs are pre-competed, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts that give federal agencies a fast path to IT services without running a full procurement from scratch. Agencies place task orders against the vehicle rather than issuing standalone solicitations.
POLARIS replaced GSA's legacy STARS III contract as the primary small business IT GWAC. GSA awarded the first pool of contracts in 2023. The total ceiling across all pools is $40 billion over 10 years.
There are three pools:
- Small Business (SB) pool — for any small business under the applicable NAICS size standards
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) pool — for WOSBs and EDWOSBs
- HUBZone pool — for HUBZone-certified firms
Each pool is competed separately. An agency wanting to set aside a task order for WOSBs goes to the WOSB pool. An agency with no set-aside preference can use the SB pool. You can hold contracts in more than one pool if you qualify for multiple socioeconomic categories.
Who qualifies for the WOSB pool
To hold a POLARIS WOSB pool contract, you must be:
- Certified as a WOSB or EDWOSB through SBA's certification program (self-certification was eliminated in 2020; you must go through an approved third-party certifier or SBA directly)
- Small under the NAICS code 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services), which is the primary NAICS for POLARIS
- Unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more women who are U.S. citizens
EDWOSB status (Economically Disadvantaged WOSB) requires meeting the income and net worth thresholds set by SBA: personal net worth under $850,000 (excluding primary residence and business equity), adjusted gross income averaged over three years under $400,000, and total assets under $6.5 million. If you qualify as EDWOSB, you qualify for both EDWOSB and WOSB set-asides.
Certification must be current at time of proposal and at time of award. Letting your certification lapse during a POLARIS pursuit is a disqualifying event.
The scope of work
POLARIS covers IT services broadly. The solicitation's Statement of Work includes:
- Software development and integration
- IT operations and maintenance
- Cybersecurity services
- Data management and analytics
- Cloud services and migration
- IT program management and consulting
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning services
The primary NAICS is 541512, but the contract accommodates work that spans adjacent codes. Task orders specify the relevant NAICS for each effort. If you win a POLARIS contract, you can compete for task orders in any of these categories, not just your primary business line, provided you have the capabilities to propose credibly.
How on-ramps work
GSA built POLARIS with periodic on-ramps. The initial awards went out starting in 2023 after a long evaluation period. GSA has signaled it will open subsequent on-ramps to add contractors to each pool.
On-ramp solicitations are posted on SAM.gov under POLARIS-related solicitation numbers. GSA also maintains a POLARIS page at gsa.gov/polaris with current information on award status and upcoming on-ramps. Sign up for GSA's Interact platform and follow the POLARIS community to get notified when new solicitations drop.
The initial POLARIS solicitation was evaluated on a pass/fail technical approach followed by a best-value price evaluation. GSA used a self-scoring sheet where offerors documented relevant experience, past performance ratings, and certifications. Higher scores earned better positioning in the competitive range.
For the next on-ramp, expect a similar structure. The key differentiators were:
- Relevant experience: Projects demonstrating IT services within the POLARIS scope, with dollar values above $150,000, performed within the last five years
- Past performance: CPARS ratings of Satisfactory or higher; Exceptional ratings earned bonus points
- Certifications: ISO 9001, CMMI, ISO 27001, and similar quality certifications added points in some scoring categories
Start building your past performance file now, even if an on-ramp is 12 to 18 months away. Federal CPARS ratings take time to appear in the system after contract completion, and you need them documented and accessible when a solicitation drops.
Finding POLARIS task orders
Once you hold a POLARIS contract, task orders are competed among pool members. Agencies post requests for quotes (RFQs) through GSA's eBuy portal at ebuy.gsa.gov. You must be registered in eBuy and hold a POLARIS contract in the relevant pool to see and respond to RFQs.
Some agencies also post POLARIS task order solicitations on SAM.gov for visibility, particularly for larger efforts. Monitoring both systems is good practice.
Agencies using POLARIS include civilian agencies, DOD components with approved access, and intelligence community agencies in some cases. The biggest POLARIS users as the vehicle matures will likely be the same agencies that drove volume on STARS III: HHS, DHS, DOJ, and various DOD program offices.
To find current task order opportunities before you hold a contract, you can request POLARIS data through the GSA website. GSA publishes aggregate award data and some agencies post pre-solicitation notices on SAM.gov even for GWAC task orders.
Teaming options
You do not have to be a large IT shop to compete on POLARIS. Teaming is explicitly allowed and widely used.
Two structures matter here:
Prime/subcontractor teaming: You hold the POLARIS contract and bring in subcontractors with complementary capabilities. The prime must perform at least 50% of the cost of the task order (the contract's limitation on subcontracting clause). For the WOSB pool, the prime must maintain WOSB/EDWOSB status throughout performance.
Joint ventures: Two or more firms can form a joint venture to pursue a POLARIS on-ramp. For a joint venture to qualify for the WOSB pool, it must be either a WOSB-managed joint venture (where the WOSB controls the JV and manages performance) or a mentor-protege joint venture approved by SBA. Mentor-protege JVs are useful because the protege's socioeconomic status controls eligibility even if the mentor is a large business.
If you're a small WOSB and want access to larger company resources, the SBA mentor-protege program is worth pursuing. It takes 3 to 6 months to get an agreement approved, so the time to start that process is before a POLARIS on-ramp solicitation is published, not after.
Getting POLARIS on your radar now
Three action steps if you're serious about POLARIS:
1. Confirm your WOSB certification status. Log into certify.sba.gov and verify your certification is active and your annual recertification is not coming due in the next 12 months. If you're EDWOSB-eligible but only hold WOSB certification, consider whether the EDWOSB designation would open additional set-aside opportunities in your pipeline. The certification is the same process; it requires the additional financial documentation.
2. Document your past performance proactively. Pull your CPARS ratings for all federal contracts completed in the last five years. If any contracts are missing ratings or show Satisfactory where the work merited Exceptional, talk to your contracting officer. Request formal CPARS input if none was provided. You cannot fix this after a solicitation drops.
3. Monitor GSA's POLARIS page and SAM.gov. Set up a SAM.gov saved search for "POLARIS" under active solicitations and opportunities. The GSA Interact community for POLARIS is at interact.gsa.gov and posts program updates before they appear anywhere else. If you want to team for the next on-ramp, identify potential partners now. Teaming agreements take time to negotiate and the clock starts when the solicitation drops.
POLARIS is a decade-long vehicle with a $40 billion ceiling. Getting on it is the goal. Missing an on-ramp because your paperwork wasn't current is an avoidable loss.
