For the second year in a row the Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that the Federal Government has met its small business goal. 24.99% of federal contracts were given to small businesses, this is the highest percentage since the 23% goal was established in 1997. Though 24.99% is only a quarter of federal contracts that were awarded to in FY 2014, it accounted for $91.1 Billion in federal contracts.
The small business goals for FY 2015 are as follows:
Small Business 23%
Women-Owned Small Business 5%
Small Disadvantage Business 5%
HUBZone 3%
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business 3%
Veteran-Owned Small Business 3%
If your business falls into one of these categories, or you think you may fall into one of these categories, and you are not doing as much government business as you want setup a time to discuss your situation with one of your consultants. At the very least our consultant will be able to answer questions and point you in a direction.
Schedule your free consultation today: http://government-contract-services.reservio.com/
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Cloud computing and the GSA
Among the constant changes at the General Services Administration, one that has come in slightly under the radar is the release of a new special item number under schedule 70.
The recently released “Cloud” special item number is created to streamline the purchase of all cloud services through a single SIN. This small change with shorten time for procurement and will clear any confusion on whether the GSA is looking for a cloud-based or premise-based solutions.
SIN 132-40 includes commercially available cloud computing services but the most exciting part for contractors is the inclusion of Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), Platform as a Services (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). While SaaS has been growing commercial as the best way to deliver the newest and best software, the GSA has been lagging in adapting of this delivery and service option. With the ability to purchase SaaS clearly as that, the GSA will be moving forward with technology updates!
If you’re interested in seeing whether your software falls within the Cloud Computing umbrella, take a look at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “Definition of Cloud Computing”. http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf.
There’s also a great checklist that you can use to make sure that your offerings fit. NIST has created this for contractors to avoid confusion.
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/227403/fileName/Response_Template_and_Checklist_for_Cloud_SIN_05202015.action (It’s on Page Two!)
For contractors looking to add this SIN to their GSA offerings, make sure that you include the corresponding NAICS code (518210 data processing, hosting, and related services) on your SAM. Always make sure that you are compliant.
This small change to schedule 70 does mark the GSA moving forward, technology wise. More and more companies are offering their products and services in a cloud computing model which benefits the buyer and seller equal.
Just like submitting any modification, adding SIN 132-40 requires some paperwork. Make sure you read through the solicitation document and follow the instructions closely. And check out the GSA’s page on the Cloud Special Item Number Project- http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/199547.
The recently released “Cloud” special item number is created to streamline the purchase of all cloud services through a single SIN. This small change with shorten time for procurement and will clear any confusion on whether the GSA is looking for a cloud-based or premise-based solutions.
SIN 132-40 includes commercially available cloud computing services but the most exciting part for contractors is the inclusion of Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), Platform as a Services (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). While SaaS has been growing commercial as the best way to deliver the newest and best software, the GSA has been lagging in adapting of this delivery and service option. With the ability to purchase SaaS clearly as that, the GSA will be moving forward with technology updates!
If you’re interested in seeing whether your software falls within the Cloud Computing umbrella, take a look at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “Definition of Cloud Computing”. http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf.
There’s also a great checklist that you can use to make sure that your offerings fit. NIST has created this for contractors to avoid confusion.
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/227403/fileName/Response_Template_and_Checklist_for_Cloud_SIN_05202015.action (It’s on Page Two!)
For contractors looking to add this SIN to their GSA offerings, make sure that you include the corresponding NAICS code (518210 data processing, hosting, and related services) on your SAM. Always make sure that you are compliant.
This small change to schedule 70 does mark the GSA moving forward, technology wise. More and more companies are offering their products and services in a cloud computing model which benefits the buyer and seller equal.
Just like submitting any modification, adding SIN 132-40 requires some paperwork. Make sure you read through the solicitation document and follow the instructions closely. And check out the GSA’s page on the Cloud Special Item Number Project- http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/199547.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
New Contractor Assessment Report
Do you have a Contractor Assistance Visit (CAV) coming up? The GSA has made some changes to the Contractor Assessment Report, you will want to be aware of what they are looking for.
For those of you have been through a CAV previously you know that there were certain items listed as "critical" which were the items that your Contracting Officer would list as "serious concerns exist" and ensure that corrections are made. The second category was "mandatory, but not critical" which is exactly what it sounds like. And lastly, "the extras" which include essentially everything else.
With the new Contractor Assessment Report the categories described above are non-existent. The new categories are broken into the following:
For those of you have been through a CAV previously you know that there were certain items listed as "critical" which were the items that your Contracting Officer would list as "serious concerns exist" and ensure that corrections are made. The second category was "mandatory, but not critical" which is exactly what it sounds like. And lastly, "the extras" which include essentially everything else.
With the new Contractor Assessment Report the categories described above are non-existent. The new categories are broken into the following:
- Sales Reporting
- Did the contractor meet the sales requirement?
- Are they reporting on time?
- Are they reporting all GSA sales?
- Pricing
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with pricing requirements?
- Are you pricing based on your awarded price list?
- Prompt Payment Discounts
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with prompt payment discounts?
- If you were awarded them are you actively using them?
- Scope
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with scope of contract?
- Are you on selling what is on your contract?
- Trade Agreements Act
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with Trade agreements act?
- eCommerce
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with eCommerce requirements?
- Did you accept government pay cards?
- Did you fill all GSA Advantage orders?
- Delivery
- Did the contractor demonstrate compliance with delivery requirements?
- If you are awarded FOB Destination are you including shipping in your price?
- If you are FOB Origin are you charging for shipping correctly?
The questions are not all inclusive and are just examples of what will fall under each category. Before your CAV be sure that you are aware of your specific contract information and can answer the above and it will go smoothly.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
00CORP- you don’t have to start over!
Your company has been working diligently, collecting
paperwork and filling out documents for months now, all to submit a proposal
against one of GSA’s service schedules. Countless hours have been spent and
lots of confusion understanding government documents has happened. But you’ve
figured it out, worked with the system and are almost ready to submit.
Then you heard the news: the services schedules are no
longer accepting solicitations against them! All that work for nothing. Not so
fast…
The recent refresh to the solicitation for services
contracts had the following blurb: “New
offers for GSA Schedules 520 (FABS), 541 (AIMS), 738II (Language), 871 (PES),
874 (MOBIS), 874V (Logistics), and 899 (Environmental) are no longer being
solicited or accepted.” If you read on, the solicitation directs all
potential applicants to 00CORP.
So all that hard work later you think, “Great.. Now I have
to start over with a new solicitation?!”
Not quite.
00CORP does have some of its own extra requirements, but a
lot of the work that you’ve done is still valid! The special item numbers
you’ve selected still apply and the narratives that you’ve worked so hard to
craft still work. But here are some quick tips in case 00CORP has your company
stressed out!
Tip 1: make sure
you transfer all your info to the templates for the 00CORP Solicitation. The
headers are correct on the documents found at this link- https://goo.gl/9kCqkM
Tip 2: The
special items that you selected are still correct. Just add a “c” in front of
them to signify consolidated
Tip 3: The
summary of offer document for 00CORP is very different than the services one
was. Make sure you read through it carefully and provide all the necessary
information!
Friday, June 5, 2015
Professional Services Schedule
Our industry has been hearing about the elusive Professional Services Schedule for years. Well after countless push backs and mysteries it is finally here.
Although the time has come and gone for submitting your migration request of June 1st, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. This is what we know:
Although the time has come and gone for submitting your migration request of June 1st, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. This is what we know:
- If you have more than one of the following schedules then you should have submitted your migration request: 520, 871, 874, 874 V, 738 II, or 899.
- Once the migration is complete you will have 1 GSA Contract with a brand new Contract number and term. Which means that you will only have to worry about the $25,000 minimum sales requirement for one Schedule.
- The GSA has promised that all migrations that were submitted by the June 1st deadline will be completed before October 1st.
- If you did not submit your migration request by June 1st you need to contact your contracting officer and explain your situation ASAP!
- GSA has stated that contractors who have not done so are not guaranteed migration by Oct 1st and after Oct 1st they will be canceling one of those contractors multiple schedule. Of which you have no choice and it will be done at random.
- For new contractors going under any of those schedule you will directed to submit a 00 Corp.
- However, you will be at the back of the line waiting for the GSA to complete all of the migrations first.
For as long as the GSA has been discussing this we know very little. We do not have any inkling how the GSA will handle those contractors who only have 1 of the included schedules.
For the time being, if you have not submitted your migration please please please contact your contracting officer. If the GSA decides to enlighten us with additional information the GCS team will be sure to share it.
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