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Complaints continue as GSA moves forward with beta.SAM.gov

The General Services Administration (GSA) is trying to address problems with the contract opportunity portion of the new beta.SAM.gov website and has added some functions that industry has been complaining about.

Complaining actually might be too weak a word. Howls from industry have been fierce since GSA shut down the old FBO.gov and migrated contract opportunity data to beta.SAM.gov.

Many functions and ease of use that FBO.gov offered have disappeared and users have been vocal about their displeasure.

GSA has addressed some of those. For example, users of beta.SAM.gov can now search by solicitation number. But other legacy functions are still missing, such as email alerts for tracked procurements.

GSA promises that email alerts are under development.  No word yet on when it will be added.

Keep reading this article at: https://washingtontechnology.com/blogs/editors-notebook/2019/12/beta-sam-gsa-notes.aspx

See our earlier articles on this subject at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/?s=beta

See GSA memo regarding transition of FBO.gov to beta.sam.gov at: FBO Has Transitioned to Beta 2

Hints for using the new Contract Opportunities function in beta.SAM.gov are here: https://interact.gsa.gov/blog/helpful-hints-new-contract-opportunities-function-betasamgov-how-use-search-filters

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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/

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FBO no mo’

Today, beta.SAM.gov became the official source for federal business opportunities, replacing FBO.gov. 
This is the message visitors now see at FBO.gov.

FBO, which stood for Federal Business Opportunities (or the shortened term FedBizOpps), contained a list of virtually every federal contract valued at more than $25,000.  These contracts can now be found in the “Contract Opportunities” section of beta.SAM.gov.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is in charge of beta.SAM.gov.  GSA’s vision for the merged databases is “a ‘family tree’ that organizes federal government users and establishes relationships between each department/independent agency’s sub-tiers and its offices.”

Visitors who attempt to go to FBO.gov are automatically rerouted to fbohome.sam.gov which provides notice that FBO has moved.

In visiting the new site today, we encountered long delays in connecting to beta.SAM.gov as well as to its Contract Opportunities page at beta.sam.gov/help/contract-opportunities.  Users encountered similar delays when GSA last month moved the FARSite operated since 1996 by Hill Air Force Base to GSA-managed Acquisition.gov.   Because of high traffic, GSA had to delay the transition from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21.

Links on beta.SAM.gov appear to be working, but users will experience delays in moving from one page to another and in downloading documents.  Notably, we had to make multiple attempts to open the “FBO Transition Guide for Federal Administrators.”   The Guide provides instructions to federal officials on how to post contract opportunities and related information to beta.SAM.gov.  We encountered similar delays when trying to open various “Quick Start” guides.

The shift of FBO.gov to beta.SAM.gov is part of a larger merger of many legacy systems into one database.  Previously, “Wage Determinations Online” and the “Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance” were shifted into beta.SAM.gov.

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Not everyone will be posting opportunities to the FedBizOpps replacement

Shifting to a new platform with new data structures is difficult, and not all contracting offices will be able to make the change by Nov. 12.

After Veterans Day weekend, federal agencies will no longer be able to post their procurements to Federal Business Opportunities, or FBO.gov, as the General Services Administration migrates those capabilities to a tab under beta.SAM.gov. Not every agency will transition immediately.

At least one contracting office, the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters office, won’t be posting to the Contract Opportunities page on SAM. The office posted an announcement Thursday on its own procurement site, FAA Contract Opportunities, telling vendors to check that site going forward.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/11/not-everyone-will-be-posting-opportunities-fedbizopps-replacement/161027/

Fact sheet on FBO transition to beta.SAM available here: FedBizOpps To Become ‘Contract Opportunities’ in SAM.gov

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FedBizOpps to merge with SAM.gov before year’s end

The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that FedBizOpps.gov will migrate to a new SAM.gov site as early as the first quarter of FY20.

All totalled, as many as 10 GSA-managed websites are expected to be merged into SAM.gov by the end of 2019.

In addition to FedBizOpps and the existing SAM site, the other websites to be consolidated are: the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Wage Determinations Online (WDOL), Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS), the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), and contractor past performance databases Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), Contractor Performance Assessment Reports System (CPARS), and the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS).

Once made a part of SAM.gov, FedBizOpps will be identified as “Contract Opportunities.”  A full description of the changes to be made to FedBizOpps, including new features to be introduced once the transition to SAM.gov is complete, appears in a fact sheet issued by GSA.  The fact sheet can be found here: FedBizOpps To Become ‘Contract Opportunities’ in SAM.gov

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