From Ascgroup

When should the TF! software be used in support of a contract?

TF!© is very specific to contracting for services although it does have the capacity to address capital acquisition as part of the services package, including “Design. Build and Operate” contracts. TF!© should only be used if the customer wishes to have a high degree of visibility into the resourcing and costing proposed by a bidder/contractor to meet customer requirements and if pricing competition is not such as that associated with a commodity buy involving many suppliers. Is the TF! software easy to use? The TF! software was designed to replace the inconsistent and error prone approach associated with evaluating multiple bidders’ self-developed spreadsheets. A self-developed spreadsheet requires each user to develop their own data entry format to support calculations and then also develop their own formulas to manipulate the data. The TF! software already takes care of the format and the formulation. While the user is only required to enter data into TF!©, the data does need to be placed in pre-defined fields in the TF! software which may add complexity for those who are accustomed to using their own format. However, the use of self-developed spreadsheets reduces the apples-to-apples comparison available through the use of the TF! software as it is unlikely that all bidders will develop their spreadsheets in exactly the same format. The commonality of evaluation of a consistent presentation of information reduces the possibility of the government making an error in its selection process and has proven to support a successful defense of CITT challenges by unsuccessful bidders.