Now that the launch of Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) is just around the corner, some recent Network Services updates will benefit both federal agencies and telecom suppliers.
In July, we unified 11 Regional Network Service programs and one program office into a single national Network Services program.
In the past, GSA’s regional and national network services’ offices provided separate solutions — regional programs provided local telecom services and the national program office provided long-distance telecom services to agencies. Each region managed regional-based contracts with different fees that provided similar services. Agencies made buying decisions geographically and GSA provided local personnel in each region to support local and long-distance ordering and service delivery.
This made sense when lines between ordering local service and long-distance service were more distinct, but it’s not true today.
Now, our agency customers will have one person to go to for their regional and long-distance (wide-area network) telecommunications.
What to Expect Going Forward
Service delivery representatives have begun to reach out to agency customers to provide guidance on local service ordering. You will see:
- A standard single fee for local service
- One mailbox for service requests (tsr@gsa.gov) and one for trouble reporting (fas.phonehelp@gsa.gov)
- No more regional boundaries for Network Services
- No more service delivery inconsistencies across the program
- Consolidated order writing and billing departments means a central group will help you with any billing/inventory questions or disputes
- One group of pricing and technical experts will help gather agency requirements
- Beginning in FY 2017, consolidated agency-facing website and operational budget
When EIS is awarded, agencies and suppliers will also have:
- Fewer contracts to manage
- Easier-to-understand offerings, with a streamlined acquisitions portfolio
- One portfolio of contracts with
- consistent offerings and pricing,
- transparent fee structures,
- a deeper field of technical expertise,
- consolidated operations, and
- standard procedures
New EIS Transition Website
At the same time we’re realigning, another big priority remains transition planning to move services to EIS. The EIS transition must be complete by May 2020.
To meet this deadline, we need you to be working now on EIS transition planning.
To help you with this effort, we have:
- Launched a new EIS Transition website for agencies and industry. Please use the site regularly for resources, help with transition, Statement of Work (SOW) creation, and important resources, including Access Your Transition Inventory
- Produced an EIS Transition Handbook, available from both the EIS Transition website or the EIS Interact community
What You Can Do Now
With realignment off and running, and transition planning in full swing, here’s what you can do:
- Stay tuned for your new local ordering instructions
- Work with your GSA customer service representative
- Submit telecom service requests to tsr@gsa.gov
- Send telecom trouble reporting to fas.phonehelp@gsa.gov
- Confirm your agency’s telecom inventory now and have the agency EIS transition plan completed and to GSA by October 2016
Once GSA awards EIS, federal agencies will begin to issue task and service orders and start moving telecom services to EIS starting in early 2017.
If you need assistance or have any questions about agency transition, please email ITCSC@gsa.gov or call (855) 482-4348.
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