Category: IT Services

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Working Untethered: Enable Your Mission with GSA Best-In-Class Mobility Solutions

In the 1990s, the Department of Defense adopted the term “untethered” to describe an emerging military doctrine made possible by advances in wireless communications technology. Untethered operations meant they could be launched anytime, anywhere, thanks to systems that were flexible, secure, cost-effective, and —above all— attainable.

Out of necessity, the federal workforce is now working untethered. Sometimes, that makes us feel isolated, but we know the productivity tools we are putting in place today will shape how agencies can effectively carry out their missions tomorrow. Now is the time to equip the mobile workforce with the right mix of products and services, so teams can continue to work untethered while still staying connected.

Untethered Doesn’t Mean You’re On Your Own

GSA’s Wireless Mobility Solutions Program keeps your workforce connected and anchored; it provides everything you need to support your agency’s wireless needs. Our Best-in-Class (BIC) contract includes wireless carriers and resellers, telecommunications expense management, mobile device management, mobile security, and more.

The Wireless Mobility Solutions Special Item Number (Wireless SIN) on the Multiple Award Schedule is the path that makes it possible.

Everything Where You Need It

The Wireless SIN is a seasoned contract that is continuously evolving to keep pace with commercial offerings and best practices. Because it’s Best-in-Class, agencies will have access to category management data they can leverage to save time and resources.

Building on the successes of the FSSI Wireless BPA program, we’ve expanded the Wireless SIN to create a one-stop-shop that includes 11 subcategories.

  1. Wireless Carrier Services
  2. Mobile Hardware/Infrastructure
  3. Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
  4. Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
  5. Mobile Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS)
  6. Telecom Expense Management Services (TEMS)
  7. Mobile Application Vetting
  8. Mobile Threat Protection (MTP)
  9. Mobile Identity Management
  10. Internet of Things (IoT)
  11. Other/Mobile Services

Tested and Proven

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of streamlined acquisition. A public health agency was able to use our program and quickly gain access to more than 7,000 first responder-capable wireless devices to better support their efforts across the country.

A Contract with a Community

Improving customer experience is a driving force behind every ITC offering. In addition to managing a Best-in-Class contract, the Wireless Mobility team at GSA supports a growing number of digital tools and resources to position your program and contracting staff for long-term success, including:

Our Wireless Mobility team also plays a key role in the ongoing efforts of the Federal Mobility Group (FMG), an interagency community of practice focused on 5G adoption, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, artificial intelligence, security concerns and policy regulations. Through the FMG, our community is engaged in continuous learning and collaboration. Everyone is untethered, but no one is alone.

Untether Today

If you have comments, questions, or want to join the FMG, contact our Wireless Mobility team at wireless@gsa.gov

GSA’s MAS IT Category continually works to deliver enterprise mobility solutions to achieve value, cost savings, and balance between functionality, security, and management for its customers. Take advantage of the BIC Wireless Mobility Solutions SIN and more by visiting our IT Solutions Navigator to find the vehicle that’s right for you.

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

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Polaris: GSA’s Next-Generation Small Business GWAC

As an organization, GSA places a lot of importance on guiding IT service providers in forming relationships and doing business with the federal government. GSA is also here to assist agencies as they navigate the marketplace of emerging and transformative IT solutions that will help them achieve their missions and perform efficiently.

With that in mind, we’re naming our next-generation Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) “Polaris,” and we’re developing it with these important attributes as our guides.

Polaris is also known as “The Guiding Star” in the night sky. This GWAC represents another step forward for the next generation of IT services based solutions from GSA. Polaris will not only guide small businesses through the federal market, it will also help GSA customer agencies through the acquisition of IT service-based solutions, and give GSA a chance to improve our offerings and set the agency on a solid course for the future.

On August 27, GSA hosted “Your Voice Matters: Help Shape GSA’s Next Small Business GWAC Industry Forum.” During the event, attendees heard firsthand about our vision for providing opportunities for small businesses – including underrepresented socio-economic categories – and state-of-the-art IT solutions for federal agencies through next-generation GWACs.

Teamwork makes the dream work

GSA recognizes the value of collaborating with our industry partners, customers, and other stakeholders. The only way to improve the quality and availability of IT services in the marketplace is to know exactly how agencies and industry partners feel about current products and processes, as well as opportunities for innovation. For that reason, we solicited feedback from industry partners prior to and during the industry forum. At that time, we also vowed to keep the conversation going.

To facilitate that dialogue, we launched the SB GWAC Community of Interest (COI). The COI is a webpage that allows for an exchange of thoughts on topics related to all of GSA’s small business GWACs. This input will be taken into consideration as we develop a plan forward. Additionally, engagement with agency and industry partners will continue through additional market research.

Broadening the Industrial Base

Pricing Strategy: GSA is considering new strategies to increase our pool of qualified small businesses that serve federal agencies. One of the most ambitious approaches involves the potential employment of Section 876 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act in the next-generation vehicle, through FAS’s “Enhancing Competition at the Order Level” initiative under the Federal Marketplace Strategy. Section 876 gives GSA authority to award contracts to qualifying offerors without considering prices for services acquired on an hourly rate basis.

As this would shift the focus to pricing competition at the task order level – it is important that we continue our efforts to increase competition in the marketplace by creating opportunities for qualified small businesses.

On-ramps: By offering open season on-ramps, the industrial base could be expanded as technology changes, the market evolves, and to improve competition at the task order level. This would be a great benefit to federal agencies. On-ramping could allow agencies continuous access to top performing industry partners that offer the latest advancements in technology. On-ramping will also allow vendors the opportunity for consideration to be on the GWAC following the initial award period.

Additionally, small businesses with fresh ideas could have the opportunity to participate in the federal IT services marketplace. This approach could also improve overall federal government efficiency and might potentially help close the age-old government/private sector technology gap.

Opportunity Expansion: GSA’s small business GWACs have supported agencies in meeting their small business goals for more than two decades. We want to build on this success by looking at small businesses without socio economic status as well as options to increase opportunities for HUBZone and woman-owned small businesses. GSA is also eager to engage with industry about the possibilities of providing lifecycle opportunities on GSA contract vehicles for small businesses as they grow and mature.

Embracing Technology to Maximize Efficiency: Polaris aims to provide customers with streamlined access to emerging technology providers including those offering artificial intelligence, automated technologies (like robotic process automation), blockchain, 5G implementation (including edge computing), cyber security, and cloud.

Efforts to Ease the Process

In hopes of optimizing performance, GSA is improving existing business practices. Recent industry feedback has made it clear that we must work even harder to ease the strain that prospective future GWAC holders experience while trying to partner with us. For that reason, we are working on improvements to the proposal submission and evaluation processes. We’re currently exploring the use of an online proposal submission tool to expedite the award process. We’re also looking at an evaluation strategy that aligns with customer requirements, while using objective evaluation criteria to the maximum extent possible. Additionally, as a result of positive feedback received on the self-scoring approach used on VETS 2 and Alliant 2, a similar strategy for the new vehicle is being considered.

Power in Knowing

GSA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) has long been a valued resource to the small business community. We recognize that small businesses fuel the nation’s economy and sincerely welcome our responsibility to provide the support the community needs and expects. As with past GWAC launches, GSA is equipped to help prospective GWAC partners familiarize themselves with the process. GSA’s OSDBU team helps small businesses better position themselves for available opportunities by providing training and resources. This includes free virtual training on creating a federal marketing plan, and identifying federal customers through the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). For more information, regional OSDBU contacts can be accessed by visiting GSA’s small business support page.

We plan to host regular engagement events to keep all stakeholders up-to-date on the path to the new Polaris solicitation and award. Details about our future engagements will be made available on the COI web page.

What’s the Timeline?

We are in the very early stages of the process and are looking forward to continuing dialogue with our industry partners and agency customers. We’re working to release a request for information this month and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get a draft request for proposals out within the next few months.

We are enthusiastic that our new, next-generation small business GWAC has the potential to not only increase the industrial base and pool of qualified vendors, but also vastly increase the quality and diversity of IT services available to federal agency customers.

Interested parties should join the COI.

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

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The New Cloud Information Center Is About More Than Just Looks

Cloud Information Center

The enhanced Cloud Information Center is designed to help users intuitively navigate the cloud adoption process, leverage best practices, and find training opportunities.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” The ancient philosopher Plutarch first proposed this analogy nearly 2,000 years ago in his essay On Listening to Lectures to help his students learn. Though the means by which we convey knowledge have expanded, the same didactic concept can be applied to educating the Federal IT workforce about cloud computing.

Last year, the government updated its Federal Cloud Computing Strategy. Known as Cloud Smart, the strategy identified three key pillars of successful cloud adoption—security, procurement, and workforce—and directed actions be taken to strengthen them. Number one on the list was the creation of “a central location to share guidance and best practices on cloud-related topics with [government] agencies.”

GSA created the Cloud Information Center (CIC) to serve as this cloud computing knowledge hub and frontline resource for Cloud Smart acquisitions. It contains a comprehensive collection of up-to-date cloud computing best practices, guidance, and templates from across the government. For the past year, the CIC has been actively educating government cloud stakeholders and demonstrating how federal agencies can leverage the technology to effectively enable their respective goals and missions.

As Plutarch’s insight into human learning demonstrates, putting all the information in one place is not enough, it must be presented in a way that is approachable and sparks interest. Having accomplished its first goal of centralizing the government’s cloud knowledge, the next iteration of the CIC delivers a positive digital experience that prioritizes accessibility and learning.

The enhanced CIC joins 18F, Centers of Excellence and FedRAMP in leveraging the Federalist platform and U.S. Web Design System to deliver rapid deployment and modern design. Visitors will enjoy an improved user experience: a cleaner interface, more intuitive navigation, and content organized in sequence of the cloud adoption lifecycle. The enhanced CIC follows the core user experience requirements set forth in the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, making it:

  • accessible and usable
  • based around user needs and tasks
  • consistent in appearance
  • securely hosted and connected
  • original, not duplicative
  • searchable
  • mobile-friendly

By embracing these human-centered design principles, the CIC will be more accessible to individuals with disabilities and better positioned to serve a wider audience.

The CIC is a collaborative effort. It will continue to promote and enable governmentwide adoption and deployment of cloud technologies without bias towards any particular contract vehicle, vendor or solution. It incorporates information and experiences from government agencies, industry, academia and other cloud-involved entities. If you are a cloud stakeholder who is interested in contributing to the CIC, making suggestions, listing a cloud contract vehicle or otherwise improving the tool’s comprehensiveness and accuracy, the GSA Cloud Team wants to hear from you.

Email cloudinfo@gsa.gov to contribute a cloud resource, share your feedback or to reach a cloud subject matter expert.

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

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STARS II, Taking Action

The federal government places great importance on providing opportunities for small, disadvantaged businesses to gain experience and learn how to compete in the federal marketplace. In partnership with the Small Business Administration, GSA is helping the federal government provide a level playing field for small businesses owned by the socially and economically disadvantaged. Competition is intentionally limited on certain contracts to businesses that participate in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program.

As a small disadvantaged business set-aside that provides flexible access to customized IT services and IT-services based solutions from a large, diverse pool of 8(a) industry partners, 8(a) STARS II has been a critical mission-enabler for agencies. We couldn’t be more proud of our 8(a) partners and their long track record of success. STARS II has exceeded our expectations at every turn and has been increasingly successful in serving the IT solutions needs of the federal government. As a result of the important work that agencies are doing through STARS II, we recently reached the contract’s ceiling for the third time.

Partnering closely with the SBA, GSA took quick action and raised the contract’s ceiling by $7B to $22B. This will help preserve the IT services supplier base during a national crisis, minimize disruption to agencies purchasing during the pandemic, and provide agencies continued access to STARS II until STARS III is available. SBA has been a great partner throughout this process. They see the unprecedented health and economic emergency caused by COVID-19 and how the pandemic is threatening the survival of many small businesses. Sustaining America’s small businesses, and ensuring maximum, practicable opportunity for small businesses, is at the heart of SBA’s mission. Their support was critical in meeting the statutory requirements under the Competition in Contracting Act that made this modification possible.

Without this much-needed increase, no new task orders could have been awarded on STARS II and all businesses on STARS II would have been ineligible for any additional business through this GWAC. The ceiling increase allows each of the 787 businesses on STARS II to continue offering Best-in-Class IT solutions to agency clients through the current contract ordering period ending August 30, 2021.

Unexpected Consequences of Demand

If GSA and SBA had not increased the ceiling, agencies could not have responded to COVID as quickly and none of the STARS II firms would have received new awards. We quickly determined that the only way to help enable a rapid agency response to the pandemic and to protect the industrial base was to increase the ceiling and keep all firms eligible during the response to the crisis.

GSA and SBA only had two viable options to raise the ceiling: 1.) to only allow firms in the SBA 8(a) program (excluding contract holders who had graduated) to receive directed task order awards, or 2.) to raise the ceiling for all industry partners, but reduce the Period of Performance (PoP).

GSA in coordination with SBA determined raising the ceiling and decreasing the PoP to 2 years was the best business decision for several reasons:

  1. GSA and SBA anticipated the 2-year PoP would permit agencies to respond to the immediate agency needs for the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. All of the 8(a) STARS II vendors will now have the opportunity to pursue $7 billion in new business. Approximately 538 vendors have graduated from the 8(a) Program and, thanks to the ceiling increase, are still benefiting from the opportunities on 8(a) STARS II. In addition, the 204 current 8(a) firms and 45 Joint Venture firms also now are able to compete for up to $7 billion in new opportunities.
  3. A 2-year PoP will allow 8(a) program graduates the opportunity to transition out of the STARS II program. Both GSA and SBA provide a wide variety of training courses and other resources to assist small businesses that have graduated from the 8(a) Program with positioning themselves to win Federal contracts. Examples include training and guidance on finding Federal procurement opportunities, pursuing small business set asides, and becoming a mentor-protege. More information is available at SBA Learning Center and GSA Small Business.

STARS II is a flexible and high-performing contract that agencies need now more than ever as we navigate new ways of providing employee and citizen services. This contract vehicle is doing a lot of good and important work for industry and government during the pandemic and, as a good partner to the 8(a) community, we’re pleased to ensure that it can continue.

For more information, you can view a recording of our recent town hall with industry on the topic of the ceiling increase on YouTube.

What’s Next: The Future of the 8(a) STARS GWAC Program

We are excited to move forward to the next phase of the STARS franchise as we prepare for 8(a) STARS III. The solicitation for 8(a) STARS III was released on July 6, 2020.

We have developed an aggressive solicitation and evaluation timeline to make awards for 8(a) STARS III as soon as possible. The 8(a) STARS III GWAC will continue GSA’s commitment to providing world-class information technology solutions, and also add innovation in the areas of emerging technology and Outside Continental United States (OCONUS).

We expect STARS III to remain a go-to contract vehicle for agencies wanting to work with small, disadvantaged businesses, trusted for responsiveness to the IT solutions demands of our customer agencies.

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

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How can GSA improve future Small Business GWACs? Join us virtually on Thursday, August 27th at 3 pm Eastern to help.

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GSA IT Acquisition University – Train On Demand!

GSA IT Acquisition University

The IT Acquisition University is designed to increase access to on-demand information technology training for interested IT government professionals.

Federal acquisition can be a murky topic. When procuring IT products that can’t be seen, are hard to quantify, and are on the cutting edge of innovation, federal acquisition becomes even more difficult. To make things easier, we launched a new training tool, the IT Acquisition University (ITAU), that aims to cut through and demystify the challenges of government IT acquisition.

Hosted on GSA’s Acquisition Gateway, ITAU is a public, on-demand platform that gives users access to training on such topics as cybersecurity, cloud migration, and federal IT modernization. A library of videos, slideshows, audio, and other media will be at the fingertips of those looking to increase their IT acquisition skillset. Government users seeking Continuous Learning Point (CLP) opportunities can take advantage of short quizzes after each completed training to earn CLPs on their own schedule. Whether you are a contracting professional, program manager, or a federal IT stakeholder, the breadth of material aims to appeal to all program levels and positions.

GSA’s ITAU sources its content from many of GSA’s own training and events. Access recordings of recent GSA Information Technology Category (ITC) programming to stay up-to-date with best practices, acquisition tips and tricks, and more. The portal also has GSA-specific training available for many of its contracts, such as Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS). Regular content refreshes will ensure that the site’s training material stays relevant and useful.

We hope that the federal IT acquisition community will take advantage of this exciting educational tool. GSA ITC welcomes user feedback and questions at the following email: ITAU@gsa.gov.

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

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Public Sector 5G Strategy Series – Part 1: Technology

The Wheel Is Turning

If you’ve scrolled through social media or watched live TV lately, you’ve likely seen an ad for 5G. If you find yourself wondering why there is so much conversation about 5G –you are not alone. Is it worth all of this attention?

We think so. 5G is set to revolutionize the world’s telecommunications infrastructure, paving the way for even greater use of autonomous devices and expanding the number of interconnected devices in the Internet of Things (IoT).

In October 2019, GSA held its first public event about 5G, where government and industry experts gave us a compelling look at the rollout of next generation networks, discussed how they’ll support IoT applications, and outlined the steps necessary to secure this new hyperconnected future.

Going forward, we’ll be sharing a series of posts outlining how we expect 5G will drive change across government, and what agencies should do to prepare. 5G means different things to different people, so our “5G for Government” strategy is best visualized as a wheel composed of six core concepts:

  • Technology
  • Standards
  • Security
  • Policy
  • Acquisition
  • Use Cases

This post will look at the evolution of the technology enabling 5G, and more importantly, the types of devices, applications, and services that will soon depend on it.

New Tech, Same Trends

The first cellular telephones hit the market in the mid-1970s and offered wireless voice calling over an analog network. In the early 90s, this first generation cellular technology, using analog telecommunications standards, transitioned to a 2G digital network, allowing both voice and data to travel wirelessly between devices.

3G and 4G gave us mobile internet and streaming video, respectively, leading to the rise of the smartphone and entirely new industries, such as mobile application development and cross-platform analytics.

Remember when you couldn’t open an email attachment on your phone or send a photo—let alone a video—over a wireless network? When did that change?

Most people could not tell you which network generation enabled what feature, only that devices became faster, applications more data dependent, and new services arose as capabilities increased.

The same will be true for 5G, but due to its engineered flexibility and vast capacity for high-speed data transfer, the changes will come sooner and reach far beyond communications.

Why 5G Is Different

Since 5G is still new to the market, what we can say about its current technology is limited. Indeed, many experts will tell you that 5G was designed to support applications and services that are still largely confined to a laboratory setting. For now, when we look at the technology, we can only compare it to what’s currently on the market, but when we do, it becomes apparent that we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Changing Devices

Take the smartphone, for instance. Right now, a phone on a 4G network downloads data at approximately 12-36 megabits per second (Mbps). A 5G enabled phone clocks in at 50 Mbps at minimum. Phones on the fastest commercial networks can reach 1,000 (1 gigabit) per second, and average speeds are expected to exceed 10 Gbps as the technology matures.

How does it reach these speeds? 5G transmitters use higher frequency radio waves, some in or near the millimeter wave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Bandwidth is much more plentiful there, which greatly increases the capacity and speed of data transfer. Instead of a single cellular antenna, the 5G phone contains multiple receivers, allowing it to process all this data over multiple streams, in parallel. You could liken it to filling a glass of water from the bottom up, and the top down, at the same time. 

Smaller, More Flexible Networks

Like their predecessors, 5G networks are digital cellular networks, in which the service area covered by providers is divided into a mosaic of small geographical areas called cells. While conventional cell phone towers are hundreds of feet tall, millimeter wave antennas are only a few inches long. Though an individual antenna may only cover a small area, multiple antennas can work together as phased arrays to beam data straight to the user. This technique, known as beamforming, is one of many ways that 5G networks can be optimized to improve performance while it serves huge numbers of devices.

Open To Innovation

Small but mighty, 5G networks could be used to provide general home and office internet connections. A technique called network slicing could be used to segment a larger 5G network into highly customizable “slices,” managed and operated independent of the infrastructure owner, tailored to unique business needs. When used in conjunction with software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), 5G could replace outdated cable connections in government offices, campuses, and military bases.

Edge computing is another exciting concept made practical by 5G. This technique involves creating a cloud-based IT service environment at the edge of the cell, leveraging its unique properties and raw power to move computational workloads physically closer to the user. Theoretically, sophisticated edge computing could eliminate the need for physical hard drives and bulky device components, as the actual computing would occur in the cloud and beam compiled data directly to a screen or user interface. Battery sizes would shrink, ushering in new opportunities for wearable and drone technology.

Hypercharged wireless internet and robust cloud computing are just the start. The high data rate and low latency of 5G are envisioned as opening up many new applications in the near future. The use of data-heavy virtual and augmented reality applications in healthcare and research is one promising example. Another is 5G’s facilitation of fast machine-to-machine interactions in the coming Internet of Things . For example, computers in vehicles would continuously communicate with each other, sensors on the road, and real-time, artificial intelligence) generated directions using 5G. This is the kind of “smart grid” cities will have to deploy to support self-driving cars. Over time, communication capabilities and computing power will combine and extend across networks and devices, and information and computing power will be instantaneously available. This will encourage a wave of innovation in applications, services and functions built to run on the new infrastructure. 

Lightning speed, expanded capacity, and massive connectivity are the defining characteristics of current 5G networks and enabled devices. These conditions are ideal for emerging technologies to take root.  

More than that, 5G is widely expected to be a defining stage in the global evolution of IT in general, affecting almost all parts of industry and society. In subsequent posts, we’ll take a look at the standards on which it will all be built and explore the security considerations around its deployment. 

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

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GSA Driving Success in the Small Business Community

Here at GSA, we couldn’t be more proud of our small business partners – they are critical to our ability to deliver mission-enabling technology products, services, and solutions to agencies.

We’re also proud of the various paths to success we provide to small businesses of all types through our contract solutions. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present new challenges and obstacles to many of GSA’s partners in the small business community, we are doing all we can to help keep this important part of the federal IT ecosystem vibrant and successful. As we all navigate new realities and requirements, GSA is working to ensure small businesses have the opportunities to thrive; and that we’re fully supporting them.

The Importance of Small Businesses

The numbers drive this home. In fiscal year 2019, the federal government spent over $68.1 billion on IT, with approximately $47 billion allocated to the IT Services sub-category. Federal agencies awarded $15.6 billion in IT services alone to small businesses. $5.3 billion of that went through GSA contracts. That’s not a small chunk of change.

Considering that almost a third of IT services spend was conducted through GSA and 75 percent of companies on GSA’s Schedule are small businesses; not to mention the nearly 1,000 small businesses on GSA’s Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), the data show that customer agencies continue to rely on GSA and our small business partners’ solutions as invaluable tools to meet their acquisition requirements.

Long History of Supporting Small Businesses

Our small business GWACs have a long history supporting stakeholders – going back to the late 1990s. The GWACs have been focused on assisting customers in meeting statutory and other small business goals while meeting mission outcomes. The first GSA 8(a) GWAC, 8(a) FAST, was awarded in 1997. Since that time, customers have relied upon GSA’s small business GWACs to fulfill over $27B in task orders. Given their direct material contributions to the small business industrial base, the SBGWACs have been supported by every administration since their inception, having iteratively evolved through continuous improvement across each generational sprint.

Given this history, the popularity of these contracts, and the government’s reliance on GSA to deliver these solutions; we take our commitment seriously. Supporting small businesses has always been, and will continue to be, a key driver for GSA going forward.

Looking to the Future

Built with the future in mind, all of GSA’s GWACs have been designated as best-in-class (BIC) – preferred governmentwide solutions capable of supporting Tier 3 spend, a focus of the governmentwide category management strategic plan. We’re focused on ensuring our solutions meet the needs of our customers with a robust number of small businesses of all types.

GSA’s IT Category Small Business Vehicles

  • GSA’s MAS – Information Technology has approximately 4,000 small business industry partners with periods of performance for up to 20 years.
  • 8(a) STARS II GWAC has approximately 800 8(a) firms, supporting the most common IT services NAICS codes; it allows for direct buys up to $4 million, through the end of FY21.
  • VETS 2 GWAC has 70 service-disabled veteran-owned small business contract holders. The initial period of performance through February 2023 with an additional five-year option.
  • Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS), has three (3) small businesses supporting enterprise telecommunications and networking solutions with option periods through 2032- a first-ever for our flagship telecom contracts.

8(a) STARS III Update

The 8(a) STARS II GWAC has exceeded all of our expectations. We’ve raised the contract’s ceiling more than once to accommodate demand. In fact, it’s at its ceiling again and demand continues to be through the roof; we’re working on remedies now to ensure the government can continue to benefit from this easy to use and effective solution

As we move into this contract’s fourth generation we can say for certain that this program is a huge success. The 8(a) STARS program has served as a small business accelerator into the competitive government contracting marketplace, with a significant number of prior 8(a) STARS program participants growing their business so much that we now see them thriving with the big companies on GSA’s Alliant 2 GWAC.

Following that unprecedented success, we’re working on the release of the final solicitation for STARS III. The STARS III GWAC will increase opportunities for agencies to meet socioeconomic goals through our innovative solutions that, in addition to the great 8(a) STARS II foundation, will facilitate emerging technology and OCONUS requirements through specific master contract sub-areas. We plan to issue the final RFP for the 8(a) STARS III GWAC this fiscal year.

Planning The Way Ahead

As we look to the future, we intend to continue to support a large, diverse, and highly capable base of small business IT providers. GSA is pursuing creative strategies to increase the opportunities available to small businesses and expand the pool of small businesses on GSA contracts.

Emerging technology and security are key enablers for good government and GSA is looking at how we can provide more opportunities to innovative small and socioeconomic businesses (Women-Owned, HUBZone, 8(a), and Veteran-Owned), so customer agencies can tap into their expertise to drive IT modernization and improve service delivery.

We’re working to:

  • ensure that contract holder capabilities meet the evolution of technologies and refresh as needed via onramps.
  • remove small business barriers to entry by simplifying submission requirements for future GWACs.
  • further increasing engagement with industry prior to the release of solicitations via industry days and targeted conferences.
  • host regularly scheduled GWAC Program Meeting Reviews (PMR).
  • provide industry partner training.
  • encourage the establishment of an Industry Council for each SBGWAC.

Visit our website to learn more about our IT solutions or use our IT Solutions Navigator to find the vehicle that’s right for you.

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

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Health IT Services for the Fight

As our nation faces COVID 19, telehealth services are more important than ever – GSA can help. GSA’s Health Information Technology (IT) solution was established in 2016 in partnership with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to advance IT systems and services for agencies with a health mission.

Digital health tools can help providers stay on top of the virus’ spread.

With telehealth solutions, we can help keep people safe and healthy. Patients can interact with doctors and their health information remotely while avoiding crowded hospitals or public transit. Telehealth can also map the spread of outbreaks and identify hot spots.

GSA Health IT Services on GSA Schedule

GSA’s Health IT Services Special Item Number (SIN) provides access for federal, state, and local governments to a wide range of health IT services to include telehealth, innovative health IT solutions, emerging health IT research, and other health IT services.

The SIN advances the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan in:

  • Expanding the adoption of health IT products and services;
  • Advancing interoperable health information solutions; and
  • Strengthening healthcare delivery systems.

Given the current healthcare climate and recent advances in health IT, the government will have an increasing need for industry experts who have strong health IT-specific qualifications.

The right health IT tools, now

The Health IT SIN, with close to 500 industry partners, provides a great selection of experts, who are non-traditional system integrators focused on clinical and business-related health IT. They have the skilled staff best suited to implement solutions for healthcare environments. With labor categories that include medical doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, GSA’s Health IT SIN is here to help with emerging government Health IT requirements.

Visit our website to learn more about www.gsa.gov/healthit or use our IT Solutions Navigator to find the vehicle that’s right for you.

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

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GSA Supports Government Readiness

In these tough times, we know how hard agencies are working to continue the good work of government. You don’t have to go it alone – GSA is here to help.

Our solutions make it easier to get mission-critical supplies and services to address the needs of first responders on emergency frontlines. They also provide access to the tools and technology necessary to keep the government running.

Addressing changing environments: continuing operations in an emergency

GSA’s contracts are set up for the quick acquisition of computers, software, mobile devices, cloud and virtual network solutions, cybersecurity, identity management, and health IT solutions.

As federal, state, local, and tribal agencies address the unique challenges presented by a pandemic, GSA will be here when needed as a trusted partner – in the middle of an emergency and in preparation for the next one.

Expedited support services for agencies

GSA is offering expedited support to agencies, including market research services to identify companies that can respond to emergency-related requirements and providing assistance on telework IT requirements as well as expediting requests for GWAC Delegation of Procurement Authority (DPA).

How can my agency get help?

GSA is uniquely positioned to fulfill agency needs and help them implement lasting enterprise solutions to enable modern capabilities.

GSA has several solutions set up to help right away:

  • GSS Laptop and Desktop Blanket Purchase Agreements
  • Wireless Mobility Solutions
  • Cloud / Virtual Solutions / Network Services
  • Cybersecurity
  • Identity Management (PIV/PKI)
  • Health IT Products and Services

Read more about these solutions in our Emergency IT Solutions 2-pager.

What’s next?

Contact us if you need help finding solutions during this crisis. Our Response Solutions Team is ready to assist you in making the right procurement decisions for your mission.

Contact info

For prompt support with emergency IT requirements, contact GSA’s National Customer Service Center:
Call: 855-482-4348
Hours for live chat and calls: Sunday 8 p.m. – Friday 8:30 p.m. CST
Email: ITCSC@gsa.gov

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

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GSA’s VETS 2 GWAC Celebrates 2nd Birthday with 50th Task Order Award

Since GSA’s VETS 2 Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) opened for business in 2018, agencies from across the federal government have discovered its talented contractor pool, easy ordering, and competitive pricing as a great resource to meet their technology requirements. VETS 2 also benefits agencies by offering both Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned (SDVO) small business credit and access to a coveted Best-in-Class contract solution. This has resulted in 50 task order awards valued at nearly $600M in just over two years.

It’s easy to see why this GWAC has grown so popular. VETS 2 provides access to 69 highly qualified companies capable of completing virtually any IT service requirement, including emerging technologies like agile software development, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. VETS 2 also happens to be the only GWAC in the federal government that is set-aside exclusively for SDVO small businesses. These features make VETS 2 an excellent choice for customers looking to enhance business processes or solve a problem at their agencies.

In two short years, DOD and civilian agencies have utilized VETS 2 for a range of mission-critical requirements; including cybersecurity, IT helpdesk services, data analytics and an agency-wide web conferencing solution. With agencies continuing to identify GSA Best-in-Class GWACs as preferred sources for IT requirements, the future is bright for VETS 2.

Agencies interested in hearing more about VETS 2 are invited to participate in a future webinar hosted by the GSA VETS 2 team. Information about future training can be found at www.gsa.gov/vets2. Questions pertaining to VETS 2 can also be sent to vets2@gsa.gov.

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

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