Federal, state, and local agencies can procure Apex Consulting services through existing contract vehicles — without running a new RFP. We work primarily through Carahsoft, with SHI available as an alternate path for organizations whose procurement infrastructure favors it.
Carahsoft is our primary procurement vehicle.
Carahsoft is the leading public-sector technology distributor and a trusted procurement partner for federal civilian agencies, the Department of Defense, and many state and local governments. As a Carahsoft partner, we are accessible through existing federal and SLED contract vehicles — meaning your procurement office may already have a path to engage us without running a new solicitation.
Contract vehicles available through Carahsoft:
How procurement works: Most engagements are structured with Carahsoft as the prime contractor and Apex as the subcontractor delivering the actual consulting work. Carahsoft handles invoicing, contracts, and compliance; we handle the work. From your perspective, you're buying through your existing Carahsoft channel — you get the consulting expertise without the new-vendor procurement overhead.
Best for: Federal civilian agencies, DoD-adjacent commands, federal grant recipients, state agencies with active Carahsoft cooperatives, and any organization whose IT procurement office already has a Carahsoft relationship.
SHI is available as an alternate procurement path.
SHI International is the largest minority and woman-owned IT solutions provider in the United States and a major procurement channel for state and local government, K-12 districts, higher education, and many large enterprises. For organizations whose procurement infrastructure already includes SHI, we are accessible through that path as an alternate to Carahsoft.
Contract vehicles available through SHI:
How procurement works: Similar to Carahsoft, SHI typically acts as the prime contractor with Apex delivering the consulting services. The mechanics depend on the specific cooperative or vehicle being used. Your procurement office likely already knows the path — we just plug into it.
Best for: State agencies on cooperative contracts where SHI is the awarded reseller, K-12 districts buying through E&I or BuyBoard, higher education institutions on E&I, and any organization whose procurement office has an established SHI relationship.
Most public-sector engagements follow the same path, regardless of which vehicle you use.
Step 1 — Discovery conversation. A 30–60 minute conversation with your team to understand the work, the constraints, and the procurement context. We come in with questions about your current Smartsheet usage (or lack of it), your reporting and compliance requirements, and any privacy or data-handling considerations specific to your agency. This conversation is free and carries no obligation.
Step 2 — Proposal and statement of work. We draft a formal proposal with scope, deliverables, hours, NTE pricing, and acceptance criteria. The document is structured around your agency's typical SOW conventions where we know them, or in our standard template otherwise. We work with your procurement office to confirm the right contract vehicle and structure.
Step 3 — Procurement through Carahsoft or SHI. Once scope is agreed, the procurement office processes the work through whichever vehicle fits. For Carahsoft engagements, the typical structure is Carahsoft as prime / Apex as subcontractor. For SHI, similar mechanics apply through their cooperative agreements. We provide the documentation your procurement office needs.
Step 4 — Kickoff and delivery. Once the PO is in place, we schedule kickoff and start the work. The same Apex consultants who scoped the engagement are the ones delivering it — no project handoffs, no losing context.
Typical timeline from first conversation to kickoff: 2–6 weeks depending on your agency's procurement velocity. We've worked through fast-track contract awards (under two weeks) and longer formal procurements (8–12 weeks). The vehicle you use largely determines the timeline.
Most Smartsheet partners offer one procurement path or none at all.
Many partners are commercial-only — they can't be procured through cooperative contracts at all, which means government buyers face a full RFP cycle to engage them. Others have a single relationship with Carahsoft or SHI, which works only if your agency happens to have that same relationship.
We carry both. That's deliberate. Federal civilian and DoD-adjacent buyers usually prefer Carahsoft. State agencies, K-12, and higher education frequently prefer SHI. Some buyers can use either; many are constrained to one. Having both means your existing procurement infrastructure determines the path — not ours.
Combined with our specialist focus on Smartsheet (we're not a generalist IT consultancy with a Smartsheet practice; Smartsheet is the only platform we work on), this makes us a uniquely accessible Smartsheet specialist for the public sector.
Whether you're already deep in Smartsheet or just exploring whether it's right for your organization — we'll listen first and tell you honestly what we'd recommend.
Pick a time that works. We'll come prepared with questions about your workflows and walk away with a clear next step.
Quick question, project scoping, or RFI? Drop us a line — submissions land directly in our Smartsheet, no black hole.