{"id":2120,"date":"2016-07-29T09:30:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T13:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/?p=2120"},"modified":"2024-01-11T18:19:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T23:19:20","slug":"better-pricing-better-value-better-shopping-equals-a-better-schedule-70","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/2016\/07\/29\/better-pricing-better-value-better-shopping-equals-a-better-schedule-70\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Pricing, Better Value, & Better Shopping Equals A Better Schedule 70"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 1949, <\/span>GSA\u2019s mission<\/span><\/a> has been to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology to government and the American people. We pursue this mission relentlessly, and have always welcomed input from all stakeholders as we seek new and effective ways to bring more value to our federal customers. That\u2019s why we appreciate the recommendations presented in a recent audit by GSA\u2019s Office of Inspector General (OIG). Conducted between 2011 through early 2016, this audit \u00a0found that some contracts on GSA\u2019s IT Schedule 70 offered identical products at widely varying prices. And that some items were being offered at prices higher than commercial sales. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We agree with these concerns, which is why we have been working for the past three years to fundamentally transform the <\/span>Multiple Award Schedules (MAS)<\/span><\/a> program, reduce prices, and streamline processes. I\u2019m a consumer too. I\u2019ll come back to a store when I know I’m getting the best deal — anything to avoid going from store to store comparing prices. And that\u2019s exactly what IT Schedule 70 shoppers have told us they want, too. As FAS Commissioner Tom Sharpe laid out in his <\/span>October 2015 blog<\/span><\/a>, we\u2019ve responded to our customers by working to meet that challenge. Over the past few years we\u2019ve been adding new tools and innovations to IT Schedule 70 so that we can give our customers what they want: better pricing, better values and a better shopping experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

We heard from procurement leaders across government that price variability on Schedules was a problem. In response, we spearheaded the Competitive Pricing Initiative (CPI), which looks at the current prices of identical products offered by suppliers through MAS and identifies opportunities for more competitive prices. Since it began in FY 2015, CPI has led to price reductions on roughly 1.4 million items across all of GSA\u2019s 15 products Schedules –savings we passed directly to agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

To help small businesses that don\u2019t have the resources to conduct extensive analyses, we added a Horizontal Pricing Analysis application to our e-toolbox. This market-research resource \u00a0provides MAS contracting officers (COs) with additional data to pass on to MAS suppliers so they can be as competitive as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

To help our COs navigate pricing in a rapidly moving IT market we implemented <\/span>GSA Price Point (XSB)<\/span><\/a>, an automated tool that lets them compare products and evaluate prices of all existing and future GSA Advantage! product listings and contract price modifications. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And we developed the Formatted Product Tool (FPT) to help our MAS contractors and COs negotiate competitive prices for products on Schedule. FPT automates price comparisons for identical items, removes burdensome processes for both vendors and federal buyers, and improves our customers\u2019 GSA Advantage! experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

All these tools and capabilities help government contracting professionals negotiate prices that are in line and competitive with government and commercial marketplace prices. They also provide transparency and better value to both the government and Industry. Central to GSA\u2019s mission is that we deliver value to the federal government and the American people. While IT Schedule 70 is not perfect, we recognize the challenges we\u2019re facing and have have taken concrete steps to make pricing more competitive and to provide the tools to help buyers make smart purchasing decisions. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, we are aware that we must continue to address the very issues identified by the IG and continue to transform the MAS program, reducing prices and streamlining processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/span>i<\/span>n<\/span>c<\/span>e<\/span> t<\/span>h<\/span>a<\/span>t<\/span> s<\/span>t<\/span>u<\/span>d<\/span>y<\/span> b<\/span>e<\/span>g<\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span> i<\/span>n<\/span> 2<\/span>0<\/span>1<\/span>1<\/span>,<\/span> w<\/span>e<\/span> h<\/span>a<\/span>v<\/span>e<\/span> f<\/span>u<\/span>n<\/span>d<\/span>a<\/span>m<\/span>e<\/span>n<\/span>t<\/span>a<\/span>l<\/span>ly <\/span>c<\/span>h<\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span>g<\/span>ed t<\/span>h<\/span>e<\/span> w<\/span>a<\/span>y<\/span> w<\/span>e<\/span> d<\/span>o<\/span> b<\/span>u<\/span>s<\/span>i<\/span>n<\/span>e<\/span>s<\/span>s<\/span> w<\/span>i<\/span>t<\/span>h<\/span> i<\/span>n<\/span>d<\/span>u<\/span>s<\/span>t<\/span>r<\/span>y<\/span> a<\/span>n<\/span>d<\/span> h<\/span>o<\/span>w<\/span> o<\/span>u<\/span>r<\/span> c<\/span>o<\/span>n<\/span>t<\/span>r<\/span>a<\/span>c<\/span>t<\/span>i<\/span>n<\/span>g<\/span> o<\/span>f<\/span>f<\/span>i<\/span>c<\/span>e<\/span>r<\/span>s<\/span> work.<\/span> We have made significant improvements as we tackle pricing issues across the Schedules program. At the same time, we have also cut the time it takes to award contracts, determined a new path for startups to get on Schedule faster, and strengthened our focus on compliance. \u00a0With the new <\/span>Transactional Data Reporting <\/span><\/a>pilot we\u2019ll start to collect and share more information on what the government buys and how much we pay for products and services. After looking at all the changes we have implemented, and looking forward to the improvements we\u2019ll be making down the road, I am more confident and proud than ever that IT Schedule 70 will continue to provide the very best value to all of our important stakeholders.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since 1949, GSA\u2019s mission has been to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology to government and the American people. We pursue this mission relentlessly, and have always welcomed input from all stakeholders as we seek new and effective ways to bring more value to our federal customers. That\u2019s why we appreciate … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Better Pricing, Better Value, & Better Shopping Equals A Better Schedule 70”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19176],"tags":[3497,3498,40,19128,8,19130,19132],"class_list":["post-2120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-services","tag-acquisition-excellence","tag-customer-service","tag-government-acquisition","tag-mas-program","tag-schedule-70","tag-transactional-data-reporting","tag-universal-price-codes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2120"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2128,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions\/2128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsablogs.gsa.gov\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}