Source Selection Advisory Council
A group of senior government officials who review the evaluation team's findings on a major procurement and give the Source Selection Authority a comparative analysis and, if asked, an award recommendation. The SSAC sits between the Source Selection Evaluation Board, which scores the proposals, and the SSA, who makes the final decision. It's typically used on large or complex competitions, especially within DoD, where a second, senior look at the tradeoffs is warranted.
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Related terms
Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System
CPARSThe government-wide, web-based system contracting officers use to record formal, periodic assessments of a contractor's performance (cost control, schedule, quality, and management) on individual contracts. CPARS reports become the official past performance record that other agencies typically pull when evaluating that contractor's proposals on future source selections.
Engineering Analysis
EATechnical evaluation of a design, system, or proposed approach against stated requirements, using calculations, modeling, simulation, or test data to confirm feasibility, performance, and risk. In a proposal, engineering analysis is the evidence that substantiates technical claims rather than simply asserting them.
Past Performance
A source-selection evaluation factor that examines how well an offeror executed relevant prior contracts (quality, schedule, cost control, and management effectiveness), typically documented through CPARS records, references, and questionnaires. In many best-value competitions it carries weight comparable to technical approach or price.
Performance Risk Assessment Group
PRAGThe government team that evaluates offerors' past performance during a source selection. The PRAG reviews the references and questionnaires in the proposal along with records in CPARS and other sources, judges how relevant and recent each effort is, and assigns a performance confidence rating. Because the PRAG often finds information the offeror didn't submit, proposal teams should know what their CPARS records say before choosing which contracts to cite.
Price-to-Win
PTWA pricing analysis that estimates what price is needed to win a specific competitive procurement (based on competitor cost structures, historical awards, and the customer's budget), then works backward into a bid strategy and cost model that hits that price while staying profitable. PTW produces a pricing strategy, not a likelihood of winning.
