contract writing system | The Contracting Education Academy

June 23, 2020 By cs

GSA awards $7.5 million contract-writing system pilot as procurement modernization continues

The General Services Administration (GSA) took its first step toward launching a modernized agency-wide contract-writing system by awarding Sevatec a $7.5 million pilot phase task order.

Dubbed the Contract Acquisition Life-cycle Management (CALM) system, it will consolidate and standardize the Federal Acquisition Service‘s many internal processes and systems accounting for $60 billion in goods and services procured governmentwide annually.

CALM will also streamline suppliers’ ability to submit offers and manage contracts they’re awarded.

“CALM marks the beginning of a new era in agency-wide, end-to-end contract management and administration,” said Judith Zawatsky, assistant commissioner of the Office of Systems Management within FAS, in the announcement. “Our goal with CALM is to provide a comprehensive, flexible, scalable and highly configurable solution for all types of contract actions, from the simplest to the most complex.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/gsa-contract-writing-system-pilot/

August 20, 2019 By cs

GSA’s acquisition strategy for new contracting writing system surprises some vendors

A little over two weeks ago at an event hosted by AFFIRM, Alan Thomas, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration (GSA), promised to have the acquisition strategy for a new contract writing system completed in a week or so.

Thomas’ group delivered on that promise, but the decision to move the Contract Acquisition Life-Cycle Management (CALM) system under the yet-to-be awarded IT services procurement vehicle known as COMET may have been a bit surprising.

Industry sources, who all requested anonymity in order to talk about a procurement they may be bidding on, say while in many ways it makes sense to move CALM under COMET, it’s also a decision that should’ve come more than a month ago and is a little frustrating.

Industry sources say some companies were planning on bidding on the contract writing system that could be a proof-of-concept for one that is eventually offered governmentwide. But those same companies may not have bid on the CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation (COMET) vehicle, but would’ve if they had known about GSA’s plan to not issue CALM as a standalone procurement or through another existing vehicle like Alliant 2.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2019/08/gsas-acquisition-strategy-for-new-contracting-writing-system-surprises-some-vendors/

August 16, 2019 By AMK

The 4 cornerstones of government acquisition reform

The General Services Administration’s strategy for improving the federal marketplace in the coming years will rely on approximately 25 reforms, according to agency officials, but a handful of those will serve as the central points to shore up the rest of the strategy.

“We are trying to simplify the buying and selling process,” said Alan Thomas, commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, at a July 24 Association for Federal Information Resources Management event.

According to Thomas, four of those simplification initiatives will serve as cornerstones, meaning that they are central to and tied in with the success of the other “stones” around them:

Development of an enterprisewide contract writing system.
Managing catalog data.
Consolidating the Multiple Award Schedule program.
Progressing on a commercial platform initiative.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2019/07/24/government-acquisition-reform-to-rely-on-4-cornerstones/

August 14, 2019 By AMK

New HHS contract writing system testing more than an innovative technology approach

In early fiscal 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services will pilot its new contracting writing system called Accelerate.

HHS will work with a small group of contracting officers and industry to prove that using the cloud and blockchain technology is not only possible, but real.

Jose Arrieta, who is currently the chief information officer and was the acting deputy assistant secretary for grants, acquisition policy and accountability at HHS, said the agency has made a lot of progress since December when the Accelerate platform received the authority to operate.

The grants, acquisition policy and accountability office has been testing the ability of the system to take in actual data from the five contract writing systems HHS uses as well as the analytics for prices paid and terms and conditions and refining the microservices that they built to better communicate with program managers.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/ask-the-cio/2019/07/hhs-new-contract-writing-system-testing-more-than-an-innovative-technology-approach/

November 22, 2016 By AMK

GSA to offer cloud-based contract writing system next year

The General Services Administration (GSA) will offer a new service to federal agencies next year designed to speed up contract writing.

According to a blog post published on Nov. 15th, GSA will launch a cloud-based shared service contract-writing system that will “offer federal agencies a turnkey, comprehensive, contract writing and administrative solution.”

The commercial-off-the-shelf application will offer agencies an incentive to move away from standing up and maintaining their own contract writing systems, and its pay-as-you-go offers scalability and flexibility, according to GSA. In addition, high-volume users are eligible for tiered volume discounts through GSA’s buying power.

keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cloud-computing/2016/11/gsa-offer-cloud-based-contract-writing-system-next-year/133188

The General Services Administration (GSA) took its first step toward launching a modernized agency-wide contract-writing system by awarding Sevatec a $7.5 million pilot phase task order.

A little over two weeks ago at an event hosted by AFFIRM, Alan Thomas, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration (GSA), promised to have the acquisition strategy for a new contract writing system completed in a week or so.

The General Services Administration’s strategy for improving the federal marketplace in the coming years will rely on approximately 25 reforms, according to agency officials, but a handful of those will serve as the central points to shore up the rest of the strategy.

In early fiscal 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services will pilot its new contracting writing system called Accelerate.

The General Services Administration (GSA) will offer a new service to federal agencies next year designed to speed up contract writing.

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