blanket purchase agreements | The Contracting Education Academy

October 24, 2018 By AMK

FBI drops full and open competition for $5 billion IT recompete

The competitive pool for the FBI’s $5 billion IT commodity and services contract has been shrinking throughout the year and recently got even smaller.

Rather than hold a full and open competition for spots on the Information Technology Supplies and Support Services contract, also known as ITSSS or IT Triple-S, the bureau announced that spots will be awarded to vendors that already hold contracts on the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70.

Bureau contracting officials have been scaling back the contract as they’ve gathered market research through requests for information and industry days. After initial rumors the contract would be split into multiple parts for services like cloud computing and cybersecurity, the bureau announced in April that ITSSS would remain a single contract made up of multiple tracks.

The track structure remains in the latest revision, however, the blanket purchase agreement will now only include vendors with pre-vetted tools and services being offered on Schedule 70, further narrowing the competitive pool.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/10/fbi-drops-full-and-open-competition-5-billion-it-recompete/152031/

June 7, 2016 By AMK

Homeland Security wants its own contract vehicle for agile services

The Homeland Security Department wants to jump on the agile bandwagon for its mobile and Web applications.

DHS eventually wants to award one agencywide contract to a business that can provide digital design and development, according to the department. For now, it’s gathering information on the best way to award contracts for “agile services,” which use a project management process that breaks large technology projects into smaller sprints.

The request for information about agile services comes a few months after the General Services Administration awarded 17 vendors a spot on its own agile blanket purchase agreement — a pre-approved list of businesses qualified to provide digital development services to other agencies.

Other agencies and departments are not required to use GSA’s agile BPA, which has been halted at least twice by protests from vendors not chosen to be on it.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2016/05/dhs-wants-its-own-contract-vehicle-agile-services/128644

January 21, 2015 By AMK

GSA aims to shorten software acquisition cycle with Agile Delivery Services BPA

The General Services Administration is seeking feedback from industry and government stakeholders on a proposed blanket purchase agreement that would feature vendors who specialize in Agile Delivery Services, or the development of software through a faster, more interactive acquisition process.

“The goal of the proposed BPA is to decrease software acquisition cycles to less than four weeks (from solicitation to contract) and expedite the delivery of a minimum viable product (MVP) within three months or less,” writes Angela Bumbrey, program analyst for advertising and marketing at GSA, in a recent post on the agency’s blog.

GSA’s 18F, the agency’s digital innovation lab, and GSA’s Office of Integrated Technology Services are collaborating on the establishment of the BPA.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/gsa-aims-shorten-software-acquisition-cycle-agile-delivery-services-bpa/2015-01-08

March 28, 2014 By AMK

Major departments seek continuous monitoring acquisition independence from DHS

Some federal agencies are choosing to buy continuous monitoring tools independently of the Homeland Security Department’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program despite forfeiting DHS procurement money for those tools when doing so.

Those agencies have sought and received a “delegation of procurement authority” from the CDM program. That means they are able to use the blanket purchase agreements for security tools set up by GSA for the CDM program. But, if they exercise the delegation by buying tools themselves rather than through program office, they do it “with their own money,” said Jim Piché, a GSA acquisition manager newly appointed to overseeing the blanket purchase agreements.

A GSA spokeswoman said the agency won’t release a list of the agencies that received a delegation.Piché spoke Wednesday during a Washington, D.C. industry-sponsored panel on the program.

An industry source says agencies with a delegation include the departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Justice and Veterans Affairs.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/major-departments-seek-continuous-monitoring-acquisition-independence-dhs/2014-03-19

August 12, 2013 By AMK

GSA’s FAS commissioner wants expanded role

Five months in as the Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner, Tom Sharpe has a pretty good idea of how he’d like to transform FAS.

Sharpe is advocating for the General Services Administration’s FAS to be the main source of contracting for every agency for everything from technology to automobiles to janitorial services.

Sharpe said he believes the business case for FAS to take over a lot of contracting for the government is strong because GSA can offer better value and better quality and can contract less expensively.

“First and foremost, it’s a faster process. We’ve gone ahead and done some research that using the Federal Supply Schedules, when you are going to do a sourcing and pricing event in any event, it’s up to 50 percent faster,” Sharpe said Tuesday at an event sponsored by AFFIRM in Washington. “How do I know that? We’ve collected the CFO Act agencies’ own internally advertised procurement lead times. So, the actual lead times they’ve published internally to their customers’ document that it’s up to 50 percent faster if you are doing a sourcing and pricing event. In any case, it’s a faster process.”

Sharpe said on top of GSA’s own speed, agencies should consider acquisition assistance during these times of employee furloughs and budget reductions.

Because FAS is a fee-for-service agency, employees are not facing furloughs.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=445&sid=3393950&pid=0&page=1

The competitive pool for the FBI’s $5 billion IT commodity and services contract has been shrinking throughout the year and recently got even smaller.

The Homeland Security Department wants to jump on the agile bandwagon for its mobile and Web applications.

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