More federal buying happens off SAM than most contractors realize

A contracting officer posted in this sub a few days ago asking how contractors actually track federal opportunities given how little shows up on SAM. He works at HHS. His estimate: SAM is involved in somewhere between 10% and 40% of new contracts at his agency, depending on how you count. For IT specifically, he put it closer to a rounding error.

That lines up with something else that came up this week. Someone noticed only five opportunities posted across all of SAM in an entire day. That's not a glitch. That's just how the system works.

The government buys through existing contract vehicles, GWACs, agency-specific IDIQs, GSA schedules, and purchase card transactions that never require a public posting. By the time something hits SAM as an open solicitation, agencies have often already identified who they want to work with. The posting is sometimes a formality.

Contractors who treat SAM as the whole picture are only seeing a fraction of what's actually being bought, and they're showing up after most of the positioning has already happened.

The contractors who consistently win at agencies aren't just better at proposals. They're visible before the requirement exists. They've responded to sources sought notices. They've shown up at industry days. They've had capability briefings with program managers. When the CO is deciding how to structure an acquisition, they already know who's in the market.

SAM is where opportunities get posted. It's not where opportunities get won.