Tag: GSS

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Update to Better Contracting Initiative 2

In an earlier blog post, Transforming Government IT Procurement: Better Contracting Initiative Priority 2, I introduced the Better Contracting Initiative (BCI) as a driving force behind our ongoing efforts to modernize government IT procurement. 

I described the Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy initiative led by the IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO) to centralize engagement with critical Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and negotiate universal contract and process improvements to ensure that all agencies benefit from best-in-class terms and pricing as “One Customer.”

Today, I’ll provide details on the ITVMO’s Governmentwide Microsoft Acquisition Strategy (GMAS), an unprecedented initiative to forge a strategic partnership between the government and Microsoft, and provide immense value to the government and one of its critical IT suppliers.

The GMAS origin

In 2023, the ITVMO launched the GMAS initiative to help standardize government contract terms and pricing for Microsoft products and services, offered by many resellers, regardless of where or how agencies acquire them. The goal was to consolidate best-in-class terms into a universal term sheet that agencies could apply to any government buying vehicle. With best-in-class terms and enhanced cybersecurity standards, all government agencies, large and small, would benefit from the U. S. government’s size and weight, and avoid the inefficiencies of negotiating certain contract terms at each procurement. The process was designed to be collaborative, both across the government and with Microsoft, to generate efficiencies for all parties.

Comprehensive due diligence and preparation

After reviewing Microsoft contracts from each of the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies, the ITVMO compiled a list of 150+ contract terms and conditions worthy of standardization due to their varying language and benefits. ITVMO also performed an extensive price analysis that revealed substantial variance in pricing from resellers due to factors not always driven by “size of the prize.”

These contractual and price variances revealed an opportunity to capitalize on identified flexibilities, establishing best-in-class contract elements to apply to all government contracts.

With every CFO Act agency participating, the ITVMO hosted a Civilian Services Acquisition Workshop (C-SAW). Over two days, the group collaboratively concentrated the original list of terms and price reduction concepts down to 24. These 24 items comprised the foundation of the GMAS initiative.

Partnership with Microsoft

Over the course of several months, the ITVMO, Office of Management and Budget, and Microsoft’s Federal Division discussed the government’s requests and proposed additional ways to establish a strategic partnership. 

The teams walked through each item to understand the specific requests and the underlying challenges. Stakeholders from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) engaged with Microsoft’s cybersecurity teams to discuss the critical security elements and standards that GMAS aimed to achieve. 

Recently, the government provided a detailed compendium of solutions for Microsoft to formally consider at the corporate level, as many of the items require updates to long-standing corporate policies. Considerations and discussions on the original 24 challenges are ongoing as of October 2024.

Looking ahead

Microsoft has committed to working with the ITVMO to advance the initiative’s progress. We will continue to work with Microsoft to finalize a path forward.  Throughout the project, Microsoft has acknowledged how implementing consistency across contracts between agencies and resellers would improve its performance as a product and service provider. 

Having spent the last six months working with Microsoft, the government is pleased with the emerging alliance. Clearly, both sides value the other as a critical partner, as demonstrated by the willing collaboration of the GMAS effort. The government is confident that this project will yield unprecedented success and pave the way for more strategic endeavors with other critical IT industry partners.

The GMAS initiative is truly a first-of-its-kind effort to solidify the government as “one customer” in the eyes of a critical industry partner. Building on the anticipated success of GMAS, the ITVMO intends to launch similar efforts with other IT OEMs in FY25. 

Stay tuned for more updates on GMAS and upcoming ITVMO initiatives to improve IT buying conditions for the federal government.

Visit our website to learn more about how GSA’s Office of Information Technology Category addresses the BCI through the ITVMO.

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Transforming Government IT Procurement: Better Contracting Initiative Priority 2

As part of our ongoing efforts to modernize government IT procurement and management, the Better Contracting Initiative (BCI) has been a cornerstone of our strategy at the Governmentwide IT Program Management Office. Today, I am excited to discuss the strides we are making under the BCI, particularly Priority 2, which focuses on negotiating common enterprise-wide software licenses.

We’ve embarked on a journey to streamline how our federal government procures and manages its software assets. Our new Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy initiative not only aims to enhance operational efficiencies but also to achieve substantial cost savings and increase buying efficiencies.

Strategic collaboration and enhanced efficiency

Our approach under Priority 2 of the BCI involves collaboration and strategic negotiation directly with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), which are essential in managing the government’s vast array of IT resources. By centralizing our engagement processes and encouraging industry to view government agencies as “one customer,” we are ensuring that all government agencies, large and small, benefit from the best possible terms and prices, avoiding the inefficiencies of fragmented and duplicative contract terms.

IT Vendor Management Office’s role in the Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy initiative

The IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO) has been instrumental in this effort, spearheading direct engagements by developing partnerships with OEMs, conceptualizing solutions for governmentwide challenges, negotiating resolutions, and establishing guidelines that will serve as the benchmark for software procurement across federal agencies. The Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy initiative is truly a governmentwide endeavor.

Steps to success

The ITVMO first identifies target OEMs by soliciting quantitative and qualitative data from all 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies. Using analysis of governmentwide spend and the gravity of common OEM-specific challenges, the ITVMO recommends an OEM to address, which is then validated and approved by government leadership.

The ITVMO then collects contract data from all 24 CFO Act agencies and performs significant analysis on terms and pricing to identify inconsistencies and abnormalities (both good and bad). With the help of a Governmentwide Integrated Project Team, the ITVMO builds a list of best-in-class terms and target pricing to pursue via a variety of recommended solutions.

After a comprehensive review and discussion of these recommended solutions through a Civilian Service Acquisition Workshop, which further supports implementation of BCI through Prong #3 focusing on getting requirements right the first time which will avoid waste and save financial resources, the CFO Act agencies and the ITVMO works to finalize a set of governmentwide requests for the OEM.

Finally, the government engages the OEM in a collaborative fashion by walking decision-makers through the government’s challenges and recommended solutions for the purpose of cooperative adjustment and, ultimately, acceptance of our governmentwide concepts through modifications to all governmentwide acquisition vehicles so that all federal entities get the benefits of our “one customer” approach.

Consistency in contracts = Better contracting

The initiative is part of a broader effort to not only manage costs but also to ensure that the software we procure is secure, reliable, and meets the diverse needs of the federal workforce. To that end, we’ve made significant progress in identifying key areas where terms and conditions can be standardized to benefit all agencies. Our focus has been on improving license flexibility and mobility, enhancing cybersecurity measures, and implementing cost-effective pricing strategies. The feedback from various stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive, indicating strong support for a more unified approach to software licensing in the federal sector.

Looking ahead

As we continue to advance this initiative, the insights gained from our ongoing discussions and negotiations will inform our strategies, ensuring that the federal government remains a prudent and effective purchaser of IT resources. To that end, the ITVMO is putting together a guide for agency acquisitions, specific to critical OEMs, to ensure broad recognition and adoption of the best-in-class practices we learned about throughout the Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy process. The goal is not only to save money but also to improve our IT infrastructure, making it more responsive to the needs of our agencies and the public.

The Better Contracting Initiative is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence in government IT procurement. With Priority 2, we are setting new standards for how the government collaborates and negotiates in the IT realm, ensuring better outcomes for all our stakeholders. Stay tuned as we continue to make strides in transforming government IT procurement for the better.

Visit our website to learn more about how ITC is addressing the BCI through the ITVMO.

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Efficiency, security at the heart of ITC’s hardware solutions: governmentwide strategic solutions (GSS) blanket purchase agreement

The IT requirements of government agencies are always shifting, as is the IT acquisition landscape itself. The pandemic amplified the need for desktops and laptops so that agencies can continue carrying out missions during emergencies that keep folks away from a physical workplace. To meet this ongoing need, the Information Technology Category (ITC) established the governmentwide strategic solutions (GSS) BPAs in 2015.

As a Best-in-Class solution that offers desktop and laptop computers with standard configurations that can then be customized to meet customer requirements, the GSS BPAs are another example of how ITC hardware and software solutions are practical and cost-competitive for agencies.

Governmentwide strategic solutions (GSS) BPAs

The GSS BPAs allow all government agencies to simply “click and buy” pre-configured laptops, desktops, tablets, and monitors. They furnish option upgrades and services with a faster, more-efficient business model that provides cost savings for the government as well as next-generation technology customer-service capabilities. With a streamlined buying process for federal, state, local, and tribal governments, no additional competition or brand name justification is required. If an agency needs an end user device, this is the program to get it.

The GSS BPAs are recompeted annually to incorporate customer feedback and new products. This ensures:

  • The latest technology is available.
  • Technology configurations align with agency needs.
  • More consistent and competitive pricing.
  • Better terms and conditions.

Our Workstation Category Team works closely with agency and industry stakeholders to evaluate and refresh GSS standard configurations every nine months, helping the government aggregate demand and use its consolidated buying power.

On September 3, 2022, ITC awarded 4 categories for its Version 8 GSS BPAs for Dell, HP, Lenovo and Microsoft. The BPAs will have a performance period of 5 years, and products are available through GSA Advantage!® under GSS for IT products. To mitigate security risks, each of the awardees maintain vetted supply chain risk management (SCRM) plans in compliance with the NIST standard. As of Version 8, all machines now have a RAM minimum of 16GB, and all performance machines boast a minimum of 32GB.

GSS BPAs by the numbers

Did you know that the largest purchasing customer off of the GSS BPA realized a bulk discount of 50 percent of the Schedule price? Check out some other GSS BPA statistics below to see how it measures up:

  • Agencies executing large-quantity purchases through GSA’s GSS program in FY22 have an average savings per unit of 38 percent off the base price.
  • The GSS Program has 29 vendors (23 of which are small businesses).
  • The U.S. Special Operations Command is the GSS BPAs’ top user with over $238 million of orders since FY18.
  • Over 1,300 total transactions have been conducted this year.
  • From FY20 to FY21, GSS program sales increased 36.4 percent, recognition of the value many agencies see in the program.
A bar graph depicting GSS Program Sales from FY16 through FY21. The graph indicates a steady increase in total value in millions each FY.

As the end of the fiscal year nears, check out the GSS BPAs as an easy-to-use, compliant and efficient purchasing option for your hardware needs. These BPAs are available via the GSA AdvantageSelect buying platform. Use eBuy to get quotes for your GSS desktop and laptop products.

To read more on how to buy, check out the ITC GSS buying guide. For more details on ordering, visit the GSS information page. Visit gsa.gov/gssdesktoplaptop to learn more about these solutions or use our IT Solutions Navigator to find the vehicle that’s right for you.

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Better Process, Price through Government-wide Strategic Solution (GSS) for Desktops and Laptops Program

We pride ourselves on providing federal agencies with IT solutions at the best value through an efficient buying experience.

To further improve the buying experience, the Governmentwide Strategic Solutions (GSS) for desktops and laptops program formed a partnership among procurement teams from agencies across government. Working closely with our industry partners, the GSS team negotiated better terms and conditions, more consistent pricing, and a streamlined buying process for federal, state, and local governments.

The government depends on desktops and laptops every day to accomplish its mission. More than $1 billion is spent annually on this critical IT hardware. Most of this $1 billion is spent on similar desktop and laptop configurations from the same original equipment manufacturers, but spread across thousands of different contracts.

The Workstation Category Team, established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), worked closely with agency and industry stakeholders to create GSS standard configurations. They’re designed to meet 80 percent of the government’s desktop and laptop requirements, helping the government aggregate demand and use its consolidated buying power.

How’d we do it?

The category team worked to ensure participating contractors offer the full breadth of GSS-compliant desktops, laptops, options, and accessories through their IT Schedule 70 contracts. Also, GSA Advantage catalogs for GSS desktops and laptops were fully overhauled to clearly show compliant machines, with full descriptions and a menu-driven option and accessory configurator.

To make buying these products quick and easy, IT Schedule 70 awarded three multi-agency (government-wide) single-award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) to support OMB’s GSS Desktop and Laptop category management strategy.

These BPAs are recompeted annually to ensure the latest technology is available in a GSS-compliant configuration, at the most competitive prices in government.

These three BPAs are available via the GSA AdvantageSelect buying platform.

Better Buying for the Future

GSS program use has increased nearly 700 percent over the last two fiscal years. At the same time, use of our AdvantageSelect GSS BPA has increased by 400 percent from FY17.

The discounts realized through the competitive process encouraged this growth. Agencies executing large-quantity purchases through GSA’s GSS Program in FY18 have realized discounts of up to 40 percent off GSA contract ceiling prices.

To make sure everyone hears about this, GSA’s IT Hardware Category Management team hosts regular training sessions that tell agencies how to maximize savings and buying power for obtaining GSS-compliant desktop and laptop computers, as well as options, accessories, and peripherals at competitive prices.

These webinars make it easier for agencies to benefit from this outstanding program; learning more about simple purchasing options is especially important to government buyers as we near the end of a fiscal year. To learn more about the configurations and contracts and to make your purchase, see GSA Advantage or the Acquisition Gateway.

For GSA GSS Desktop/Laptop help, please visit our webpage or contact workstations@gsa.gov

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

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IT Hardware: Delivering Cost Savings through Desktops & Laptops

This blog post is part of a seven-part series reviewing the Acquisition Gateway and IT Category data, trends, expertise, and advocacy that GSA’s ITC organization offers to support other agencies’ missions.

(Note: This is a guest blog post by Paul Morris, IT Hardware Subcategory Manager for ITC in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). He oversees the management of GSA’s IT Hardware solutions, Client and Supply Management, and Market Analysis, and publishes relevant content within the IT Hardware’s Category Hallway in GSA’s Acquisition Gateway.)

During Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, GSA implemented and delivered contract vehicles and easy-to-use solutions that resulted in significant savings for government agencies. One major initiative that is already leveraging the federal government’s buying power, collaborating with other federal agencies and industry, and creating acquisition efficiency is the Government-wide Strategic Solutions (GSS) for Desktops and Laptops program.

The GSS program is co-led by HHS/NIH, NASA, and GSA with heavy involvement from the Army CHESS program.  GSA’s IT Schedule 70 contractors offer the GSS standard configurations for desktop and laptop computers that provide government agencies lower pricing, standard terms and conditions, access to spend and pricing data, and best- in-class solutions. These standard configurations were developed by the GSS team after evaluating governmentwide spend data for laptops and desktops, and working with more than 20 agencies to understand what was being purchased and what the agencies’ needs were.

GSS for Desktops & Laptops Sees Growth

Current spend indicates that desktops and laptops account for approximately 10 percent of the total $12 billion in annual government IT hardware. When GSA’s GSS Desktop and Laptop program first launched in October 2015, we were encouraged by the initial success. Based on FY 2017 end-of-first quarter data, we are seeing purchasing increase through the GSS Desktop and Laptop IT Schedule 70 program, as well as across NIH’s Chief Information Officer-IT Commodities and Solutions (NIH CIO-CS) governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC), and NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (NASA SEWP).

Moreover, across GSA’s IT Schedule 70, NIH’s CIO-CS GWAC, and NASA’s SEWP, we have seen an increase in usage to date, when compared to the same period during FY 2016 (an increase from $270,000 to nearly $5 million in GSS purchases alone). We expect strong growth throughout the remaining three quarters in FY 2017, well over 2016’s approximate spend of $16 million.

Likewise, in the previous fourth quarter of FY 2016, GSA and NASA government-wide buying events resulted in discounts of 15 percent to 23 percent from standard contract pricing (depending on the GSS system purchased), an average savings of 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum was one agency that benefitted from the government-wide buying event. Since we provided the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with cost estimates of need upfront, they were able to procure an additional 55 computers because of the savings.

Looking Ahead in IT Hardware

We are taking lessons learned and making continual improvements to our hardware offering.  We are working with the GSS team and will be upgrading the standard configurations, exploring options for expanding the offerings, and planning our FY17 buying event.

Here’s a look ahead for the IT Hardware Subcategory:

  • We’re improving GSA eTools — This year, all GSS Desktops and Laptops in GSA Advantage!® will be easy to find and will have a consistent look and feel for configuration and pricing information.
  • We’re incorporating FY 2016 lessons learned into our planning for FY 2017 GSS Buying Events — We are changing the equipment configuration and features, and communicating early that we intend to host a fourth quarter GSS buying event.
  • We’re supporting the IT Security Subcategory’s Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Provenance pilot — By improving existing SCRM into our solutions, we can reduce agency risk and increase buyer confidence. We’ll work with our customers and vendors to assess the use of SCRM controls in the desktop and laptop purchase experience.

We are excited about the solutions in place under GSS Desktops and Laptops, and the potential to save federal agencies time and money.

To learn more about the IT Hardware Category program, contracts, hardware configurations, or to share your thoughts on the program, reach out to the GSA IT Hardware Subcategory Manager, or browse the Acquisition Gateway’s IT Hardware Subcategory Hallway.

We also offer several ways to purchase IT hardware:

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

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Government-wide Desktops and Laptops, Smarter Buying

Note: This is a guest blog post by Kay Ely, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Integrated Technology Services.

ITS prides itself on providing federal agencies with IT solutions at the best value through the smoothest possible buying process. The recent addition of a new approach to buying hardware, the Governmentwide Strategic Solutions (GSS) for laptops and desktops, is a prime example of how several agencies worked together with our partners across government and industry to improve the buying process and at the same time get better prices for federal, state and local governments.

As govvies, we depend on laptops and desktops every day to get our work done and the amount we spend on computers proves it. Every year the federal government spends more than $1 billion to ensure that we have the critical equipment to do our jobs. 80 percent of that is spent on the same equipment from the same companies across thousands of contracts, with little visibility from one agency to the next as to what price is being paid. We knew there had to be a better way.

By working closely with agencies and industry partners an innovative approach was developed for acquiring the best equipment at the best price. To put it simply, standardizing requirements, and buying collectively – this is the “Governmentwide Approach”.

How’d we accomplished this?

Using a category management approach, IT Schedule 70 conducted a reverse auction to support the Office of Management and Budget’s recent GSS Laptop/Desktop buying events.

Thirty-six agency representatives attended these buying events to learn more about their computer purchasing options and five agencies have already collectively estimated intent to buy 56,000 laptops and desktops – this “acting as one” approach drove prices down by an average of 16 percent. And that is one good example! The GSS team plans to conduct buying events on a bi-annual basis moving forward.

To participate, suppliers submitted their initial quotes for six optimized configurations (three laptop and three desktop) to GSA via eBuy. Those who were rated technically acceptable were invited to participate in the pricing phase through the GSA Reverse Auction platform. Impress Technologies Solutions Inc. (Dell), ABM Federal Sales (Hewlett-Packard), and NCS Technologies Inc. (Lenovo) were awarded those contracts.

To make it easy for more agencies to benefit from this, we have been hosting Government-wide Strategic Solutions for Desktops and Laptops Buying Event Office Hours – informational sessions with agencies to explain the category management principles applied, the configurations and how to easily place orders.

Better Buying for the Future

Using this program, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has already placed an order for $230,845 which included 100 laptops and 125 desktops. This new pricing enabled the Museum to maximize their budget and get an additional 55 computers that they otherwise couldn’t have. Overall, this came to a savings, against the old pricing, of nearly $75K.

This is the first time that the government has bought laptops and desktops in this way. It’s a great example of category management at work — government and industry worked together, saving U.S. taxpayers an initial $8 million governmentwide, with additional savings to come as more agencies leverage these contracts.

By using this program, your agency could save up to 27 percent off the GSA standard pricing. Of course, the actual savings are going to vary from item to item, but overall this is very good for government. We’re encouraged by the initial success of this program. As we near the end of the fiscal year, government agencies can benefit greatly from the lower pricing to get the best value possible for their dollars spent.

To learn more about the configurations, contracts and to make your purchase, see GSA Advantage or the Acquisition Gateway.

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