FAS | The Contracting Education Academy

October 4, 2019 By cs

GSA finishes schedule consolidation on deadline

The General Services Administration hit its deadline to consolidate 24 acquisition schedules into one set of terms and conditions for products and services.

The Multiple Award Schedules Consolidation is the part of the agency’s Federal Marketplace Strategy intended to modernize acquisition for federal, state and local governments. GSA released the newly consolidated schedule solicitation Monday evening, Sept. 30, on FedBizOpps.

“This is an important first step toward our goal of simplifying the experience for customers, suppliers, and GSA’s acquisition workforce,” said Emily Murphy, GSA administrator, in the announcement.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/gsa-schedules-consolidation-complete/

October 3, 2019 By cs

Schedules consolidation: Congratulations — phase I and the end of the beginning!

Oct. 1st marked the beginning of a new era for the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program.

On that date, Phase I of MAS Consolidation will end with the issuance of a new, consolidated solicitation for the single schedule.

Phase I included a host of interrelated tasks necessary to develop a single solicitation covering the entire scope of the MAS program. Among the tasks to be accomplished were:

Reviewing every term and condition in each of the 24 solicitations;
Mapping duplicate Special Item Numbers (SINs) across current solicitations; and,
Using North American Industry Classification System codes to reduce the current 900 SINs on 24 schedules down to approximately 300 SINs on a single solicitation.

In addition, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service was tasked to use Category Management to reorganize offerings across the single solicitation.

The completion of these activities represents a significant step forward in shaping the 21st-century MAS program. They also represent just a part of the effort. For example, FAS has evolved systems updates to accommodate the issuance of the single solicitation. Likewise, GSA has recognized the importance of training and outreach to GSA acquisition staff, customer agencies, and industry partners in terms of promoting a successful consolidation.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2019/09/schedules-consolidation-congratulations-phase-i-and-the-end-of-the-beginning/

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/

The General Services Administration hit its deadline to consolidate 24 acquisition schedules into one set of terms and conditions for products and services.

Oct. 1st marked the beginning of a new era for the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule program.

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.

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