GWAC | The Contracting Education Academy

March 5, 2019 By AMK

Should ICE use GSA Schedules for agile development — or go its own way?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials say the agency has been doing well adopting agile development practices and wants to keep that going once its current suite of contracts expire.

The big question: Should ICE follow Homeland Security Department headquarters in looking to pre-established contracts through the General Services Administration or build its own vehicle?

ICE has been contracting for its agile development needs with vendors off of Homeland Security’s Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions, or EAGLE II. When that vehicle expires in 2020, ICE will need a new pool of vendors.

In December, DHS Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa announced the third iteration of EAGLE, dubbed EAGLE Next Gen, will be more of a strategy than a contract. Correa told Homeland Security components once EAGLE II expires, the agency will push offices toward using six governmentwide acquisition contracts, or GWACS: GSA’s Alliant 2 and Alliant 2 Small Business, 8(a) STARS II and VETS 2, and the National Institutes of Health’s CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business.

However, Correa also left additional options open, including specific contracts for unique mission areas.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/02/should-ice-use-gsa-schedules-agile-development-or-go-its-own-way/155145/

February 13, 2019 By AMK

HHS’ new emerging tech contract could one day compete with other GWACs

A shared services acquisition office at Health and Human Services Department is building a contract vehicle for emerging technologies that it hopes one day will be able to compete with other massive contracts in the governmentwide acquisition contract, or GWAC, space.

The department’s Program Support Center is in the process of soliciting bids for its new Intelligence Automation/Artificial Intelligence, or IAAI, contract, a vehicle the agency expects will generate up to $49 million over five years.

Initially, the contract will be available to HHS components looking for cutting-edge technologies. But program officials have much bigger designs for the vehicle.

“We’re hoping to get a very large number of vendors who can provide that catalog of services, not just for me at Buy Smarter, but the contract is designed so we can buy and scale across HHS and, potentially, across the government space,” Lori Ruderman, who leads the HHS Buy Smarter initiative and is a senior adviser at the Program Support Center, said Tuesday during a panel discussion at the AFCEA Bethesda Health IT Summit.

“This is a foundational contract,” she continued. “Ultimately, they want to establish a GWAC, a much larger vehicle. This is just a jumping off point.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/01/hhs-new-emerging-tech-contract-could-one-day-compete-other-gwacs/154557/

December 24, 2018 By AMK

DHS turns to existing GSA, NIH contracts to (mostly) replace EAGLE

As with a number of major IT vehicles this year, the Homeland Security Department is tossing out plans to recompete a central IT services contract and is instead opting to rely on governmentwide acquisition contracts beginning early next year.

Rather than recompete the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions, or EAGLE II, for a third generation, Homeland Security officials announced last week a transition to a broader acquisition strategy they’re calling EAGLE Next Gen. The strategy will tap a set of existing contracts to build a suite of IT services offerings for use across the department. Homeland Security officials also expect to compete targeted contracts to supplement niche mission needs.

In a determination made Dec. 17, Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa said as of Feb. 4, Homeland Security components will purchase IT services off of six GWACs managed by the General Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health: GSA’s Alliant 2 and Alliant 2 Small Business, 8(a) STARS II, VETS 2, and NIH’s CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/12/dhs-turns-existing-gsa-nih-contracts-mostly-replace-eagle/153731/

August 13, 2018 By AMK

How will the FY 2019 NDAA affect government procurement?

Following the Senate’s recent passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we are rapidly approaching the finish line for this critical piece of legislation.

With the filing two weeks ago of the Conference Report, H. Rept. 115-863, which embodies the agreement between the Senate and the House, it appears likely that a compromise bill will go forward to the President shortly.

The NDAA contains a number of provisions that would reform the procurement process, several of which, are the focus here.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/commentary/2018/07/an-update-on-the-fy-2019-ndaa/

August 10, 2018 By AMK

Death knell for using LPTA for services and other acquisition highlights in the NDAA

Every year the Defense Authorization bill is filled with golden nuggets of little noticed provisions that make a big impact on the federal acquisition community.

This year they range from a strong focus on making it easier for agencies to buy commercial items to mixed messages around the use of other transaction agreements to the ever increasing concerns about too many bid protests.

This is, by far, not a comprehensive list, but several that most federal and contractor employees interested in acquisition should know about.

The House passed the NDAA on July 26. The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week. House and Senate conferees agreed to the bill on July 23, clearing the way to passage.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2018/07/the-death-knell-for-using-lpta-for-services-and-other-acquisition-highlights-in-the-ndaa/

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials say the agency has been doing well adopting agile development practices and wants to keep that going once its current suite of contracts expire.

A shared services acquisition office at Health and Human Services Department is building a contract vehicle for emerging technologies that it hopes one day will be able to compete with other massive contracts in the governmentwide acquisition contract, or GWAC, space.

As with a number of major IT vehicles this year, the Homeland Security Department is tossing out plans to recompete a central IT services contract and is instead opting to rely on governmentwide acquisition contracts beginning early next year.

Following the Senate’s recent passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we are rapidly approaching the finish line for this critical piece of legislation.

Every year the Defense Authorization bill is filled with golden nuggets of little noticed provisions that make a big impact on the federal acquisition community.

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