If you have ever tried to research a federal vendor - an incumbent on a recompete, a potential teaming partner, or a competitor on a strategic pursuit - you know the data is scattered across half a dozen government systems. SAM.gov tells you who they are. USAspending.gov tells you what they have won. FPDS tracks contract actions. GovWin IQ has analyst commentary. None of them talk to each other. Proposal Connect ties these sources together so a capture manager can pull a complete vendor profile in minutes - active contracts, prime award totals, subaward partners, certifications, and AI-generated analysis - instead of spending half a day in browser tabs. Here is exactly how it works.
Key Takeaways
- 1 SAM.gov alone is not enough. To research a vendor's active contracts you need SAM.gov entity data plus USAspending award data plus subaward records.
- 2 Proposal Connect's vendor analyzer agent pulls all three sources, plus optional GovWin IQ enrichment, into a single report in 2-5 minutes.
- 3 Use it for incumbent research, teaming decisions, and competitive intel on every pursuit before you commit B&P resources.
The bottom line: Vendor intel is a leverage point. The teams that automate it pursue smarter and waste fewer B&P dollars on bids they were never going to win.
Why Vendor Intel Matters in GovCon
Federal procurement is a relationship business with public data. Every contract, every modification, every option-year exercise is recorded somewhere. The teams that win consistently are the teams that read that record before they commit to a pursuit. A few of the questions vendor intel answers:
- Is the incumbent vulnerable? If they are at a 4.2 CPARS, late on milestones, or losing key personnel, that changes your win probability. Their other active contracts give clues about capacity and focus.
- Should we team with them? A potential partner with no past performance in the customer's agency is a red flag. One with five active contracts and a clean delivery record is gold.
- Are we missing a key competitor? The "obvious" competition list is rarely complete. Subaward data exposes vendors who are quietly delivering on similar work as a sub.
- Where is the customer spending? Agency spend patterns at the buying office level reveal real priorities better than any program announcement.
Where Federal Vendor Data Actually Lives
Before walking through Proposal Connect, it helps to know what each source provides on its own - and why no single one is enough.
SAM.gov
Official entity registration. UEI, CAGE code, DUNS history, NAICS codes, socio-economic certifications, points of contact, exclusion records. Tells you who a vendor is, not what they have won.
USAspending.gov
Federal spending transparency. Prime contract awards by recipient, subaward distribution, agency relationships, contract action history. The closest thing to a public ledger of what every vendor is doing.
FPDS-NG
Federal Procurement Data System. The system of record for individual contract actions - awards, modifications, option exercises. Granular but unfriendly to query directly.
GovWin IQ (Deltek)
Subscription-only intelligence. Recompete tracking, analyst commentary, pre-RFP signals, opportunity scoring. Premium data layered on top of public sources.
Stitching these together by hand is the slow part. A proper vendor profile means you bounce across SAM.gov entity pages, USAspending recipient queries, FPDS lookups, and any GovWin reports you have access to - then assemble the result in a slide deck. Proposal Connect collapses that into a single agent run.
How to Look Up a Vendor in Proposal Connect
The workflow is built into the CRM module. Every organization in your CRM can be sent through the vendor analyzer with one click. Here is the exact sequence:
From the CRM Organizations page, search the directory or create a new organization. The directory is pre-populated with vendors from SAM.gov so most known contractors are already searchable by name, UEI, or CAGE code.
Click into the vendor record. You see SAM.gov entity data on the left (NAICS codes, certifications, address, POCs) and a Run Vendor Analysis Report button at the top. The same page also shows linked opportunities, contacts, and activity history if you have worked with the vendor before.
Click the button. The vendor-analyzer agent kicks off in the background. A status badge in the header shows the run is active - the analysis survives client disconnects, so you can close the tab or work on something else while it runs.
Behind the scenes the agent calls the SAM.gov entity API for registration data, the USAspending prime-awards endpoint for active prime contracts, the USAspending subawards endpoint for teaming patterns, and (if your account is connected) GovWin IQ for analyst intelligence. Each source is normalized into the agent's working state.
After data collection the agent generates a written analysis: capability summary, top funding agencies, contract concentration, subaward partners, recompete signals, and (depending on context) teaming or competitive recommendations. The output is grounded in the actual award records, not generic boilerplate.
When the run completes you get an in-app notification and an email with a deep link back to the report panel. The report file is saved on the organization record and can be exported, attached to a pursuit, or shared with the capture team.
USAspending and SAM.gov update continuously. When you are getting close to a major decision (Go/No-Go, gate review, color team) re-run the analysis to refresh the data. Past reports are kept on the record so you can compare snapshots over time.
What's in a Vendor Report
Every report is structured so a capture manager can read it in five minutes and a proposal manager can pull citation-ready facts from it.
Company Identity
UEI, CAGE, DUNS history, legal name, DBA, address, primary NAICS, NAICS list, registration status.
Certifications
8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, VOSB, SDB, small business size determinations.
Active Prime Contracts
Total obligated value, count of active awards, top contracts by value, contract vehicles, performance periods.
Top Funding Agencies
Agency-level spend distribution. Reveals where the vendor's relationships and past performance are concentrated.
Subaward Activity
Top subcontractors, subaward dollar volume, teaming behavior patterns, prime-vs-sub ratio.
Recompete Signals
Contract end dates, option-year status, recent modifications, agency recompete patterns.
Capability Themes
Inferred service areas based on award descriptions and NAICS distribution. Useful for capability-statement comparison.
GovWin IQ Enrichment
When connected, the report layers in analyst commentary, opportunity associations, and intelligence ratings.
AI Recommendations
A written summary with teaming, competitive, or capture recommendations grounded in the actual data.
Common Use Cases
The same workflow supports several distinct capture activities. The output is the same; what changes is how you read it.
Incumbent Research
Before pursuing a recompete, run the incumbent. Look at total contract value, performance period, top sub partners, and other active obligations to assess vulnerability and resource pressure.
Teaming Decisions
Vetting a potential prime or sub. Confirm certifications, agency past performance, prime-vs-sub balance, and existing teaming relationships before a teaming agreement.
Competitive Intel
Building the bidder list. Identify which competitors are growing into your space, who has scale, and who is concentrated in adjacent agencies.
Pipeline Qualification
When evaluating a new opportunity, run the buying agency's top current vendors. Their NAICS distribution and contract patterns reveal what the agency actually buys.
Manual SAM.gov Lookup vs Proposal Connect
Same research goal, two very different effort profiles.
| Task | Manual SAM.gov + USAspending | Proposal Connect Vendor Analyzer |
|---|---|---|
| Find entity record | Search SAM.gov by name or UEI | Auto-resolved from CRM organization |
| Look up active contracts | Switch to USAspending, query recipient awards | Pulled automatically by the agent |
| Identify subaward partners | Subaward search on USAspending, filter by recipient | Surfaced in the report with totals |
| Build agency spend chart | Manual export and Excel pivot | Generated in the report |
| Capture write-up | Capture analyst writes from screenshots | AI generates first draft analysis |
| Total time | 3-6 hours per vendor | 2-5 minutes per vendor |
Best Practices for Vendor Research
A few habits that make vendor intel actually useful inside your capture process:
- 1 Run the incumbent first. No bid should reach Gate 2 without a current vendor report on the incumbent. It is the single most important capture artifact.
- 2 Vet teaming partners formally. A two-page vendor report attached to a teaming agreement protects you if the partnership goes sideways.
- 3 Refresh near gate reviews. Vendor data changes weekly. Re-run before color team and final pricing decisions.
- 4 Build the bidder list from data. Do not rely on the obvious competitors. Subaward data shows who is quietly building capability in the customer's space.
- 5 Connect GovWin IQ if you have it. Public data is a strong base; analyst intelligence layered on top compounds the value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find a vendor's active contracts on SAM.gov?
SAM.gov shows entity registration data (UEI, CAGE, NAICS, certifications) but not detailed contract awards. To find a vendor's active federal contracts you need to combine SAM.gov entity data with USAspending.gov award data and FPDS contract action data. Proposal Connect's vendor analyzer pulls all three sources, plus subaward data, and produces a single report with active contracts, prime award totals, agency relationships, and recompete dates.
What's the difference between SAM.gov and USAspending?
SAM.gov is the official entity registration system - it tracks who is allowed to receive federal contracts. USAspending.gov is the federal spending transparency database - it tracks where federal dollars actually go. To research a vendor properly you need both: SAM.gov for identity and eligibility, USAspending for actual contract activity.
Can I look up subaward data with Proposal Connect?
Yes. Proposal Connect's USAspending integration includes both prime-award and subaward endpoints. The vendor analyzer report includes prime contract value, subaward distribution, top subcontractors, and patterns of teaming behavior.
How long does a vendor lookup take?
A full vendor inspection usually completes in 2-5 minutes. The agent runs in the background, so you can continue working while it pulls SAM.gov entity data, USAspending awards, subaward records, and any GovWin IQ intelligence. You receive an email when the report is ready.
What information do I get in a vendor report?
A vendor report typically includes: company identity (UEI, CAGE, DUNS, NAICS), socio-economic certifications, active prime contracts and total award value, top funding agencies, subaward activity, recent contract actions, capability themes, and a written analysis with teaming or competitive recommendations.
Is this useful for incumbent research before a recompete?
Yes - this is one of the highest-value use cases. Before pursuing a recompete you want to know how much the incumbent is making, who their subcontractors are, what other agencies they work with, their performance period and option years, and whether they have capacity constraints. The vendor analyzer surfaces all of this in one report.
Do I need a SAM.gov or USAspending account to use this?
No. Both publish public data via official APIs. Proposal Connect calls these APIs directly. For GovWin IQ enrichment you need an active GovWin subscription tied to your Proposal Connect account.
Stop Piecing Vendor Intel Together by Hand
Proposal Connect's vendor analyzer pulls SAM.gov, USAspending, subaward, and GovWin IQ data into a single report in minutes. Run incumbents, vet partners, and qualify pursuits with the data you should have had on day one.
Disclosure: This article is published by Technuf LLC, the company behind Proposal Connect. SAM.gov, USAspending.gov, and FPDS-NG are public federal systems; GovWin IQ is a Deltek product. Vendor data shown by Proposal Connect comes from these sources via their official APIs. Product capabilities referenced were accurate as of April 2026.