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The 5 trends likely to shape federal contracting in 2020

Government contracting trends that defined fiscal 2019, such as increases in “as a service” and IT consolidation, are likely to continue into FY20.

But several new programs and initiatives are likely to shape the contracting landscape in FY20.

A new report from contract analysts at Bloomberg Government released Jan. 7 broke down these areas likely to mold government contracting trends in 2020:

 

  1. Best-in-class: IT consolidation
  2. Multiple Award Schedule consolidation
  3. Government buying “as a service”
  4. Small-Business Runway Extension Act will begin affecting contracts
  5. Cybersecurity will become cost of doing business

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/cloud/2020/01/08/the-5-trends-likely-to-shape-federal-contracting-in-2020/

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GSA Schedule applicants now must demonstrate past performance through CPARS, customer references

The General Services Administration (GSA) no longer utilizes Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) reports to check the performance of companies wishing to sell to the federal government through the multiple award schedules (MAS) program.

Use of the D&B reports — known as Open Ratings Past Performance Evaluations — was discontinued in December.

MAS offerors now demonstrate their performance records through one of two means:

  1. Verifying in their eOffer submittal that they have three or more CPARS assessment reports that meet the solicitation criteria, or
  2. Submitting a past performance narrative and list of customer references as outlined in the solicitation.

If the offeror uses the second option, GSA will contact each customer reference and request they complete a past performance questionnaire.   A copy of the questionnaire can be downloaded here: GSA MAS Past Performance Questionnaire.

Source: https://interact.gsa.gov/document/open-ratings-retirement-and-past-performance-requirements-new-mas-offerors

 

 

 

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Federal contracting moves that will ripple beyond 2019

The past year has been long and significant in just about every respect, and government contracting is no exception.

The year was defined by one big, controversial procurement; the ongoing shift to buy more IT products and services through the General Services Administration; that agency’s consolidation of its major contracts on the Multiple Award Schedules; and a new cybersecurity standard that has the defense contracting community holding its breath.

Before 2019 comes to a close, Nextgov spoke with federal contracting experts Chris Cornillie, federal technology market analyst for Bloomberg Government, and analysts at The Pulse of GovCon, a market intelligence firm.

Top of mind for Cornillie was arguably the biggest contract — and upset — of the year.  The Defense Department’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract is projected to be worth up to $10 billion over up to 10 years, as a single provider builds a “war cloud” for use across the services.

The Defense Department started the JEDI contract two years ago, a process stretched out further by bid protests and lawsuits. Constant drama surrounded this contract—including a salacious dossier, a last-minute recusal from the secretary of defense and statements from the president—and the award announcement was no exception.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/12/federal-contracting-moves-will-ripple-beyond-2019/162025/

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GSA takes first major step in schedules consolidation journey

The General Services Administration has taken the first major step in consolidating its 24 different schedules into one consolidated offering, checking off phase one of its overhaul of the Multiple Award Schedules program, and outlining deliverables for the second and final stages next year.

In phase one of the consolidation, GSA completed a review of the schedule contracts and reduced about two-thirds of the number of Special Item Numbers (SINs) as part of a move to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Phase one of the consolidation will only impact vendors who are applying for a schedule for the first time. But for phases two and three, which will take place next year, GSA is working with industry partners to ease the transition for current schedule holders.

Stephanie Shutt, director of GSA’s Multiple Awards Schedules (MAS) Program Office, said the rise of duplicative schedules led to industry partners getting onto multiple contracts in the same program and offering the same products in multiple places.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition/2019/10/gsa-takes-first-major-step-in-schedules-consolidation-journey/

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It’s finally here: GSA’s new consolidated schedule

On Oct. 1, the General Services Administration published a much-anticipated solicitation that will begin to merge 24 multiple-award schedules into a single contracting vehicle to streamline acquisition operations and make it easier for companies to do business with the federal government.

The consolidation will occur in phases through fiscal year 2020. Initially, only new contracts will be put on the consolidated schedule. GSA said agencies, which purchase about $31 billion in goods and services every year through the schedules, should not experience disruptions in their purchasing during the transition.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure our new terms and conditions will meet the needs of our customers, and also streamline and eliminate duplicate contracts,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Alan Thomas in a press release. “[Multiple award schedule] consolidation is a triple win—good for federal agencies, industry partners and our acquisition workforce.”

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, said the new schedule will “change the market dynamics a little bit for the companies” because they will have to separate themselves from other competition. However, his members are overall “very pleased” with consolidating the schedules, he said.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2019/10/gsa-released-consolidated-schedule-solicitation/160290/

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