Acting as One for Smarter Acquisition

With the GSA on a never ending mission to simplify and streamline procurement and acquisition, the Acquisition Gateway is a newly updated tool for the Federal Acquisition Workforce to collaborate and better understand the needs of end users. It’s becoming a smart system for acquisition learning.

You might be thinking- how many different tools do the Contracting Officers really need? They already have access to not only all the same website that contractors do, such as www.gsaadvantage.gov and www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov but they have comparison features and competitive analysis features that contractors don’t have access to.

But the Acquisition Gateway is a little bit different. It's a work space for Federal Contracting Officers, which will help them learn the best ways to do their jobs. In turn, that helps the contractors! It’s collaboration tool that can crowd source information from purchasing experts within the Federal Acquisition Workforce to benefit everyone. It’s a more effective tool to find solution comparisons, tools, templates, success stories, and prices paid data, creating more successful outcomes at each step of the acquisition lifecycle.

The Gateway is broken up into 19 separate hallways: Administrative Support, Card Services, Cleaning Supplies & Chemicals, Employee Relocation, Facilities & Maintenance, Freight, IT Hardware, IT Security, IT Services, IT Software, Motor Vehicles, Professional Services, Security & Protection, Small Package Delivery, Talent Development, Telecommunications, Tools & Hardware, Travel, and Workplace Environment. For each hallway, there is a plethora of information provided like expert articles on subject matter, solution finders to make sure they are buying exactly what they need, historical pricing data and community support.

Currently, the tools are only open to Federal government users, but public access is a priority. Contractors will have access to some (but not all) of the same tools as they work on RFPs and pricing their products and services for the government marketplace.

If you’re interested in seeing what exactly the newest updates are, the GSA has created a handy infographic to explain everything. There’s also a great preview video showing what’s new and what’s coming up. 

Expiring Contracts give GSA a Chance for Change

Making government purchasing more streamlined and consolidated has been the mission of the GSA for the last couple years, especially since the new GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth was sworn in. With so many professional services contracts expiring in fiscal year 2016 and even more coming up for expiration in fiscal year 2017, the opportunity is ripe to implement changes and get agencies working together and consolidate purchasing. The consolidation of multiple GSA contracts into the new PSS (Professional Services Schedule) was a starting off point.

Fewer contracting vehicles would mean a simpler way to purchase professional services that agencies need. The goal is to not increase the number of indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts but to better utilize the ones that exist. Whether that means expanding GSA Schedules or OASIS, there are already vehicles out there for the services that the government purchases. There seems to be no need to increase the burden on the government by creating more and more IDIQs when existing contracts can be utilized and any new ones that would be created would exist within current frameworks.

Only 20 percent of government professional services spending is currently running through GSA with the rest going through the open market. Despite the governments wishes, open market competition is continually increasing, 10% between 2011 and 2014 (according to Bloomberg Government) creating the need for more contracting officers and more management, further bloating the government and its buying power.

Theoretically, this move will also increase competition. According to Bloomberg Government, about 80% of federal government spending on general professional services went to just 140 companies. Although there is a chance that those business then subcontracted to others, that is a very small number of companies gather a bulk of the work and money.

Utilizing the current vendor base (all vendors on the GSA have gone through a stringent approval process) and potentially making it easier for start ups to join the GSA can make this particular effort just what the government needs to stop creating new IDIQs and make sure they are utilizing government purchasing power in the best way!