Category: IT Services

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Interested in how MEGABYTE impacts you? We can help

With annual spend of over $6 billion through more than 42,000 separate transactions, software represents a significant IT investment for the Federal Government. Detailed findings published in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that the vast majority of these purchases are decentralized, and that federal agencies lack the tools to manage these assets.

As a result, 2016 has been a busy year for federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Category Managers, and Software Asset Managers tasked with addressing federal mandates. I’m proud to say that my team has been working hard to help ease this process for agencies.

Getting a Handle on Software

On June 2, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Category Management Policy 16-1 requiring each federal agency to employ a centralized software license management strategy and provide skilled personnel to maintain it. In addition, agencies must now collect software inventories and analyze/report cost savings attributable to their newly deployed strategies.

Piggybacking on the framework established by OMB’s memo, President Obama signed the Making Electronic Government Accountable by Yielding Tangible Efficiencies (MEGABYTE) Act into Public Law this July. MEGABYTE sets forth an official directive requiring Executive Agency CIOs to comply with the terms of the OMB memo.

GSA Is Your Resource

The MEGABYTE Act empowers agency CIOs to manage their IT infrastructure and perform Software Category Management. The successful outcome of both activities is substantial savings and cost avoidance, which can be re-invested in IT modernization efforts.

With this goal in mind, the Enterprise Software Category Team (ESCT)—consisting of GSA’s IT Software Category, OMB, and Department of Defense-Enterprise Software Initiative (DOD-ESI)—is providing assistance to agency software license managers on where to start.

The IT Software Category currently leverages experts (from industry and government) in Enterprise Software Licensing, software asset management, strategic sourcing, and category management to assist our agencies in developing and implementing MEGABYTE. We do this by hosting weekly information sharing and collaboration sessions where software license managers from the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Council agencies meet to discuss their progress in:

  • tracking and capturing savings;
  • software centralization efforts;
  • strategic vendor management; and
  • collecting accurate software inventory data.

Since early September 2016, the ESCT has hosted nine working sessions with representatives from 28 separate agencies (including the CFO Council agencies, and four sub-agencies). Outcomes of these working sessions have yielded tools and templates for vendor management planning, software centralization, cost savings analysis, and software asset management automated tool set functionality.

Next Steps

As the weekly working sessions wind down, GSA will continue to collaborate with the federal software community. Our goal is to successfully position agencies in their quest for effective software license management through:

  • A Community of Practice Portal accessible by registered federal software license managers to share success stories and lessons learned;
  • A Software Asset Management Website providing updates on federal progress, industry resources, policy guidance, and technology advancements; and
  • Periodic Webinars related to steady-state software license management best practices

GSA continues its development of the Software License Management as a Service program, which will enable agencies to acquire the tools and services they need for effective software license management.

Currently, the program is piloting the service with Nuclear Regulatory Commission, GSA IT and the Office of Personnel Management. Each pilot is focused on different aspects of License Management to include governance and procedure development, SAM toolset integration and current-state ITAM gap analysis.

To learn more, please visit www.gsa.gov/software and join our community on the Acquisition Gateway.

Also, please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITC and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

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IT Solutions Navigator Gets a New Look

Our team here at GSA’s Integrated Technology Services (ITS) continuously strives to provide world-class value for government agencies. One of the ways we do this is by providing electronic tools (e-tools) to help agencies improve management of procurement transactions, place orders, or learn more about business services and products. Moreover, our e-tools make it easier for government — federal, state, local, tribal and other eligible purchasers — to buy IT and telecommunications products, services, and solutions online.

We just made it a whole lot easier for agencies to select the best acquisition solution to meet their unique requirements from GSA’s broad array of IT offerings by launching our new IT Solutions Navigator.

The IT Solutions Navigator, first released in August 2013, has been redesigned to help acquisition professionals find and evaluate GSA’s IT and telecommunications solutions. In fact, we improved the overall functionality so it’s easier for potential buyers and program managers to choose the IT solutions and services that best fit their acquisition requirements.

Our original user base gave a thumbs up

Over the summer we conducted usability testing. We wanted to learn from our current users about the site’s overall functionality and level of usefulness when it comes to meeting their specific needs. Based on the initial feedback, our current users gave a thumbs up! on the IT Solutions Navigator’s new look and feel:

  • “I like how [IT Solutions Navigator] matches the best GSA contracts with my needs and simplifies what would otherwise be a very complex task to perform.”
  • “I like the contract comparison matrix. It makes it much easier to compare multiple contracts.”
  • “It was easy to navigate throughout the site. I really like the print [and] save view — it has a lot of useful information laid out nicely.”
  • “The system is also very fast and responsive. Overall this tool simplifies the market research process in a very straight forward simplistic way.”
  • “You’ve covered a lot of areas and somehow made a tool that is easy to use and very useful.”
  • “The new [IT Solutions Navigator] looks like a major improvement from the previous site.”

Aside from the fact the IT Solutions Navigator makes it easier for acquisition professionals to select the best solutions from GSA’s broad array of IT offerings, we also:

  1. Improved the review and selection experience;
  2. Optimized the search results to tailor IT and telecommunications solutions; and
  3. Increased best option identification.

Improved acquisition professionals’ ability to review and selection experience. The new IT Solutions Navigator gives agency acquisition professionals the ability to identify and evaluate appropriate acquisition vehicles to meet IT requirements. For instance, on the new site users can access ordering guidelines and other online resources for assistance, as well as easily compare multiple GSA IT contract vehicles in order to select which solution will best meet their needs. It’s also easier to register and to use Navigator on mobile.

Optimized the search results to tailor IT and telecommunications solutions. It gives agencies expanded acquisition decision support capabilities for all levels of government: federal, state, local, and tribal government. For instance, the site presents users with a refined set of GSA IT contract vehicles based on their acquisition requirements and priorities, and even will rank the available contracts in order to easily determine which GSA IT Solution will best meet the customer needs.

Increased best-option identification. Finally, it gives users more resources and real-time one-on-one support online via the National Customer Support Center Live Chat.

Other enhancements

Users can use the IT Solutions Navigator tool to:

  • Reduce acquisition lead time through streamlined access to GSA’s IT product, service, and solution offerings;
  • Search for IT solutions based on keyword: Product Service Code, Federal Supply Code, Special Item Number, or North American Industry Classification System code;
  • Identify Green IT product/service categories available to help agencies meet their sustainability goals;
  • Save and view previous contract match searches upon future visits to the system; and
  • Link to information about contract vehicles and assisted services, as well as other resources, to include ordering guidelines, eTools, and Section 508 assistance.

Acquisition Gateway

Both the IT Solutions Navigator and Acquisition Gateway are tools we offer government to help find the best IT solutions and services online. The IT Solutions Navigator solves an immediate need for an automated decision support tool to help agencies narrow down the choices of acquisition solutions available through GSA IT contracts based on their own unique criteria. The Acquisition Gateway is rapidly developing new capabilities to offer agencies state-of-the art tools for conducting research across all government enterprise contracts. Together, they support our government’s IT acquisition requirements.

You can send your questions or feedback to:

Information Technology Customer Service Center (ITCSC)
Phone: (855)ITaid4U (482-4348)
Email: ITCSC@gsa.gov
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Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.
Learn more about GSA’s e-Tools here.

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Cloud SIN Continues to Rain Success

As I reported back in January (The Cloud SIN: Making Sense of Cloud Options, Jan. 21, 2016), we successfully implemented our Cloud Special Item Number (SIN) 132-40 on IT Schedule 70 last year. We added the Cloud SIN to make it even easier for agencies to find cloud-specific solutions, and I’m happy to report that the SIN continues to see notable growth in both customer and industry participation with dozens of solicitations and 23 vendors adopting the SIN.

The Cloud SIN allows us to centralize and streamline access to cloud computing services that help meet federal, state, and local governments’ ever-evolving needs. Agencies can now clearly distinguish cloud from non-cloud IT products and services in order to get to the right solution quickly. All of the cloud solutions are organized in focused sub-categories that are defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The SIN also provides our industry partners with the enhanced ability to market distinctive cloud computing solutions and offerings.

Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground

Offerings through the Cloud SIN continue to become more robust, now with 23 industry partners qualified to offer solutions through the SIN. This is further fueled by federal agencies as several have issued nearly 70 solicitations against it.

One of the latest solicitations comes from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as an enterprise-wide Request for Quotation (RFQ) with a contract value of $1.6 billion over a ten-year period (RFQ HSHQDC-16-Q-00195). In addition to DHS, several other agencies have also submitted Cloud SIN solicitations including; the U.S. Air Force, Department of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Army, and the Department of Interior.

The SIN is popular because agencies can easily solicit from a vetted field of supplier offerings, determined by GSA to fit five essential cloud characteristics:

  • on-demand self-service,
  • broad network access,
  • resource pooling,
  • rapid elasticity,
  • and measured service.

Learning More About Cloud

For more resources on the Cloud SIN, including guidance for transitioning your company’s services onto the SIN or how to use the SIN to build a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), please visit our Cloud SIN page.

Our Cloud team also regularly hosts informational webinars to discuss our whole suite of cloud solutions. The most recent one, How to Acquire Cloud and Make it Secure, featured Ashley Mahan, GSA FedRAMP Agency Evangelist. Ashley discussed FedRAMP and how it applies to the Federal Community and Industry. In the same webinar, ITS’s Skip Jentsch provided an overview of the cloud computing services we offer, and demonstrated how these acquisition vehicles can save time, money, and risk associated with procuring cloud services.

Check out the slide deck on our LinkedIn page and stay tuned to our Twitter feed @GSA_ITS for future events.

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Alliant 2: Shaping the Future

The Alliant & Alliant Small Business Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) have been a remarkable success for our customers, for our industry partners, and for GSA. Over the last eight years, more than 60 federal agencies have awarded over $36 billion in work to Alliant & Alliant SB partners.

Alliant has also taught us the importance of partnerships, education, training, and customer service in developing and delivering successful contract vehicles.

The Alliant success story is demonstrated in the loyalty we see from our customers. The U.S. Department of Navy, Defense Health Agency, and U.S. Special Operations Command selected the Alliant GWACs as their primary vehicles for IT services.

Having a broad-based scope built on Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) that allows for “anything IT anywhere” plus the ability for all contract types to be performed, the Alliant GWACs streamline the acquisition process for federal agencies, resulting in time- and cost-efficient acquisitions that lead to savings for U.S. taxpayers.

Shaping the Future Alliant

Looking to the future, GSA’s GWAC Program, is working on the next-generation GWACs: Alliant 2 (A2) and Alliant 2 Small Business (A2SB).

A2/A2SB will continue to build on our success supporting federal agencies that have mission-critical, complex IT services requirements for long-term programs.

The A2/A2SB’s pre-solicitation phase has raised the bar in terms of transparency, collaboration, and innovation, by engaging with and involving both federal agencies and industry partners in each step of the process. The A2/A2SB team performed thorough market research for over three years and laid significant groundwork in the pre-planning phase with efforts including:

  • An A2/A2SB Interact community with more than 8,200 members
  • A publically reviewed business case on OMB MAX
  • Hundreds of meetings/presentations for interested agencies
  • Customer and industry working groups
  • Seven Requests for Information (RFIs) through FedBizOpps (FBO) with two official industry days, and two separate fully comprehensive and complete draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
  • Five separate pre-proposal conferences attended by over 1000 people

We’re excited when we consider the future for our GWACs. The collective input and feedback toward developing A2/A2SB this past year has been our major contribution to an outstanding product.

What’s New

Here are some of the notable improvements included in A2/A2SB that will give our customers greater value:

  • scope improvements,
  • new information technology (IT) service labor categories,
  • new cybersecurity standards,
  • new environmental standards,
  • incorporation of required Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) regulations/provisions into the master contract so they automatically flow down to the task order level on any/all task orders issued by a Department of Defense (DOD) agency

Collaboration is Key

I’ve always been impressed by the amount of collaboration that goes into the Alliant GWACs among all parties: GSA, the procuring agencies, and the companies performing the work under Alliant task orders. The relationships we’ve built with our government and industry partners have been, and will be, critical to the GWAC program’s continued success.

I’m confident that our stakeholders will be pleased and I cannot overemphasize how important the collaboration is to ensuring we develop and provide a superior GWAC solution for the government. While doing market research and in planning future solicitations and innovations we want to be sure that our intentions are vetted, are on the right track, and cover all angles. The collaboration from customer agencies and industry partners helps us do that.

The final official Request For Proposals (RFPs) for A2/A2SB are on FedBizOpps now with deadlines of September 13 (A2) and September 12 (A2SB), 2016

More information is available at the A2/A2SB website and the A2/A2SB Interact Community page.

Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

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Better Pricing, Better Value, & Better Shopping Equals A Better Schedule 70

Since 1949, GSA’s mission has been to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology to government and the American people. We pursue this mission relentlessly, and have always welcomed input from all stakeholders as we seek new and effective ways to bring more value to our federal customers. That’s why we appreciate the recommendations presented in a recent audit by GSA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). Conducted between 2011 through early 2016, this audit  found that some contracts on GSA’s IT Schedule 70 offered identical products at widely varying prices. And that some items were being offered at prices higher than commercial sales.  

We agree with these concerns, which is why we have been working for the past three years to fundamentally transform the Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) program, reduce prices, and streamline processes. I’m a consumer too. I’ll come back to a store when I know I’m getting the best deal — anything to avoid going from store to store comparing prices. And that’s exactly what IT Schedule 70 shoppers have told us they want, too. As FAS Commissioner Tom Sharpe laid out in his October 2015 blog, we’ve responded to our customers by working to meet that challenge. Over the past few years we’ve been adding new tools and innovations to IT Schedule 70 so that we can give our customers what they want: better pricing, better values and a better shopping experience.

We heard from procurement leaders across government that price variability on Schedules was a problem. In response, we spearheaded the Competitive Pricing Initiative (CPI), which looks at the current prices of identical products offered by suppliers through MAS and identifies opportunities for more competitive prices. Since it began in FY 2015, CPI has led to price reductions on roughly 1.4 million items across all of GSA’s 15 products Schedules –savings we passed directly to agencies.

Our customers told us it was difficult and time consuming to compare prices between different contractors. To fix this, we asked vendors to standardize part numbers and collected existing Universal Price Codes (UPCs). Now government buyers can more easily find and compare products and prices on Schedules.

To help small businesses that don’t have the resources to conduct extensive analyses, we added a Horizontal Pricing Analysis application to our e-toolbox. This market-research resource  provides MAS contracting officers (COs) with additional data to pass on to MAS suppliers so they can be as competitive as possible.

To help our COs navigate pricing in a rapidly moving IT market we implemented GSA Price Point (XSB), an automated tool that lets them compare products and evaluate prices of all existing and future GSA Advantage! product listings and contract price modifications.  

And we developed the Formatted Product Tool (FPT) to help our MAS contractors and COs negotiate competitive prices for products on Schedule. FPT automates price comparisons for identical items, removes burdensome processes for both vendors and federal buyers, and improves our customers’ GSA Advantage! experience.

All these tools and capabilities help government contracting professionals negotiate prices that are in line and competitive with government and commercial marketplace prices. They also provide transparency and better value to both the government and Industry. Central to GSA’s mission is that we deliver value to the federal government and the American people. While IT Schedule 70 is not perfect, we recognize the challenges we’re facing and have have taken concrete steps to make pricing more competitive and to provide the tools to help buyers make smart purchasing decisions.

However, we are aware that we must continue to address the very issues identified by the IG and continue to transform the MAS program, reducing prices and streamlining processes.

Since that study began in 2011, we have fundamentally changed the way we do business with industry and how our contracting officers work. We have made significant improvements as we tackle pricing issues across the Schedules program. At the same time, we have also cut the time it takes to award contracts, determined a new path for startups to get on Schedule faster, and strengthened our focus on compliance.  With the new Transactional Data Reporting pilot we’ll start to collect and share more information on what the government buys and how much we pay for products and services. After looking at all the changes we have implemented, and looking forward to the improvements we’ll be making down the road, I am more confident and proud than ever that IT Schedule 70 will continue to provide the very best value to all of our important stakeholders.

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GSA Continues to Develop Health IT Service Offerings

As stated in the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, federal agencies are purchasers, regulators, developers, and users of health IT. In their various roles, they set policy and insure, pay for care, or provide direct patient care for tens of millions of Americans. Over the past seven years, our nation’s health information technology (health IT) landscape has experienced a remarkable transformation.  

With an annual growth rate of 7.4%, Health IT Services is one of the fastest growing markets in both the government and private sector.  Therefore, it is not a surprise that GSA’s IT Schedule 70 is seeing increased attention and interest in its Health IT Services solutions.  So, to ensure that IT Schedule 70 stays at the forefront of the Health IT market and to make it even easier for our government partners to get access to new and emerging health IT services, I’m pleased to announce the release of the new Health IT Services Special Item Number (SIN 132-56).  

GSA’s growing subject-matter expertise in the Health IT market, coupled with our existing online procurement tools, will allow us to provide a best-in-class solution for Health IT market research, acquisition planning, and procurement.

What are Health IT Services?

Health information technology (Health IT) makes it possible for health care providers to manage patient care through the secure sharing of health information. A simple example of Health IT is having an electronic health record (EHRs) instead of your medical history and health information on many pieces of paper stuck in a manilla folder.

Other products and services that fall under Health IT include mobile and tele-health technology, ePrescribing, medical sensors, remote monitoring devices, and other assistive technologies.  Health IT allows individuals and healthcare providers from federal, public health and community-based support organizations to electronically collect, share, and use health information.

Given the wide range of activities, and agencies’ desire for Health IT accessibility, the government is in an optimal position to improve healthcare and reduce costs through the secure use of information technology–making Health IT a valuable and strategic market for GSA.

Goals of the Health IT SIN

The Health IT SIN simplifies the procurement process, making it easier for IT Schedule 70 customers to get access to new and emerging health IT services. At the same time, it fosters competition and promotes small business participation. The new Health IT SIN gives industry partners a way to distinguish their Health IT services offerings from other IT related services already under the IT Schedule 70 program, letting them stand out to agencies seeking Health IT services.  It will also allows agencies to more easily identify Health IT solutions and the experts within the healthcare market.  

The Health IT SIN also supports the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan to expand adoption of Health IT services, reduce prices, advance secure and interoperable health information solutions, and strengthen healthcare delivery systems.

Health IT SIN Development and Collaboration

The new Health IT SIN is the result of collaboration between federal agencies and industry partners.  IT Schedule 70 worked closely with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to ensure the Health IT SIN is a valuable resource to federal, state, local and tribal governments. We co-hosted industry days and agency meetings, and issued multiple RFIs to ensure we captured comments from both customer and industry partners.  Since the beginning of the Health IT SIN development process, VHA has referred vendors to IT Schedule 70 for possible inclusion under the Health IT SIN.  Additionally, DHA has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSA as DHA’s singular Health IT procurement solution.  

This collaboration creates a win-win for both agencies and industry. Our customer agencies stay involved as active participants by using the Health IT SIN, while our industry partners are committed to providing innovative Health IT Services to government users.

Participation is Easy

Current IT Schedule 70 contract holders must submit a modification to their contract through GSA’s eOffer/eMod web page. Industry partners not yet on Schedule 70 must submit an offer. Please follow the steps outlined in our convenient online guide.

Both new and existing industry partners may be eligible for our FASt Lane program, which gives suppliers shorter processing times for IT Schedule 70 contract actions.  Contact FAStLane@gsa.gov for assistance and visit the IT Schedule 70 Interact page to download detailed instructions and a pricing proposal template.

Also, I encourage agencies visit the IT Schedule 70 Health IT SIN web page for more information on how to use the SIN to purchase Health IT services.

Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

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ITS Builds Partnerships Improve Health IT

In February 2016, we started a strategic seven-year partnership with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) that represents an estimated $5.4 billion in spend for critical Health IT services and solutions (GSA-DHA Health IT Partnership, 2/4/2016. In just a few short months, it’s already succeeded and proven a model of how we can work across federal agencies to foster collaborative, integrated partnerships to create innovative IT solutions for various mission areas, such as healthcare.

I’m proud to recognize three GSA employees and their DHA counterparts who were recently nominated for the 2016 AFFIRM Leadership Award for their leadership in developing the DHA/GSA Health IT Partnership. The DHA/GSA Health IT Partnership will be recognized and honored at the 2016 AFFIRM Annual Leadership Celebration, Thursday, June 23, 2016.

We continuously strive to grow customer relationships and serve as a trusted advisor to help federal agencies make smarter, more strategic decisions. We work across agencies to foster collaborative, integrated partnerships to not only improve IT acquisition and procurement for our government customers, but also to leverage current IT services and solutions to meet their unique mission and operational requirements.

Jennifer Auble, a customer engagement manager; Larry Hale, director, IT category customer engagement division; and Michael Williams, national account manager with GSA’s Customer Accounts and Research, along with their DHA partners, have worked hard through many political and organizational barriers facing government procurement to achieve a groundbreaking partnership between GSA and DHA that is in the best interests of the federal government and the American taxpayer.

This partnership began when GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) and DHA entered into a strategic seven-year partnership representing an estimated $5.4 billion in spend for critical health IT services and solutions. Through this partnership, DHA will direct new health IT procurements to GSA IT contracts, including IT Schedule 70 and the Alliant, Alliant Small Business, 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services II (STARS II), and Veterans Technology Services Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (VETS GWAC).

DHA uses these vehicles as the primary means of procuring supplies and services to support their existing and emerging health IT requirements. In addition, DHA has entered into partnership with GSA’s One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) program and with the Assisted Acquisition Services organization.

Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

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Moving Toward a Better Marketplace for Desktop and Laptop Procurement

Recently, I talked about how important it is to keep up with the latest technology trends and changes taking place across government for purchasing IT products and services. ITS continually strives to streamline procurement processes and maximize federal spending to achieve better acquisition and operational efficiencies for government agencies while at the same time acting as effective stewards of taxpayer dollars.

One great example of how we’ve been able to do just that for IT hardware products is the Government-wide Strategic Solution (GSS) for Desktops and Laptops. This particular project focused on key areas of importance to me: leveraging the buying power of the federal government, collaborating with other federal agencies and industry, and creating acquisition efficiency.

Leveraging Our Buying Power

First, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recognized an opportunity for the government to improve how we buy IT hardware and issued a memo on October 16, 2015 mandating that all civilian agencies use three existing “Best in Class” vehicles to fulfill most of their laptop and desktop needs. OMB stated that cross-agency collaboration and industry feedback were the keys to taking full advantage of the government’s buying power in this space.

Inter-Agency Collaboration

Second, based on the need for increased collaboration and integration between services, OMB created the Workstations Commodity Team (WCT), now known as the Workstation Category Team (WCT). The WCT comprises IT and procurement professionals from NASA, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The group spent over two years working with our industry partners and a consortium of over 20 federal agencies to develop a framework and strategy for solving some of the issues, like limited transparency and terms and conditions that were not common, that the government was facing in the IT hardware space.

As a result of the great cross-agency collaboration and in consultation with OMB, the Government-wide Strategic Solution (GSS) for Desktops and Laptops was developed. On February 2, 2016, GSA, NASA, and NIH hosted an industry day. We used this forum to share the updated specifications with industry and to seek their input for moving forward with the first technical refresh under the effort.

Efficiency

Lastly, the GSS currently gives agencies a choice of three desktop and three laptop configurations that meet the federal government’s requirements for more than 80 percent of systems purchased.

In addition to the six standard configurations, GSS for Desktops and Laptops has pre-negotiated policies and terms and conditions, and includes significant small business participation–over 85 percent, ensuring that agencies save time and meet socioeconomic goals.

A significant feature of the GSS for Desktops and Laptops is the continued focus on keeping up with fast-paced technology change. The program incorporates a technical refresh schedule every nine months, so specifications  reflect feedback from customer agencies and industry, aligning available configurations to market conditions and available technology.

Current configurations are now available for purchase on all three contracts. You can access the configurations on GSA Advantage and see all three contracts on the Acquisition Gateway.

By using existing best-in-class contract vehicles, streamlining procurement processes, and maximizing federal spend, we not only achieve better acquisition and operational efficiencies but also act as one and as effective stewards of taxpayer dollars.

The Challenge

Just to give you some perspective on how significant this particular initiative is, in fiscal year 2014 alone, federal agencies awarded more than 10,000 individual contracts and delivery orders for desktops and laptops, totaling approximately $1.1 billion. These products’ prices varied by almost 300 percent. If agencies requested different configurations, the prices went up even more.

Next Steps

On June 1, 2016, OMB released a GSS Desktop/Laptop buying event announcement to the CIO/CAO communities to increase awareness and encourage agency participation in the GSS initiative. GSA, NASA, and NIH will each  conduct buying events for laptops and desktops between June and September 2016. The planned buying events are in support of OMB Memo M-16-02, Improving Demand Management Practices (Aggregate demand to support leveraged buying events).

Accordingly, GSA IT Schedule 70 will conduct its first buying event during 4th Quarter 2016. GSA will request federal agencies to provide estimated quantities by June 17, 2016, in order to obtain maximum volume discounts, which will  streamline agency buying and drive down costs.

GSA’s acquisition will be conducted through the GSA Reverse Auction Platform based on estimated agency requirements, resulting in awards for manufacturer-specific, single-award government-wide Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) for each of the six GSS standard-configurations to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) authorized resellers. These BPAs will be made accessible via the GSA AdvantageSelect platform, which allows agencies to purchase online without further competition.

ITS will continue to add new industry partners that offer the standard configurations and encourage small business participation. You can also use the GSA Advantage GSS icon GSS icon to identify products meeting the minimum specification on GSA Advantage.

To learn more about the program and how to order, visit the GSS for Desktops and Laptops webpage.
Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

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Improved Software Policy through Category Management Best Practices

Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced its latest policy leveraging Category Management, this time focusing on software as a means to drive greater efficiency in how we buy and manage mission-critical IT solutions while saving taxpayers’ money.

In order to meet federal agencies’ increasing demands and expectations, the government must come together as one to identify our common needs and maintain the highest levels of quality in the products and services we purchase to meet those needs.

This latest policy advances ITS’ use of industry best practices beyond what we’ve already implemented with computers and mobile devices and expands the great work we’ve done with software solutions. Expanding to better manage software enables us to better handle the billions of government dollars spent in this category.

We are part of the Enterprise Software Category Team and have already been working diligently to improve efficiencies in the software contracting space.

Geospatial Software Success

As an excellent example of Category Management success, in January we announced that our Office of IT Schedule 70 had worked closely with other agencies and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) on a modification to their existing Schedule 70 contract. This effort resulted in improved efficiency, pricing, terms and conditions, and transparency, better managing the government-wide $294 million annual spend on geospatial software licenses. Esri is a principal among our industry partners as they capture $74 million of the annual federal spending on geospatial software.

With a few months under our belt, we are already seeing positive outcomes and are happy to report that agencies are already saving 10-14 percent on over $100 thousand worth of orders since the agreement was signed. We are estimating that the federal government will save over $1.5 million in FY 2016 and over $3 million in future years.

Salesforce Services Success

Late last year, we announced the award of the Salesforce Implementation, Integration, and Support Services (SIISS) BPA. Working closely with our customer agencies, industry partners, and the GSA Office of Information Technology, we developed – a governmentwide blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to centralize and streamline $503 million in IT Schedule 70 awards over five years. This BPA brings all Salesforce-related professional services, from development to implementation, under one easy-to-use acquisition vehicle.

Since launching this initiative, there has been a flurry of positive activity. Key among them is that multiple customer agencies are close to finalizing procurements leveraging the BPA.

We are also excited about several new Salesforce applications created this year that are now in queue to be packaged and placed on GSA Labs, a common repository of applications that leverages existing efforts and reduces duplication. Some of these applications include a vendor management module (VMO), executive business case tracking (EBC) and the presidential innovation tracker currently under development.

Based on feedback from partner agencies, GSA IT is creating a new utility that will organize the government’s existing Salesforce applications into one easy to read virtual library. This utility will provide a more comprehensive view of the different Salesforce implementations while reducing the burden on partner agencies by allowing them to only package applications in high demand.

Looking Forward

Using these as models of success, we look forward to continuing our work with OMB and other federal agencies to analyze the possibilities of other targeted agreements with our suppliers, looking for further opportunities to leverage the government’s buying power, reduce duplication, and bring significant spend under management. Innovative, Category Management-focused projects like these help agencies better meet their missions with direct and positive impacts for U.S. taxpayers.

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GSA/NGA Partnership on Geospatial Intelligence

ITS prides itself on meeting the future needs of federal agencies to help them make smarter, more strategic decisions. We collaborate with agencies to create cost-effective acquisition strategies that provide innovative solutions and superior service. We continue to expand our outreach and increase our partnerships to bring the full value and benefits of category management to our customers.

This approach has lead to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) recent implementation of the Commercial Initiative to Buy Operationally Responsive GEOINT (CIBORG) Program. NGA’s Source Operations and Management Directorate and GSA have created a partnership to leverage our schedules and contractual instruments to enable commercial purchases for geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) data, products, and services.

NGA is a member of the GEOINT community that uses this information. We are eager to enhance our current offerings, as new commercial imagery providers emerge in this market, to meet the needs of federal, state, and local governments.

Industry Day

On June 16, 2016, we are co-hosting an industry day with NGA to discuss our partnership with the commercial sector.  Please join us for one of our sessions to learn more:

REGISTRATION:

AM Session 1:  9:00 – 11:30 AM Registration: http://go.usa.gov/cJWGP

PM Session 2:  1:00 – 3:30 PM Registration: http://go.usa.gov/cJWfV

LOCATION:

U.S. General Services Administration
Auditorium
1800 F Street, NW
Washington, DC  20405

PM Session 2:  1:00 – 3:30 PM Virtual Attendance Registration: http://go.usa.gov/cJWf5

Join our conversations about government IT on Twitter @GSA_ITS and LinkedIn.