extension | The Contracting Education Academy

August 31, 2018 By AMK

GSA mulls recompete of SAM.gov contract

The General Services Administration granted IBM a six-month $16 million extension on its contract to operate and modernize the SAM.gov system as the agency considers whether to put the business up for bidding.

The extension was announced in a contracting document dated Aug. 13 that cited an urgent need to keep IBM on the job while the agency explores the possibility of a competitive offering.

IBM has held the System for Award Management Architecture and Operations Contract Services contract for eight years, and it is leading the effort to modernize the system of systems that government agencies and vendors use to manage hundreds of billions in government contracts annually.

IBM’s contract expired Aug. 14. GSA had intended to award IBM another long-term deal, but according to contracting documents, that move was overturned because of a ruling that more market research needs to be conducted to support a decision to justify a sole source award.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2018/08/23/gsa-sam-recompete.aspx

January 22, 2018 By AMK

Thousands of federal workers in limbo as shutdown drags on

Lawmakers on Sunday (Jan. 21) appeared far from reaching a budget compromise that would allow federal agencies to return to normal operations on Monday following a funding lapse that took effect at midnight Friday.

As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., put it: “This shutdown is gonna get a lot worse tomorrow.”

While Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the standoff, the shutdown that began Saturday is the first to take place during one-party control of Congress and the White House.

The House passed a temporary funding bill on Friday along party lines that would have continued funding through Feb. 16, but that measure was rejected by the Senate where the Republicans hold a narrow majority and need 60 votes for passage. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the House would accept a bill that extends funding through Feb. 8 to give lawmakers more time to reach a permanent agreement, and senators spent Sunday trying to work out a compromise. McConnell scheduled a vote for 1 a.m. Monday if Democrats wouldn’t agree to a vote sooner; by mid-afternoon the prospects appeared dim.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2018/01/thousands-federal-workers-limbo-shutdown-drags/145351

February 17, 2016 By AMK

Army improperly extended contracts, GAO says

The Army improperly used FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services) to extend several contracts for periods much longer than the six-month maximum allowed by the clause.

This conclusion comes from a recent GAO study, in which the GAO determined that the Army improperly applied FAR 52.217-8 in three out of five contracts studied by the GAO. And although the GAO’s report was narrowly focused on a handful of Army contracts, it leads me to wonder whether FAR 52.217-8 is being improperly used on a much broader scale.

The GAO’s study builds on an October 2015 report, in which the GAO concluded that agencies had improperly used bridge contracts in a number of instances. In its follow-up study, the GAO analyzed five contracts awarded by the Army Contracting Command’s Redstone Arsenal.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/statutes-and-regulations/army-improperly-extended-contracts-gao-says/

The General Services Administration granted IBM a six-month $16 million extension on its contract to operate and modernize the SAM.gov system as the agency considers whether to put the business up for bidding.

Lawmakers on Sunday (Jan. 21) appeared far from reaching a budget compromise that would allow federal agencies to return to normal operations on Monday following a funding lapse that took effect at midnight Friday.

The Army improperly used FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services) to extend several contracts for periods much longer than the six-month maximum allowed by the clause.

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