Standing Offers Exposed: Where $680M in Government IT Spending Actually Flows

We analyzed 9 months of standing offer data to understand where government IT and professional services spending actually flows. We tracked $680 million across five major SOSA categories: TBIPS, TSPS, SMS, Temporary Help Services, and PSPC Cloud.

The numbers reveal extreme concentration, wild monthly volatility, and procurement patterns driven more by fiscal calendars than actual needs. Here's what contractors need to know.

Note: The data is limited by the manual entry of the government. We have an AI system to clean and standardize it, but there will always be slight issues as a result of the government’s current reporting process.

TBIPS: The $598M Gorilla Where Two Departments Control Everything

TBIPS spending swings wildly month-to-month. January peaked at $161M, dropped to $39M by April, spiked back to $118M in July, then collapsed to $17-19M in August-September. This isn't steady demand so much as fiscal calendar pressure and large individual task authorizations distorting monthly totals.

The Concentration Reality

Shared Services Canada and National Defence control 62% of all TBIPS spending - $392.6M between just two departments.

Shared Services averages $9.6M per contract across 27 deals. These are infrastructure-scale engagements: cloud migrations, enterprise system implementations, multi-year IT transformation projects.

National Defence spreads $132M across 49 contracts ($2.7M average) - a middle ground between mega-projects and volume plays.

Then there's a cliff. ESDC posted 228 contracts but averaged only $183K each. IRCC and Global Affairs show the same pattern - high volume, low value.

Translation: There are two completely separate TBIPS markets. The first is mega-deals with SSC and DND averaging $2.7M-$9.6M per contract. The second is volume contracts with ESDC, IRCC, and Global Affairs averaging $117K-$200K. Different sales cycles, different competitors, different profit margins.

If you don't have relationships with Shared Services or National Defence, you're competing for 38% of the market split across dozens of buyers.

Scale vs. Volume: Two Roads to $75M

TekSystems won 6 contracts worth $75.7M - that's $12.6M average per contract. These are whale-hunting engagements.

Experis won 83 contracts worth $58.7M - that's $707K average. Eighty-three separate wins, requiring consistent proposal quality and delivery execution.

Both companies generated $50-75M with completely opposite strategies. TekSystems needs executive relationships and massive delivery capacity. Experis needs operational efficiency to win 10+ times per year.

The Mega-Deal Winners:

• Kyndryl: $21.6M single contract - legacy IBM infrastructure relationships

• SKYFLY+iFathom+EPI-USE joint venture: $16.3M - partnership strategies work

• iFathom appears twice (solo $25M, in JV $16.3M) - total iFathom-related revenue $41M+

The Volume Winners:

• Experis: 83 contracts building recurring relationships

• Akkodis: $33M across 34 contracts ($972K avg)

• Adirondack Information Management: $16M across 29 contracts ($554K avg)

What It Means: Pick your strategy and commit. Either build executive relationships to compete for $5M+ deals with SSC/DND, or build operational efficiency to win 20+ smaller contracts with volume buyers. The middle ground barely exists.

TSPS: The $80M Market Where Big 4 Firms Own the Top

March exploded to $43M - a 363% spike from February and the single biggest monthly anomaly across all SOSA categories. This was fiscal year-end budget burning combined with coordinated procurement approvals across departments.

The return to $3-7M monthly after March shows it was an outlier. But it reveals something critical: TSPS spending is heavily influenced by fiscal calendar pressures, not just project needs.

The Establishment

PwC, S.I. Systems, and Accenture dominate with $4-5M average contracts. PwC's 3 contracts totalling $14.9M suggests they won Shared Services strategic work. S.I. Systems' similar profile ($14.4M across 3 contracts) shows they compete at the same tier.

Below the top 3, average contract values fall under $700K. This is Big 4 territory plus established IT consulting firms with government credibility.

What It Means: TSPS isn't where emerging consultancies break in unless you have deep specialization. The sub-$1M market exists but you're competing against volume players who've optimized for $100-500K contracts. If you're a boutique consultancy, target Global Affairs/IRCC/ESDC where specialized expertise creates opportunities without requiring Big 4 scale.

SMS: The $85M Software License Lock-In

SMS shows the same March explosion - up 196% to $34M. Software license renewals and maintenance agreements concentrate at fiscal year-end despite being recurring expenses. Most months settle in the $3-11M range.

The Surprise Player

National Film Board spent $3.1M on just 5 software contracts - specialized media and production software with limited competition. Their $613K average (third-highest among all buyers) shows niche software commands premium pricing when you're the only viable vendor.

Unlike TBIPS/TSPS where mega-deals concentrate with 1-2 departments, SMS shows broader distribution. Software licenses are universal needs - every department needs productivity tools, security software, specialized applications.

The License Relationship Model

PureLogic IT Solutions: $21.1M across 22 contracts - they've built a software licensing empire. That's not 22 different products, it's recurring annual renewals, expansions, and upsells.

Advanced Chippewa Technologies: $9.7M across 31 contracts - the relationship multiplication strategy. Win one department with one software, expand to adjacent tools, replicate across departments.

ESRI Canada: $5.6M across 26 contracts - GIS software dominance. Nearly every department needs mapping tools. ESRI owns this category. The 26 contracts likely represent different departments, each renewing annually.

The Entry Strategy: Target departments where you can become the category leader in an underserved niche. National Film Board's $3.1M in specialized media software shows niches pay premiums. Don't compete in productivity software or GIS. Find the underserved specialized software category and own it.

Temporary Help Services: The $17M Market With One Outlier

March's $8.7M spike (676% increase) is driven by one mega-contract: CACHE Computer Consulting's $7.5M deal with Fisheries & Oceans. Strip that out and the market runs $500K-$2.6M monthly.

The Tale of One Mega-Deal

DFO's single $7.5M contract represents 43% of the entire category's spending across all 9 months. This is likely a multi-year staff augmentation agreement for specialized roles.

National Defence ($5.7M across 34 contracts at $167K average) and Global Affairs ($3.6M across 20 contracts at $182K average) show what temporary help actually looks like - $150-200K contracts for specialized temporary staff on 3-12 month assignments.

Two Business Models

CACHE Computer Consulting won one $7.5M contract that dwarfs all other vendors combined - 43% of the market with one deal.

Tiree Facilities ($2.1M across 10 contracts) and MAXSYS ($1.5M across 9 contracts) show the recurring relationship model - win repeatedly at $150-200K per engagement.

Most vendors depend on a single department for all their temporary help revenue. Only the largest achieve true diversification.

PSPC Cloud: The $8M Footnote

PSPC Cloud shows extreme volatility in a tiny market. Most months see under $400K total spending. January peaked at $3.9M, collapsed to $242K in February (-94%), recovered somewhat in March, then mostly stayed under $400K through August.

The Concentration Problem

ISED's 2 contracts represent 52% of the category's total spending - $3.6M. Everyone else spent under $800K across all 9 months. This isn't a growth market.

The Reseller Model

Carahsoft Canada dominates with $4M - they're a software reseller, not a cloud provider. They're a procurement intermediary for SaaS products.

VIDCRUITER's 12 contracts at $69K average show the recurring subscription model: small annual contracts, high retention.

The Real Story: Most actual cloud spend likely happens outside PSPC Cloud - probably through SMS (software licenses) where volumes are 10x larger. PSPC Cloud serves as an accessible entry point for smaller SaaS vendors to get on government procurement vehicles, but it's not where enterprise cloud infrastructure spending happens.

Cross-Category Winners: The Diversification Premium

Only a handful of vendors successfully compete across multiple SOSA categories:

S.I. Systems appears in three categories with $29M+ total across just 11 contracts:

• TBIPS: $14.6M

• TSPS: $14.4M

• Temporary Help: $277K

Orangutech captured $22.6M across three categories:

• TBIPS: $18.7M

• SMS: $2.6M

• PSPC Cloud: $1.3M

Carahsoft dominates software reselling:

• PSPC Cloud: $4M

• SMS: $1.8M

S.I. Systems is the quiet giant - they've built relationships that span IT services, consulting, and staffing. Orangutech positioned as a full-stack IT provider. Most vendors stay in their lane and miss the revenue diversification.

What This Actually Means for Contractors

Software licenses > Cloud subscriptions: SMS ($85M) dwarfs PSPC Cloud ($8M) by 10x. Most government software spending flows through SMS standing offers, not PSPC Cloud.

Volume vs. Value strategies both work: TekSystems (6 contracts, $75M) and Experis (83 contracts, $59M) both succeeded with opposite approaches. Pick your strategy and commit to it.

Recurring relationships beat one-offs: Vendors with 10+ contracts in a single category (Experis, PureLogic, Advanced Chippewa, ESRI) show the power of becoming the go-to vendor for specific needs.

Standing offers represent the backbone of how government actually buys IT services, consulting, and software - not the exception, but the rule. Understanding these patterns helps contractors make smarter decisions about where to invest their business development time.

If you have questions about government procurement, standing offers, or want to dig deeper into specific categories or departments, don't be afraid to reach out. We're building this intelligence together.

Publicus helps government contractors find, qualify, and win more contracts with less effort. Our AI-powered platform monitors every opportunity across all government levels, with analytics on pricing and competition so you can understand your market like never before.