FAS | The Contracting Education Academy

April 29, 2020 By cs

Emergency acquisitions group at center of GSA’s coronavirus response

For the General Services Administration, the surge in contracting to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and now the fourth stimulus bill is business as usual.

Even with the activation of its emergency acquisitions group and new authorities, the Federal Acquisition Service is striking the balance between helping the Department of Health and Human Services, FEMA and other agencies, and pushing forward with key modernization initiatives.

Julie Dunne, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, said that contracting officers and other acquisition employees are meeting all the demands coming from multiple directions.

“I’ve heard from customers and other folks that GSA has not missed a beat in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. A lot of that is due to our telework capability and, in large part, the GSA IT shop has just been phenomenal,” Dunne said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Network. “Things we are seeing a lot of demand for, you won’t be surprised to hear, medical equipment, hand sanitizer and masks. We also are doing a lot in the IT world in terms of trying to support other agencies with telework capacity.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition/2020/04/emergency-acquisitions-group-at-center-of-gsas-coronavirus-response/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

March 2, 2020 By cs

Change is hard vs. real problems: The tale of the beta.sam.gov portal

In the three months since the General Services Administration transitioned to the beta.sam.gov portal for contract opportunities from the decades-old FedBizOpps.gov site, the raw numbers show concerns over the site have settled down.

The site has seen almost 900,000 visitors and 120,000 registered users since November. The number of calls to GSA’s help desk is at or below the levels that came in during the pre-transition time.

“We don’t get any more help desk calls or asks for intervention than we did with the legacy FBO. And the calls we do get are generally around two things: how to log in and do multi-factor authentication and the second is how to use the new search features because they look very different than the legacy site,” said Judith Zawatsky, assistant commissioner in the Office of Systems Management in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, in an interview with Federal News Network.

But if you dig deeper, particularly the folks who understand the inner workings of the new site, frustration and disappointment over the transition and functionality of beta.sam.gov continue.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/02/change-is-hard-vs-real-problems-the-tale-of-the-beta-sam-gov-portal/

February 12, 2020 By cs

GSA moves into phase two of its massive contract merger

The General Services administration has begun the process of altering current contracts under its Multiple Award Schedule program, as part of its ongoing initiative to take the 24 different schedules currently existing under the program and merge them into one, unified schedule.

The agency announced Jan. 31 that current schedule holders will receive notice of a “mass mod” to their contracts in the coming months, which will align their terms and conditions with the new, consolidated Multiple Award Schedule.

“We are planning for a smooth transition and federal agencies should experience no disruption to their purchasing practices during the mass mod,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Julie Dunne in a news release.

“There will be no change to contract numbers, which makes the transition less burdensome overall. And, we’ve been steadily training our contracting workforce to ensure a seamless transition. Soon, we’ll have just one Schedule, with a single set of terms and conditions, making it much easier to buy and offer complete solutions.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2020/01/31/gsa-moves-into-phase-two-of-its-massive-contract-merger/

November 25, 2019 By cs

GSA promises to figure out why transition from FedBizOpps struggled

We recently reported that the Nov. 12th migration of FedBizOpps to beta.SAM.gov did not go smoothly. In the following article, Federal News Network confirms that problems existed for at least three days and that the General Services Administration is trying to figure out why.

The General Services Administration’s migration of its FedBizOpps.gov website to its beta.sam.gov portal will not be remembered for its smooth transition.

The first three or so days were fraught with slow load times, infrastructure problems and a site that wasn’t ready for prime time.

Judith Zawatsky, the assistant commissioner in the Office of Systems Management in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said her office was not only prepared for the transition problems, but ensured the site rebounded quickly over the last week.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/it-modernization/2019/11/gsa-promises-to-figure-out-why-transition-from-fedbizopps-struggled/

October 11, 2019 By cs

GSA’s Thomas to leave as head of acquisition service

Alan Thomas, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, has resigned.

Multiple sources confirmed Thomas announced his decision Oct. 2nd.

“After more than two years of dedicated service leading the Federal Acquisition Service, Commissioner Alan Thomas is departing GSA to pursue a new opportunity in the private sector,” wrote GSA Administration Emily Murphy in an email to staff, which Federal News Network obtained. “I am very grateful to Alan for his commitment to our mission and the accomplishments achieved by the FAS team during his time here. “

Murphy said in her note that GSA senior advisor Julie Dunne has agreed to serve as acting FAS commissioner, beginning Oct. 15.

Thomas became FAS commissioner in June 2017 and immediately went to work on improving FAS around people, processes and technology.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/people/2019/10/gsas-thomas-to-leave-as-head-of-acquisition-service/

For the General Services Administration, the surge in contracting to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and now the fourth stimulus bill is business as usual.

In the three months since the General Services Administration transitioned to the beta.sam.gov portal for contract opportunities from the decades-old FedBizOpps.gov site, the raw numbers show concerns over the site have settled down.

The General Services administration has begun the process of altering current contracts under its Multiple Award Schedule program, as part of its ongoing initiative to take the 24 different schedules currently existing under the program and merge them into one, unified schedule.

We recently reported that the Nov. 12th migration of FedBizOpps to beta.SAM.gov did not go smoothly. In the following article, Federal News Network confirms that problems existed for at least three days and that the General Services Administration is trying to figure out why.

Alan Thomas, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, has resigned.

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