Tag: Acquisition Excellence

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“Easy to Find, Easy to Buy” — Envisioning the Next Step for Cloud Computing on IT Schedule 70

GSA has led efforts to create a 21st century government, including introducing cloud to federal agencies. We offer a variety of contract vehicles that help agencies streamline acquisition of cloud technologies, including IT Schedule 70, the Email as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), and Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) like Alliant and Alliant Small Business.

As the cloud marketplace is maturing, we are seeing an increased focus on IT Schedule 70 as one of the main acquisition vehicles for agencies.

IT Schedule 70 is already the largest, most widely used IT acquisition vehicle in the federal government, and we are continuously looking to improve what it offers. One area we are exploring is looking for ways to help customers find and buy cloud services.

For example, we are considering the creation of a single Special Item Number (SIN) for all cloud services that would provide clear cloud technology differentiation for customers and improve ease of access to acquire cloud services. We recently released a request for information, seeking industry input on this idea.

IT Schedule 70 already offers cloud services, and our industry partners have cloud offerings in several SINs, so why create a new SIN?

Through customer dialogue and market research, an integrated team of acquisition, technology, and program experts across the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) has identified that there would be benefits to creating a Cloud SIN to all parties involved:

  • GSA Customers – Clear differentiation of cloud services vs. non-cloud IT products and services, and empowered cloud buying through better data
  • Industry Partners – Opportunity to market distinctive solutions and offerings on IT Schedule 70
  • Internal GSA Operations – Enable more granular reporting on cloud sales to enable decision making, and help our customers buy better through data

The goal of this new SIN would be to provide clear cloud technology differentiation and ease of customer access through systems such as eBuy and GSA Advantage!.

Since SINs create logical categories of services within a Schedule, we envision the creation of a Cloud Computing Services SIN will provide a level of differentiation for customers that would more easily and clearly identify cloud services.  Additionally, GSA could establish a set of qualifying requirements that would help customers in identifying cloud services that meet acceptable standards around security, data, and other characteristics.

We are always looking for ways to make sure that doing business with us is as easy and reliable as possible. We believe that adding a Cloud Computing Services SIN would realign IT Schedule 70 cloud technology offerings to better reflect the current cloud computing market and satisfy customer needs.

The cloud market is sufficiently mature to offer differentiated and vetted cloud services through a single SIN, and this makes sense for both GSA customer agencies and industry partners. We are looking for feedback to make sure we get it right and look forward to the conversation. Read the RFI.

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Help Us Shape the Future

Here in ITS, we’re reevaluating our approach to strategic sourcing by focusing on category management, which will help transform government IT acquisition and improve the value we provide to our customers. We can’t succeed without your feedback on the best ways to improve our performance. We are counting on you—our customers and industry partners—to identify where we can serve you better.

We’re conducting two surveys that focus on ITS, our performance, and what you expect when you work with us.  (These surveys are separate from our recent supplier perception survey and our Customer Loyalty Survey):

Suppliers: The Voice of the Supplier Tool will assess supplier satisfaction in key areas with questions tailored according to category management best practices.

Federal ITS Customers: The Business Alignment Tool will allow ITS customers to assess our acquisition management function as it relates to category management.

The surveys will take no more than 20 minutes, but will give us the insights we need to help tailor our approach to best meet your needs.

Thank you for helping shape our future.

What Category Management Means for You

You may be asking, what is category management and why should it matter to me?

Category management is a data-driven approach to manage groups of related products and services. In principle, it drives greater value by generating sourcing strategies unique to each grouping of products or services (e.g., the software market has different drivers and savings levers than the telecommunications market does).

Ultimately, we expect category management to help us better carry out our mission—and enable our customers to do the same—by shifting our focus away from managing ITS contracts and towards developing market expertise that will put us in the best position to guide our customers to best-fit solutions. Our goal is to become the go-to trusted advisor for our customers’ IT needs.

We know that establishing this position within the federal acquisition community will mean providing customers with value-added services that make designing solutions and using contract vehicles easier while still delivering better value. Category management is a tool we believe will help us meet this challenge by focusing our efforts on understanding customer demand and market dynamics.

Through better management of customer and supplier relationships, we hope to bring greater value to the acquisition process by more easily aligning customer demand with market solutions. Understanding our customers’ need and the Federal IT environment is just one piece of the puzzle. Working with our industry partners to understand emerging technologies and innovative solutions in addition to their cost drivers will be just as important.

To learn how GSA can further help your agency with your IT procurements, contact our National IT Customer Services Center by phone at (855) ITaid4U or by e-mail at ITCSC@gsa.gov.

Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS to join the conversation.

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Alliant GWAC Five Years Later: Usage, savings, and efficiency just keep getting better

Five years ago, GSA’s Integrated Technology Services (ITS) team had an ambitious vision: to create a governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) to meet all of the federal government’s IT services needs. But primarily ITS wanted to save time and money by eliminating the need for agencies to create their own contracts. That vision and commitment created the GSA Alliant GWAC.

Today, $16.5 billion and 54 agencies later, Alliant continues to provide IT services contract support for partner agencies. On May 1, 2014, GSA extended the Alliant option period. Agencies can continue to acquire innovative and complex IT services while still receiving Alliant’s same great customer service until April 2019.

Both DoD and civilian agencies alike use Alliant. Alliant has helped support mission-critical and transformative IT projects for the departments of Homeland Security and State; the Internal Revenue Service;  the Army, Navy, and Air Force,  and many more.

Stellar customer service

Industry partners and federal customers often praise Alliant for its end-to-end stellar customer service and complimentary project scope reviews. Its customer-focused services put Alliant head and shoulders above many other government IT contracts.

Client testimonials note Alliant’s “exceptional” and “unparalleled” customer service and appreciate that “the team responds swiftly to all inquiries,” particularly as “the need to use Alliant has increased.” Another client described the team as “responsive, flexible, and sensitive to our needs” and said, “Without the support of extremely competent GSA contracting staff, there is no way we could have put a contract in place….” Read more Alliant customer testimonials.

Collaboration

As the IT market and emerging new technology evolve, GSA must work with industry and our customers to keep pace. Over the last five years, as advances in federal IT services emerge, the Alliant GWAC Shared Interest Group (SIG), comprising Alliant prime industry partners, works together to stay ahead of the curve.

For example, as the federal government’s interest in moving to cloud-based systems emerged, the SIG worked with a cross-government team to develop sample statements of work (SOWs). These SOWs serve as a valuable roadmap for agencies on how best to acquire, migrate, and integrate cloud systems.

To deliver the best IT solutions to the government, good working relationships with our industry partners are critical. Alliant continues to be recognized as an example of how government and industry can work together to deliver results for the federal government.

Moving Forward

We’re not just resting on our laurels; we know there is plenty of work ahead. We continue to be at the forefront of moving government forward through our “prices paid” data initiative, which helps federal buyers negotiate better because they can see what other agencies are paying for IT services.

Not only do we have certain prices paid data available on strategicsourcing.gov so any government employee can conduct better market research and stronger negotiations, but we are also adding more detail, greater capabilities, and increased functionality.

We are also already moving forward with our Alliant 2 strategy. We are engaging both customers and industry partners through GSA’s Interact community to discuss ideas and strategies that will help shape the next-generation Alliant GWAC. We encourage everyone involved with federal IT purchasing to join the conversation.

Looking forward, we’re thrilled with the possibilities of federal IT’s future. Alliant is a solid, tried- and-true program that is always getting better and better. We are committed to providing the services that have helped so many agency customers over the past five years as we develop the next-generation solution.  

To learn how GSA can further help your agency with your IT procurements, contact our National IT Customer Services Center by phone at (855) ITaid4U or by e-mail at ITCSC@gsa.gov.

 

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Strides in Government Telecommunications

GSA created the first government-wide telecommunications program in 1960. And since that time, we’ve seen technology shift from largely voice-based services to data and IP with the Internet. We’ve seen bandwidth demand increase by orders of magnitude in the past decade.

We’re moving from hardware-based networks to networks operated by software and services, and we’ve moved from owned legacy infrastructure into operating models leveraging cloud and mobile technologies.

Now we’re seeing moves by others than the traditional telecommunications providers into the space, creating even greater changes in the market. This includes leveraging broadband wireless technology for data connectivity and voice service, relying solely on IP data connections for voice and text, and potentially using solar-powered drone technology in place of some traditional satellite capabilities to provide basic Internet access much cheaper to many more people.

Today, many federal agencies depend on GSA’s Networx contracts for their network and IT infrastructure, the backbone needed to support agency missions. The contracts provide agency toll-free numbers; allow agencies to build secure and complex agency-wide networks for voice, data, and video services; and enable access to services like video chat, virtual private networks, and web conferencing. Trends such as cloud computing, virtualization, and the movement toward everything-as-a-service (XaaS) are further increasing the criticality and demand for network bandwidth.

Over the decades, GSA has provided access to state of the art and emerging technology solutions reflecting current and shifting market offerings and government needs. We continually assess the market and work with agencies and industry to add new solutions to our programs and contracts.  If you watch this blog, or have an interest in government telecommunications, you’re most likely familiar with NS2020, our strategy for our next-generation telecommunications and IT infrastructure portfolio.

Let’s take a look at where we are so far.

Evolving Telecom is Essential to Government

  • After conducting a comprehensive market assessment and lessons learned analysis, we’ve just published our Network Services 2020 (NS2020) Strategy. We’ve outlined a portfolio of IT and telecommunications related offerings and services, and are planning new contracts and solutions to replace the Networx program and other contracts.

Cross-Agency and Industry Collaboration Is Critical

  • Agencies, industry, other stakeholders such as GAO, OMB and Hill staff have played and will continue to play a critical role in the success of our next generation program.
  • The NS2020 Interagency Advisory Panel (senior IT and acquisition representatives from a dozen agencies) and our industry partners, including the ACT-IAC NS2020 Working Group and TechAmerica’s GSA Subcommittee, have been actively involved in developing our strategy.

We’re Starting to Execute the NS2020 Strategy

NS2020 Acquisition Activity

  • In December 2013, we released an RFI for a new consolidated Northeast Infrastructure Solution. Comments for the RFI have closed. This is part of a multi-region interim strategy to create three acquisitions (Northeast, Central and Western) to replace local service contracts put into place by 11 Regions.  Expect to see RFIs for two additional consolidated regional acquisitions during 2014.
  • The multi-regional consolidation will allow GSA, vendors, and customer agencies to have an interim strategy driven in part by expiring contract vehicles in regions to cover gaps in regional coverage. It will also allow us to implement and validate some NS2020 concepts in advance of the larger integration.
  • On April 8, 2014, we released an RFI for the Enterprise Infrastructure Solution (EIS), the main contract vehicle expected from the NS2020 strategy. We highly encourage responses to the EIS RFI from all of industry so we can gain more insight on its perspectives towards creating a successful acquisition. Deadline for comments is May 22.
  • The NS2020 strategy’s resulting single global EIS of the future will include the requirements for Networx and the Northeast, Central and Western solutions, plus additional capabilities to meet the comprehensive range of Federal Agency IT/telecommunications requirements through 2028.

What’s Next

  • We continue to work with Congress, the White House, and OMB to ensure the success of NS2020.
  • Stakeholders across government and industry are showing significant interest and commitment to success of evolving telecom.
  • We look forward to everyone’s continued engagement on NS2020 acquisitions, including comments on the recently released EIS RFI, the upcoming consolidated regional RFIs, and the expected release of a draft EIS RFP in FY15.
  • As the EIS acquisition progresses, we anticipate conducting industry days and engaging in other forms of outreach and communication.

As technology continues to shift, GSA will persist to find easy, efficient, and cost savings ways to enable agencies to access and use those technologies.

I encourage you to stay up to date on everything NS2020 and EIS going forward. You can bookmark and regularly check our NS2020 website.

Please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITS to join the conversation.

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Managed Mobility Gets Even Sweeter

College basketball has the Sweet 16 in March. Our kids have chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and gooey marshmallow Peeps in April. And springtime kicking harsh Old Man Winter to the curb to bring in baseball’s Boys of Summer is pretty sweet.

At GSA, we’ve got more sweet news. We recently launched the Mobile Lifecycle & Expense Management (ML&EM) component of GSA’s Managed Mobility Program.

ML&EM solutions can reduce agency mobile costs, saving up to 25% during initial rollout and 8-10% savings thereafter. The larger an agency’s mobile footprint, the higher expected efficiencies and cost savings, but value grows for any agency as its mobile strategy evolves and mobile usage trends up.

Re-cap of Mobile and Wireless

We originally launched the Managed Mobility Program in May 2013 with Mobile Device and Application Management (MDM/MAM). Our program started by identifying MDM/MAM industry solutions on existing government-wide contracts.

We also launched last May the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative Wireless blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) to save government costs on wireless. One agency is saving 30% on wireless service and mobile phones as compared to their prior agreements. All four major wireless carriers provide national coverage. One cool feature is account-level voice and data pooling to reduce overages, further lowering costs.

The New Sweet Spot

To sweeten the mobile management solution mix for agencies, GSA and a cross-government working group most recently documented common government requirements for ML&EM. We identified industry partner solutions that meet the bulk of the requirements and mapped solutions to existing government contracts.

On March 31, we posted links to these ML&EM sources of supply on our website.

ML&EM solutions give agencies resources and expertise to manage wireless expenses and service selection throughout the lifecycle. This includes managing wireless expenses, invoice consolidation, optimization of service plans, managing inventory, invoice/cost distribution, and resolving disputes with carriers. Identified sources of supply can initially examine an agency’s wireless service plan mix, usage trends, and more to see where you might save, and will do this on an ongoing basis to increase an agency’s wireless ongoing cost savings. Contract Optimization standards comply with OMB Circular A-123 and Presidential Executive Order 13589.

In today’s government, we know we need to continually seek ways to save taxpayer dollars on IT. Using Wireless BPAs is one way. Using an ML&EM solution can be another.

Need help on using GSA’s Managed Mobility Program or FSSI Wireless BPAs? Find out how we can assist you through our new Need Help Page. And be sure to follow us and continue the conversation on Twitter @GSA_ITS.

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Hear me talk about our Mobile Technology Solutions

We live in a very mobile and flexible society. We depend greatly on the ability to communicate when and where we choose in both our private and work activities. To that point, the government spends more than $1 billion on wireless services plans and devices each year with the expectation for those figures to increase as demand increases.

Here at GSA, we took a look at the current environment and developed our Mobile Technology Solutions to help our federal customers evaluate their mobile requirements and provide assistance in filling in the gaps.

I’m excited to be trying something new today: A Video Blog! Hear me talk about our Mobile Technology Solutions and let me know your thoughts by reaching out on Twitter to @GSA_ITS

Mary Davie’s video:

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Set the Record Straight on Managed Mobility

It’s been four months since GSA launched our Managed Mobility Program. We’ve gotten positive responses to the program, but we see a few common misconceptions out there, so I thought I would help set the record straight.

Let’s do a quick look at the most common questions we’ve received on our Managed Mobility Program.

  • Is Managed Mobility a new contract or Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)?
  • Is it strictly for federal government use?
  • Is it mandatory?
  • Can I acquire mobile management with wireless service plans?

You’re right if you answered: No. No. No. Yes!

If you didn’t get them all right, here is a brief run-down on the program:

1.    Is Managed Mobility a new contract or Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)?  No. Managed Mobility is not a BPA or other governmentwide contract vehicle. It is a cross-governmental program in response to Digital Government Strategy’s Action Item 5.5. Our program is designed to identify Common Requirements (as defined in our initial Request for Technical Capabilities document) that government agencies face in order to manage mobile resources via Mobile Device Management (MDM),  Mobile Application Management (MAM), and Mobile Lifecycle Management (MLC). We offer evaluation templates, general pricing discussions, and other resources and we link to potential sources of supply on existing government contracts. GSA could award a separate contract in the future after the market evolves and matures.

2.    Is it strictly for federal government use? No. State and local governments can buy mobile management solutions from potential suppliers off the existing GSA’s Schedule 70 government contract and the FSSI Wireless contract. State and local governments, in addition to federal agencies, can use our helpful resources and potential sources of supply to secure their solutions and leverage the existing contracts for acquisition efficiency and cost savings.

3.    Is it mandatory? No. You don’t have to use potential sources of supply. Resources may exist elsewhere, but these potential suppliers are already pre-vetted against requirements to help match agency needs to solutions.

4.    Can I acquire mobile management with wireless service plans? Yes. You can integrate mobile management into your IT environment by buying MDM/MAM separately. We also anticipate that Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) Wireless BPA contractors will modify their recently awarded agreements to enable agencies to acquire and manage wireless service plans, no-cost wireless devices, and MDM together under one manageable contract. Read more about FSSI Wireless.

I hope I’ve cleared up these misconceptions and helped you better understand GSA’s Managed Mobility program. You may also want to watch our Managed Mobility Webinar for more information.

Find out how we can assist you through our new Need Help Page. And be sure to follow us and continue the conversation on Twitter@GSA_ITS

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GSA’s Reverse Auction – A new tool that saves you time and money

Note: This is a guest blog written by Erv Koehler, Regional FAS Commissioner, Southeast Sunbelt Region. His National IT Commodity Program Team in Atlanta has spearheaded the GSA Reverse Auction tool.

GSA is on a roll and literally rolling out new tools to help the government buy smarter by making the acquisition process better, faster, and cheaper.  On July 1, we were proud to launch GSA’s Reverse Auction Tool.  The tool is ideal for commercial items and simple services that can be purchased on a low price technically acceptable basis.

How does Reverse Auction help government?

As we enter the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2013, GSA aims to help agencies acquire goods and services more effectively while helping them save money. During these austere times we want to assist agencies to buy smarter so they can stay focused on their missions. Let’s look at some of the ways GSA’s Reverse Auction Tool can help:

Better  – There is no additional fee for GSA’s Reverse Auction.  12 GSA Schedules, 6 VA Schedules, and multiple Schedules-based Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) are already loaded.  The system is familiar and easy to use because it is based on GSA’s eBuy and eLibrary.  Even users’ Reverse Auction and eBuy logins are the same.  The tool also assists agencies and contracting officers in meeting FAR Compliance. The small business set-aside capability of Schedules and the fair opportunity process of eBuy are already built in.

Faster – A typical reverse auction lasts five days, and multiple bids are received.  Although Reverse Auction does not eliminate multiple quote requirements, it does offer a method of getting the quotes faster and provides the bid history to show price reasonableness based on competition.

Cheaper – Typical reverse auctions show an average savings of about ten percent when comparing the final price to the Independent Government Estimate (IGE).  And best of all, there is no additional fee for the use of GSA Reverse Auction.

Since our launch, we’ve already seen great interest in the tool. Eight agencies have already initiated more than 40 reverse auctions using GSA’s new reverse auction platform.

For more information, please visit us at reverseauctions.gsa.gov and contact us at reverseauctionshelp@gsa.gov or (855) 372-1094. We offer training sessions regularly.

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How to Save More Using Networx

If you had to take a course about Networx called “How to Get the Most from Telecommunications,” would you pass with flying colors, fail, or just get by?

If you know what Networx is, what options are available, and your organization has placed orders using Networx, congratulations, you’ve passed Networx 101. If you want to learn how to get the most from Networx for your organization, you’d be advised to take a 200-level course, or just read this blog post.

Today, not every agency is taking advantage of some of the newer Networx technologies that offer savings and enhanced features to support agency missions. Think of this blog as the Networx 201 cliffs notes, outlining acquisition choices you can make under Networx that may deliver more savings, allow you to take advantage of improved technologies Networx partners offer, and add value without raising your costs.

Networx 101: The Basics

GSA’s Networx offers agencies access to major telecommunications companies and industry partners. In total, the federal government buys over $1.3 billion annually in networking and telecommunication services through Networx.

Acquiring services under Networx Universal or Networx Enterprise gives you the ability to focus your agency resources on building seamless, secure operating environments while ensuring access to the best technology industry has to offer to connect your enterprise.

We’ve saved more than $8.4 billion taxpayer dollars (compared to commercial prices) and lowered telecommunications costs for agencies by aggregating and leveraging our collective buying power since 1999 with Networx and FTS2001.  We’ve saved about $350 million through the first half of FY13.  Last year, the Networx program saved taxpayers over $700M.

Agencies that use Networx save 30%-60% over the cost of most services at commercial rates. This money can go back into agency mission areas.

So, how do we do even better?

Networx 201: Unleashing Better Value

Tip #1—Take advantage of our Unit Pricer and Agency Pricer tools. You can call us at 855-ITaid4U (855-482-4348) or email ITCSC@gsa.gov to request we help run some pricing numbers for your enterprise or project. This allows you to view and compare prices across Networx vendors. We can also show you exactly how much you spend, where it goes, and how much you’ve saved.

Agencies can continuously access new services priced both separately and as a customized solution through contract line item number (CLIN) and fair opportunity ordering. You can see pricing by carrier, which drives down pricing up to 80% over the life of the contracts for some technologies.

Tip #2—Most to-date savings with Networx come from a move away from legacy telecom/network services into newer Networx technologies that offer more for less. So what are some of these technologies that offer better value?

I’ll touch on a few here, but there are others. Please contact your Technology Service Manager (TSM) to learn more about how you can optimize your Networx acquisition choices.

Network-Based IP VPN services account for nearly half of Networx usage today. This is expected as voice, data, and video traffic “converged,” or consolidated, into enterprise-wide IP based wide area networks. If you haven’t explored this service yet, you may want to.

Cloud-based services like Web Conferencing, which provides more benefits than an audio service, requires no capital investment, and is more fully featured since it offers the ability to share information via your desktop.

Common Security Services can increase savings and utility, such as Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS) since it provides a universal platform to comply with government mandates.

Yes, we’ve seen cost savings and value over the years with Networx. But we don’t have to stop here.

Networx includes all the services that FTS2001 did, but it also has some gems not everyone has found yet. Check out your options thoroughly. Ask questions. Call your TSM. When technologies and services available to us do more, do it better, and cost less, our choices become a lot easier.

Please share comments or additional ideas in the comments section below, or follow us on Twitter@GSA_ITS to join the conversation.

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Managed Mobility Myth-Busters

In my last blog, we talked about FSSI Wireless. Today, let’s take a closer look at GSA’s other new complementary program: Managed Mobility.

How does Managed Mobility complement your wireless plans and devices? What are the benefits of Managed Mobility?

Think baseball and sunshine. All your resources are gathered (bats, balls, uniforms, players, coaches, stadium, field, fans, food) and you’re ready to go. But take away the sun and add dark clouds and rain, things don’t go quite as planned. It can be miserable and hard to manage. FSSI Wireless is where you go for your main mobile resources (plans and devices), and Managed Mobility sheds a light on how to best use them.

Our Managed Mobility Program, which launched in May, will help agencies improve enterprise-wide mobile management and keep pace with mobility management best practices and solutions.

With other federal agencies, we launched the Government-Wide Mobile Device Management Program as part of the Administration’s Digital Government Strategy (DGS). We’re hoping to transform government services and use of mobile technology in line with 21st century expectations.

So, to help you understand the Managed Mobility program offerings and benefits, let’s clarify what is true and what is not:

Mobile Management and FSSI Wireless are the same.

FALSE.

These two complementary mobile technology solutions pack a one-two punch. You can buy mobile plans with devices from FSSI Wireless, which will transform how government buys wireless service plans and devices and lower prices.

The Managed Mobility Program will also transform how government manages those devices after buying them. We want to help you better embed mobile management seamlessly into your entire IT portfolio in a way that meets your agency’s needs.

The Managed Mobility Program is a contract vehicle or Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA).

FALSE.

Managed Mobility is not a BPA or other governmentwide vehicle. This program instead identifies and evaluates potential solutions currently on existing contract vehicles that can be procured today. The program creates and maintains a list of potential sources of supply, which meet the greatest number of government requirements.

We don’t need a new contract vehicle for mobile management today.

TRUE.

Based on fluidity, ongoing market evolution, and federal policy space, our cross-government team found the best approach today is to highlight solutions assessed to meet shared enterprise-wide needs. As the market and policy mature, we will revisit what we are doing today.

You can buy a Mobile Device Management (MDM), Mobile Application Management (MAM), and Mobile Life-Cycle (MLC) solution on the list.

TRUE.

You can use the Managed Mobility program’s central repository, information, and staff to identify the solutions that best meets today’s requirements.

You can buy non-mobile IT equipment on the Managed Mobility Solutions list.

FALSE.

Non-mobile IT equipment and services and IT-focused management solutions are not part of this program. You can check out all GSA’s IT solutions.

Buying mobile management solutions from GSA can save acquisition time.

TRUE.

It takes less time to procure an MDM, MAM, or MLC solution than you might think. Much of the work to define requirements, identify potential sources of supply, and secure some baseline pricing to budget your acquisition has already been completed. The time frame for procuring an MDM, depending on the requirements, is much shorter than the typical procurement cycle.

Agencies must procure solutions on the potential solutions list to comply with the Digital Government Strategy (DGS). 

FALSE.

Other solution providers may have solutions that better fit your agency’s need.

If your requirements are not reflected in this program, contact our Managed Mobility Program.

TRUE.

We will continue to assess the requirements and MDM market to meet the greatest governmental need.

I hope I’ve debunked some myths and helped you better understand GSA’s Managed Mobility Program. For more information, read more about our Managed Mobility program.

Share comments or additional ideas in the comments section below, or follow us on Twitter@GSA_ITS to join the conversation.