Create a New Evaluation

Source Selection is the process of creating, reviewing, and completing a vendor evaluation for goods and services needed to conduct business. This involves collecting and maintaining vendor information and evaluation factors that are assessed by different teams. The Government Source Selection (GSS) solution provides a guided, automated experience for collecting this information. After an evaluation is created, simple, informative interfaces by Appian Records enable end users to view and update this information.

This page provides instructions for creating a new evaluation.

Create evaluations

In Government Source Selection (GSS), creating a new evaluation is a guided experience that walks you through entering the information you need to start a vendor evaluation.

To create a new evaluation, you must be part of the AS GSS Create or Update Evaluation PM Access security group. The evaluation chairs and contracting groups are automatically included in this security group.

To create an evaluation:

1. Navigate to the My Workspace or Evaluations page.

2. Click CREATE NEW EVALUATION to open the Create Evaluation guided experience.

   

3. Enter a Solicitation PIID (Procurement Instrument Identifier), Title, and Description for the goods or services you are evaluating.
4. Select the Start Date and Due Date of the evaluation using the date pickers. These date fields determine when the evaluation starts and ends, and provide validation for any deadlines you define.
5. Select the Evaluation Method using the radio buttons. The evaluation method determines how your organization evaluates the vendor proposals. Choose from:
   • Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA): Automatically creates a default evaluation factor and team. For Multiple Award evaluations, evaluators can select multiple vendors. Skip to Create LPTA evaluations to create an LPTA evaluation.
   • Best Value: Requires you to manually set up each factor and assign a team. Continue with the following steps to create a best value evaluation.
6. Upload Reference Documents.
   1. Click UPLOAD to open the file picker.
   2. Select the document to upload.
   3. Click Plus icon in box to upload additional documents.

   Note:  PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, and PPTX files are supported. Up to 15 documents can be uploaded at a time.

7. Select Single Award or Multiple Award using the Multiple or Single Award IDV radio buttons. This determines whether the evaluation results in one award or multiple awards to different vendors.
8. Select Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, and Evaluation Chief using the auto-suggest dropdowns.
9. Select Yes or No using the Mask Evaluators during Evaluation radio button. When masked, evaluator names are substituted with aliases. Privileged users still see the actual names.
10. Select if Weighted Factors are applicable using the radio buttons. Weighted Factors enable you to assign weights to factors and subfactors to specify their level of importance.
11. Select Required or Not Required using the Consensus Report Signatures radio button to determine if signing the consensus report is required for evaluation completion.
12. Select Yes or No using the On the Spot Consensus radio buttons.
    • Yes: Skips individual evaluator tasks and proceeds directly to consensus submission.
    • No: Follows the standard process where evaluators individually assess and rate vendors.

      Caution:  Consensus type cannot be modified once the evaluation starts.

13. Click CREATE to create the evaluation and navigate to the Evaluation Created page.

    

14. Click GO TO EVALUATION to navigate to the created evaluation record and add factors and vendors.

    Tip:  Once the evaluation is created, you can either complete the setup on the evaluation summary immediately or return to finish it later.

    

Add factors

A factor is a specific criterion or standard used to evaluate vendor proposals during the procurement process. These factors are outlined in the solicitation document (such as a Request for Proposal) and serve as the basis for determining which proposal offers the best value to the government.

The Factors section enables you to add the factors, subfactors, weights, teams, and assign evaluators to evaluate each vendor.

To add factors:

1. Click CONTINUE SETUP to open the Continue Setup guided experience.

   

2. Click NEW FACTOR.

3. Enter factor ID, Title, Description, and Instructions using the text fields.

   Tip:  The Description and Instructions fields are used by the AI Proposal Analyzer to analyze vendor responses against this factor. Provide detailed solicitation requirements in the Description field and specific evaluation guidance in the Instructions field to improve the quality of the AI analysis. See View vendor analysis for more information.

4. Select the Due Date using the date picker.
5. Select the Factor Chair using the auto-suggest dropdown to assign a user as the factor's chair.

6. Select the Rating method to evaluate the factor using the dropdown.

   Note:  Select the rating method to reflect the needs of a specific organization. See Modifying Dropdowns for information on how to update these values.

   See the following table for more information on the pre-configured rating methods and rating values.

   Rating Method	Rating Values
   Color Rating	Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow, Red
   Adjective Rating	Outstanding, Good, Acceptable, Marginal, Unacceptable
   Risk Adjective Rating	Low, Moderate, High
   Number Rating	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
   Confidence Level Rating	Substantial, Satisfactory, Limited, No, Unknown
   Acceptable/Unacceptable Rating	Acceptable, Unacceptable

7. Click SAVE to add the factor.
8. Click NEW FACTOR to add more factors.
9. Add subfactors.
   1. Click ADD to add subfactors.
   2. Enter the subfactor ID, Title, Description, and Instructions using the text fields.
   3. Select Due Date using the date picker.

   4. Select the Rating method using the dropdown.

      Note:  Select the rating method to reflect the needs of a specific organization. See Modifying Dropdowns for information on how to update these values.

   5. Click SAVE to add the subfactor.
   6. Click ADD to add more subfactors.

10. Click EDIT and DELETE to edit and delete factors and subfactors, respectively.

    Caution:  Deleting a factor also deletes the associated subfactors.

11. Click NEXT to save changes and continue to enter weights, or click SAVE AND CLOSE to save changes and close the guided experience to continue the setup later.

Enter weights

The Weights tab enables you to enter and assign weights to factors.

On the Weights tab:

1. Enter weight points for each factor and its subfactors. Numbers only.

   Note:  Adjust each factor's weight to ensure their sum equals 100. Adjust each subfactor weight so their sum equals the total factor weight.

2. Click NEXT to save changes and continue to add teams, or click SAVE AND CLOSE to save changes and close the guided experience to continue the setup later.

Add teams

The Teams tab enables you to create evaluation teams and add evaluators to the teams.

On the Teams tab:

1. Click NEW TEAM to navigate to the New Team section.
2. Enter a Team Title and Description that reflects the team's purpose.
3. Click SAVE to save changes.
4. Select evaluators using the auto-suggest dropdown.
5. Click ADD TEAM MEMBERS to add the selected evaluators to the team.
6. Select the team members checkboxes and click DELETE TEAM MEMBER to delete evaluators from the team.
7. Click NEW TEAM to add more evaluator teams.
8. Click EDIT and DELETE to edit and delete evaluator teams respectively.
9. Click NEXT to save changes and continue to assign evaluators to factors, or click SAVE AND CLOSE to save changes and close the guided experience to continue the setup later.

Assign evaluators to factors

The Assignment tab enables you to review the factors and subfactors created earlier and assign them evaluators.

On the Assignment tab:

1. Select the assignment's Due Date using the date picker.
2. Select the Evaluation Team using the dropdown.
3. Select the Evaluators using the multi-select dropdown.
4. Click COLLAPSE SUBFACTORS to hide subfactors and EXPAND SUBFACTORS to show them.
5. Click ASSIGN EVALUATORS TO SUBFACTORS to duplicate factor's evaluators to subfactors.
   1. Alternatively, select the subfactor's Due Date, Team, and Evaluators.

   Note:  Subfactor due date must not occur after factor due date.

6. Click SAVE AND CLOSE to save changes and navigate back to the evaluation record.

Add vendors

The Vendors section enables you to add vendors who have submitted proposals and upload their associated proposals.

To add vendors:

1. Click Plus iconADD VENDORS in the Vendors section to open the Add Vendors guided experience.

   

2. Enter a vendor's UEI, CAGE, or keywords in the Search Vendors field.
   1. Select the Include SAM.gov results checkbox to include results from SAM.gov.
3. Click Search icon to search and list vendors from both internal and SAM.gov records.

4. Select a vendor using the checkbox to move it to the Selected Vendors section.

   

   Scroll or drag to pan · ⌘+/⌘− to zoom · Esc to close

   If the vendor record or SAM.gov contains the vendor's UEI or CAGE number, GSS displays the vendor and enables you to select it. If a vendor record does not exist in GSS or SAM.gov:

   1. Click Create a vendor manually to open the Add Vendors guided experience.

      

   2. Enter the vendor and address details in the respective sections.
      1. In the System Status dropdown, select Active to make the vendor available for selection, or Inactive to make the vendor unavailable.

   3. Click SAVE to add the vendor to the Selected Vendors section.

      

5. Search and select additional vendors if required.
6. Click NEXT to open the proposal details section.
7. Select the Submission Date using the date picker.
8. Select the Submission Time using the dropdown.
9. Upload the vendor's proposal and other evaluation documents.
   1. Click UPLOAD to open the Document Upload section.
   2. Click UPLOAD to open the document browser.
   3. Select a document to upload.

   4. Click Plus icon in blue box to upload additional documents.

      Note:  After the files are uploaded, the grid automatically populates with the name of each document. Each vendor document is only visible to evaluation chairs, members of the contracting personnel, and the evaluators assigned to the factors/subfactors associated with it.

   5. Hover over an uploaded document icon and click Blue X icon to remove it.
   6. Click UPLOAD to upload the documents.

10. (Optional) If you want to use AI to extract pricing information from a vendor document, select the document for extraction using the radio button next to the uploaded document.

    Note:  You can select only one document per vendor for AI price extraction. The extraction runs after the vendors are added to the evaluation. For multi-round best value evaluations, AI price extraction runs only when vendors are first added, not for subsequent rounds. See Reconcile extracted pricing for information on reviewing and confirming the extracted data.

    Note:  The AI price extraction option is only available when the AS_GSS_TOGGLE_PRICE_EXTRACTION_ENABLED constant is set to True by an administrator. See Configure AI price extraction for more information.

    

11. Select the factors and subfactors associated with the vendor evaluation documents using the Associate with Factors or Subfactors multi-select dropdown.

    

12. Enter the Total Price of the proposal.

    Tip:  If you selected a document for AI price extraction in step 10, you can skip entering the total price and price breakup manually. After the vendors are added, the AI extracts this information automatically. You can review and edit the extracted data on the pricing reconciliation page.

13. Enter Price Breakup.
    1. Click +Add Line Item.
    2. Enter Item Description, Quantity, and Unit Price. The amount of the item is automatically calculated based on the entered quantity and the unit price.
    3. Click +Add Line Item to add more price breakup items.
    4. Click Blue X icon corresponding to an item to remove it.
    5. Drag the grid view icon to reorder the items.
14. Enter Pricing Notes.
15. Click NEXT VENDOR to add proposal details for additional vendors.

16. Click ADD VENDORS to add the vendors.

    

Review and start evaluation

For best value evaluations, starting the evaluation begins the first round. You name the round, set its dates, and choose the factors that apply to it, so evaluators receive tasks only for the selected factors. You can run a best value evaluation across multiple rounds, adding each round as the evaluation progresses. See Set up and start a new round for more information.

On the evaluation record:

1. Review the defined evaluation details. Any missing information is displayed on the evaluation Summary page.

   1. Click Show more to view all the missing information.

      

      Note:  If no errors appear and the START EVALUATION button is clickable, the evaluation is ready to start.

2. Click START EVALUATION to open the Start Evaluation dialog.

   

3. Enter the Evaluation Round name. For example, Initial Evaluation.
4. Select the Start Date, Duration (days), and Due Date for the round using the date pickers and fields. The start date is prepopulated.

5. In the Factors section, select the factors and subfactors that apply to this round using the checkboxes. Only tasks for the selected factors are triggered for evaluators.

   Note:  Selecting a subfactor also selects its parent factor.

6. Click START EVALUATION to start the round.

   Note:  For best value evaluations, starting the evaluation also starts the AI vendor response analysis. The analysis runs for each vendor-factor combination using the factor description, instructions, associated vendor documents, and the solicitation document (if available). Analysis progress can be tracked on the evaluation summary. See View vendor analysis for more information.

   

Create LPTA evaluations

If the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation method is selected during evaluation setup, the guided experience automatically hides configuration fields not relevant to this evaluation type. A default LPTA factor is generated and assigned to an evaluation team consisting of the designated evaluators. All vendor documents and pricing details automatically map to the LPTA factor.

Source Selection introduced support for Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluations, enabling a faster and simplified evaluation flow for price-driven decisions. This feature was introduced to support agencies where LPTA evaluations make up a majority of cases and often require minimal coordination.

To create an LPTA evaluation, complete steps 1 through 4 in Create evaluations, then continue with the following steps:

1. Select Lowest Price Technically Acceptable using the Evaluation Method radio buttons.
2. Upload Reference Documents.
   1. Click UPLOAD to open the file picker.
   2. Select the document to upload.
   3. Click Plus icon in blue box to upload additional documents.

      Note:  PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, and PPTX files are supported. Up to 15 documents can be uploaded at a time.

3. Select Single Award or Multiple Award using the Multiple or Single Award IDV radio buttons. This determines whether the evaluation results in one award or multiple awards to different vendors.
4. Select Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, Evaluation Chief, and Evaluators using the auto-suggest dropdowns.

   Note:  Evaluators selected here are added to a team and assigned to the default factor. Further changes to the team and members can be done using the Continue Setup action in the evaluation summary after the evaluation is created.

5. Click CREATE to create the evaluation and navigate to the Evaluation Created page.

   

6. Click GO TO EVALUATION to navigate to the created evaluation Summary tab to add vendors and manage factors.

   Tip:  Once the evaluation is created, you can either complete the setup on the evaluation summary immediately or return to finish it later.

Upon starting an LPTA evaluation, a single task is generated showing vendor-wise pricing details sorted in ascending order for the evaluator to select a vendor. The contracting officer can now close the evaluation. No evaluator tasks or consensus forms are required for LPTA evaluations.

Next steps

After contracting personnel start an evaluation, all assigned evaluators receive their evaluation tasks.

See Managing Evaluations to learn how contracting personnel manage evaluations. See Evaluating Vendors to learn how evaluators evaluate and rate vendors.

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