GSA will whack at least six GWACs

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

After setting up more than 25 governmentwide acquisition contracts over the last decade, the General Services Administration plans to let at least six of the contracts fade away.

After setting up more than 25 governmentwide acquisition contracts over the last decade, the General Services Administration plans to let at least six of the contracts fade away.Sandra Bates, commissioner of the Federal Technology Service, said none of the six GWACs failed, but they are no longer useful. The contracts are the Disaster Recovery, Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA, Reverse Auctions, Safeguard, Seat Management and Virtual Data Centers GWACs. They are set to expire between now and June 2008.'They put certain subjects in the spotlight, like data center consolidation and seat management, that we needed to discuss as a government,' she said. 'They served their purpose, and maybe it's time for them to go away.'The agency also is reviewing whether to discontinue two other GWACs: Access Certificates for Electronic Services and Smart Card.The Smart Card and ACES contracts duplicate offerings available through other GWACs and schedule contracts, but 'their elimination could affect efforts to implement governmentwide standards,' GSA administrator Stephen Perry said this month at a House Government Reform Committee hearing. GSA will conduct another review before making a final decision, he said.The changes in the GWAC lineup resulted from an internal GSA review. The IT Contract Vehicle Review Board recommended in a recent report that GSA let the contracts expire.In addition, the board recommended that GSA merge two of its largest GWACs, the Millennia and Applications 'N Support for Widely Diverse End-User Requirements.Perry said Millennia and ANSWER overlap significantly, and GSA will consolidate them. 'GSA found a good concept in the GWAC and went too far,' said Larry Allen, executive vice president for the Coalition for Government Procurement of Washington. 'They tried to slice the pie pretty thin, and each slice was never quite as filling as promised.'The result of the changes will be more task orders for the broad-based GWACs. 'The Millennia and ANSWER contracts can do a lot of the same things these other contracts can do, but are more flexible,' Allen said.Both government and industry should save money because of the consolidation, Perry said. Because GSA will no longer have to manage the six GWACs, its staff can be reassigned to improve contract management and customer satisfaction, and reduce GSA and vendor costs, Perry said. Companies will no longer have to compete multiple times for similar IT opportunities, he said.Some vendors might be hurt by the contract phase-out, said attorney David Nadler, a partner with Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP in Washington and co-chairman of the Industry Advisory Council's GWAC Special Interest Group.'Unless some of the niche players can reposition themselves, they could be left out in the cold,' Nadler said.

The consolidation plan

GSA will eliminate:

  • Disaster Recovery Services. Computing and communications recovery services; $150 million ceiling; expires March 2004

  • Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA. Desktop hardware, software and management support services; worth about $13 billion; expires June 2007

  • Reverse Auctions. Web-based reverse-auction service to purchase commercial products; $20 million ceiling; expires July 2004

  • Safeguard. Information security services; worth $250 million; expired last month

  • Seat Management. Management, operation and maintenance of desktop computers and network infrastructure; worth $9 billion; expires June 2008

  • Virtual Data Center Services. Data processing and support services at contractors' outsourcing centers; $6 billion ceiling; expires February 2007


GSA will consider eliminating:
  • Access Certificates for Electronic Services. Digital-certificates services; $600 million ceiling; expires September 2005

  • Smart Card. Products and services for smart-card technologies; $1.5 billion ceiling; expires in May 2010


GSA will merge:
  • Applications 'N Support for Widely Diverse End-User Requirements. Services such as design research, analysis and definition, systems development, software maintenance and facilities management; $25 billion ceiling; expires December 2008.

  • Millennia. Services such as software engineering, communications systems design and implementation, and systems integration; $25 billion ceiling; expires April 2009


Sources: GSA and Input of Reston, Va.

Sandra Bates



















More for some









Gail Repsher Emery is a staff writer for Washington Technology.
X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.