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June 13, 2019 By AMK

Federal online shopping platform coming soon – GSA to issue prototype RFP within the year

In the latest step towards delivering on the long-promised “Procurement Through Commercial e-Commerce Portals” program, the General Services Administration has announced plans to build a proof-of-concept for federal online shopping, aiming to issue an RFP by the end of the year for web-based acquisition platforms.

According to GSA’s notice, the platforms will be based on an “e-marketplace” model — one that connects federal customers to a range of competing vendors, similar to online shopping websites in the private sector.  These “e-commerce portals” will carry “routine commercial items found on today’s commercial e-commerce platforms (with office supplies and industrial products being amongst the most common)[.]”  Purchases will be limited to the micro-purchase level, which is currently set at $10,000.

The agency expects to award multiple prototype contracts, and it indicated that further proof-of-concept contracts may be needed to test other online purchasing models.  These other purchasing models include an “e-commerce model,” under which each portal provider would serve as the seller of goods, and an “e-procurement model,” under which the acquiring agency would manage the platform using software supplied by a contractor to facilitate sales through multiple vendors.  On this point, GSA explained that “the one model that best fits GSA’s priorities for an initial proof of concept is the e-marketplace model.”

Keep reading article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2019/05/federal-online-shopping-platform-coming-soon-gsa-to-issue-prototype-rfp-within-the-year/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Congress, e-commerce, e-marketplace, e-procurement, GSA, micro purchase, NDAA, private sector, procurement, prototype, regulation, RFP, Section 846

March 20, 2018 By AMK

GSA wants e-commerce portal up and running by 2020

The General Services Administration on Friday released the final plans for building a governmentwide e-commerce portal that would make buying commercial products easier and faster for federal agencies.

In the proposal, GSA and the Office of Management and Budget detailed the timeline for rolling out the platform. The agencies also called on Congress to make a handful of legislative changes to open the door for online federal purchasing. Agencies would ultimately use the portals to buy products from pens and pencils to potentially more complex items, like mobile devices or other technologies.

“This opportunity to increase competition and improve transparency in the acquisition process can greatly reduce the burden the current processes place on both our acquisition workforce and industry partners,” GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said in a statement.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/03/gsa-wants-get-e-commerce-portal-and-running-2020/146742/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, e-commerce, e-procurement, GSA, procurement reform

June 26, 2017 By AMK

Report shows procurement staffs overworked, impacting competition

“With a noticeable decline in performance since the last survey, state and local government procurement is facing some difficult challenges that may result in unwanted consequences for both buyers and sellers.”

That’s a conclusion drawn from a survey conducted by government business intelligence company Onvia, in a report released last week.

The report shows a 5% decline in performance on the part of procurement officials working for state, local and educational (SLED) institutions of government.  And the decline in performance is occurring in spite of 40% of the survey respondents stating that they are working longer hours than ever.

In the report SLED buyers complain that they:

  • Do not have adequate time to conduct market research and prepare adequate bid invitations and requests for proposals.
  • Lack staffing resources in the procurement function, and
  • Face challenges working with end-users and stakeholders.

To better understand the government contracting environment, Onvia surveyed 668 procurement professionals and key decision-makers from state, county and city agencies, plus school and special districts nationwide.   59% of the survey respondents said they operate in a decentralized acquisition environment.

Another report – conducted by IHS Global Insight – documents a 3.4% increase in state and local agency current spending levels.  That’s consistent with what 39% of procurement staff surveyed by Onvia said.  They predict 4% growth in bid volume in the next 12 months.  There’s little doubt this is linked to the recent surge in demand for infrastructure bids stemming from the $200 billion in tax initiatives for these projects approved by voters nationwide last November.

In addition to 24.8% of the respondents saying that they are challenged by conducting pre-bid research and planning, SLED procurement personnel say their top challenges are:

  • Meeting regulatory, contracting guidelines and rules (18.1%),
  • Dealing with workload and staffing limitations (17.8%), and
  • Working with stakeholders and end-users (15.8%).

Given these conditions, it’s no surprise that the next top-ranked challenge faced by buyers (14.9%) is “getting enough participation from vendors.”   Four out of ten agency respondents indicate that they are failing to attract enough interest among vendors and contractors to their competitive solicitations.  The frustration and inefficiencies within agencies, the report notes, “have negative impacts on the experience of bidders as they compete for work and interact with those involved in the purchase decision.”

The report also documents an 8% decline in the agility of purchasing organizations in the last 12 months.  Agility is measured in terms of factors such as wait times for processing bids and making award decisions.

In addition, only 69% of agency staff rate themselves as high or above average in friendly, responsive customer service – down 9% from last year.

Perhaps most troubling, over the last year there was a 6% decline in the percentage of procurement staff reporting above-average or high levels of integrity and transparency (83% down to 77%).

Among the conclusions and observations offered by Onvia are:

  • “Attracting attention from bidders is not simply a function of agency and contract size. [There is] a strong case for investing in the procurement function itself within an agency, with the goal of providing the most effective buying services.
  • “Government that provides a more fair, consistent, timely and smooth buying process can attract attention from established bidders that have options on where to focus their marketing efforts and may not have time to bid on every deal.”

The report also contains information about the use of purchasing co-ops and the use of e-procurement systems.  To download a copy of the full report, free of charge, visit: https://www.onvia.com/market-research/surveys/survey-government-procurement-professionals-2017

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, competition, cooperative purchasing, customer service, e-procurement, government reform, market research, Onvia, procurement integrity, procurement reform, SLED, state and local government, training resources, transparency, workload

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