FAS | The Contracting Education Academy

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

Move away from ‘worst website in government’ delayed for fourth time

Do you remember the movie Major League and the way the baseball team’s skipper motivated his squad to win more games?

For every win, he removed a piece of paper on a poster that eventually revealed the team owner in a skimpy outfit.

Maybe it’s an approach the General Services Administration can use for its System for Award Management or SAM.gov site. While I don’t believe GSA employees need to be motivated by a revealing photo of any person, maybe the staff and senior leaders could use a similar tactic. Think about a countdown clock or maybe Alan Thomas, the Federal Acquisition Service’s commissioner, could offer to grow a mustache and Elvis side burns to give the group a little kick in the pants to decommission more of these legacy sites in favor of the beta.SAM.gov site more quickly.

A little more motivation is needed because of continued problems with SAM.gov and the news that the transition away from the WORST WEBSITE IN GOVERNMENT will be delayed for a fourth time to mid-November.

The latest problem with SAM.gov is around vendors getting or renewing a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code. This is a five-digit number that only federal contractors need to do business with agencies. It provides a standardized method of identifying a given legal entity at a specific location.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2019/07/move-away-from-worst-website-in-government-delayed-for-fourth-time/

March 8, 2019 By AMK

GSA details ‘rapid changes’ underway for acquisition

Officials from the General Services Administration’s procurement arm recently outlined plans to streamline the agency’s internal operations, including better use of data, boosting systems efficiencies and process reforms.

Crystal Philcox, assistant commissioner of enterprise strategy management for the Federal Acquisition Service, said at an ACT-IAC session that GSA continues to implement its “Federal Marketplace” strategy, a broad agency-wide plan to make acquisition more efficient and user-friendly for stakeholders.

“This strategy is really focused on experience,” she said. “I am pulling in as many things as I can find at GSA that have to do with improving the experience of interacting with the agency, for both buyers and suppliers.”

The strategy includes ongoing projects like GSA’s schedules consolidation and its e-commerce portals, but will also delve into other arenas like overhauling its contract-writing systems and crafting product offerings catalogs for customers.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/fas-officials-detail-rapid-changes-underway-service/

March 4, 2019 By AMK

IBM to support operation, migration on 2 GSA contract data systems

IBM will operate and maintain two online contracting data repositories under the purview of the General Services Administration (GSA) as part of a $24.5M contract from the agency.

GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service said in a FedBizOpps notice posted last Wednesday that IBM will help manage the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and the System for Award Management (SAM) as well as migrate data and functionality to an updated version of the SAM system.

Source: https://www.govconwire.com/2019/02/ibm-to-support-operation-migration-on-two-gsa-contracting-data-systems/

December 6, 2018 By AMK

IG shines light on GSA’s major management challenges

The General Services Administration faces significant management challenges — including recovering costs and filling critical positions — as it attempts to become the government’s “premier provider of efficient and effective acquisition,” according to the agency’s inspector general.

The agency’s many initiatives to improve procurement have left customers trying to use tools that don’t work and facing delays in critical projects like the transition of agency telecommunications to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract.

These and other management and performance challenges were identified by the GSA Office of Inspector General in a report released Monday.

The agency reported a net loss of $8 million in 2017 to its Acquisition Services Fund, a revolving fund that is supposed to cover costs and operating expenses of the Federal Acquisition Service’s business units, including the Office of Information Technology Category and the Technology Transformation Services. To better review expenses and billable work, the agency shifted TTS and the tech group 18F in 2017 under FAS after previous reports that 18F wouldn’t be in the black until at best fiscal 2018.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/12/ig-shines-light-gsas-major-management-challenges/153256/

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.

Do you remember the movie Major League and the way the baseball team’s skipper motivated his squad to win more games?

Officials from the General Services Administration’s procurement arm recently outlined plans to streamline the agency’s internal operations, including better use of data, boosting systems efficiencies and process reforms.

IBM will operate and maintain two online contracting data repositories under the purview of the General Services Administration (GSA) as part of a $24.5M contract from the agency.

The General Services Administration faces significant management challenges — including recovering costs and filling critical positions — as it attempts to become the government’s “premier provider of efficient and effective acquisition,” according to the agency’s inspector general.

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