Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

GSA keeping ‘on track’ with schedule consolidation

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The General Services Administration has begun the process of updating pre-existing contracts to meet the terms and conditions of its recently consolidated acquisition schedule.

GSA consolidated 24 schedules for finding and purchasing solutions into one Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) on Oct. 1 to modernize acquisition for federal, state and local agencies.

New contracts are placed on the consolidated schedule, while pre-existing contracts must be modified to be placed on the consolidated schedule — the second phase of the process known as Mass Modification.  Schedule holders have until July 31 to accept the Mass Mod that GSA started issuing Friday, or else their offerings will no longer be accessible on GSA’s eTools platform.

Continue reading at:  fedscoop

With GSA’s schedule consolidation, what is changing and what is not

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This is the third in a series of posts regarding the General Services Administration’s (“GSA”) consolidation of its federal supply schedules into one schedule contract.  Our prior posts addressed GSA’s consolidation process in general and its use of Category Management in constructing the consolidated schedule.  Here, we answer common industry questions regarding what is and is not changing as a result of schedule consolidation.

Continue reading at:  Government Contracts Navigator

GSA’s big changes in 2020, Part 2

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This is the second in a series of blogs regarding the General Services Administration’s (“GSA”) Multiple Award Schedule consolidation.  Previously, we addressed GSA’s three phases of consolidation.  In this post, we focus on certain fundamental, structural changes to the consolidated schedule made during Phase I.

Category Management Comes to the GSA Federal Supply Schedule Program

Generally speaking, GSA’s restructuring can be labeled Category Management.  Over the last year, the GSA Category Management Leadership Council and the Office of Management and Budget developed a government-wide category structure to support category management implementation across the federal government.

Continue reading at:  Blank Rome’s Government Contracts Navigator

Podcast: 2020 will be a busy year for federal procurement

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Fiscal year 2020, which coincides with calendar year 2020, started off busy on the federal contracting front.  Dan Snyder, the director of government contracts at Bloomberg Government, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for a look ahead.

Listen to the podcast at:  Federal News Network

GSA’s big changes in 2020: federal supply schedules consolidation

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2020 may prove to be one of the most active years for federal contractors holding General Services Administration (“GSA”) Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contracts and certain federal contractor registration requirements managed by GSA.  This post is the first of a series on GSA’s changes and addresses GSA’s most publicized action—the consolidation of its federal supply schedules into one schedule.

As promised, in October 2019, GSA released a solicitation that consolidated the solicitations for its 24 federal supply schedules into one solicitation to obtain an FSS contract.  GSA’s consolidation involves three Phases.

Phase I applies to companies that do not already hold an FSS contract.  Phase I was the release of the consolidated solicitation for use by companies seeking to obtain a new schedule contract.  On October 1, 2019, GSA released the consolidated solicitation.

Continue reading at:  Blank Rome

GSA hosting Federal Acquisition Service Training Conference in Atlanta, GA April 14-16, 2020

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The U.S. General Services Administration is hosting its FAST 2020 training conference in Atlanta, GA, from April 14-16, 2020.  We are thrilled that GSA selected Atlanta for this wonderful event.

According to GSA’s website, participating Industry Partners will:

  • Benefit from accessing the most comprehensive federally sponsored training event for contract management, procurement, and acquisition professionals in the nation.
  • Have the opportunity to directly engage with 3,000+ federal contracting professionals and senior policy and program leaders – under one roof, saving on travel and time away from the business.
  • Have hands on opportunity to master the latest government e-tools and processes, and learn from the experts.
  • Have the opportunity for face-to-face meetings with master contracting officers.
  • Have the opportunity to network with large and small business in like industries and develop teaming arrangements to win future business.
  • Be able to showcase company offerings, live, on the show floor and come away with increased market intelligence to advance the company’s competitive advantage.

Detailed information on the conference can be found here:  https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/customer-and-stakeholder-engagement/federal-acquisition-service-training-fast-conference

Date:  April 14-16, 2020

Location:  Atlanta Georgia World Congress Center, 285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30313

Registration is required.  You can register here:  https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/customer-and-stakeholder-engagement/federal-acquisition-service-training-fast-conference

GSA takes next step towards consolidating multiple award schedules

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After receiving more than one thousand comments from industry and other stakeholders, on October 1, 2019, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a solicitation for a single, consolidated Schedule as part of its project to combine its 24 existing Multiple Award Schedules (MAS), also referred to as Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), into one.  It is an important step towards the agency’s goal of simplifying and reducing duplication in its Schedules program, through which more than $30 billion is spent annually on commercial goods and services.  However, much work remains before such a goal can be realized.

This update provides an overview of GSA Schedules consolidation, the timeline for its implementation, and key areas that Schedule contractors should be prepared to track in the coming months.

Continue reading at:  Perkins Coie

GSA to release consolidated MAS program schedule on first of October

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This week, GSA announced it is on track to debut its Consolidated Multiple Acquisition Schedule (MAS) Program Schedule Solicitation on October 1. GSA also gave federal contractors planning to bid on the MAS a head start on the process by releasing a final draft solicitation and an updated industry FAQs sheet. Let’s take a look at how to utilize this opportunity to prepare for the solicitation’s long-awaited debut.

GSA’s MAS Program “establishes long-term Government-wide contracts with commercial firms to provide government buyers with access to a wide variety of commercial supplies, services, and solutions.” GSA first announced its plan to modernize this Program “by consolidating its 24 Multiple Award Schedules into one single Schedule for products and services” on November 27, 2018. GSA aimed to “simplify the buying and selling experience for customers, suppliers, and acquisition professionals.” Over the past ten months, GSA conducted extensive market research and collected industry-wide feedback regarding its consolidation strategies, the new single solicitation format, and the streamlined terms and conditions.

GSA recently announced its plans to publish the Consolidated MAS Program Solicitation on FedBizOpps on October 1, so now’s the time to become familiar with the effects of the consolidation.

Continue reading at:  SmallGovCon 

Consolidated GSA schedule will be out October 1, 2019

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GSA has posted an announcement of its intention to consolidate the current 24 Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) and release a new single Schedule for product, services, and solutions on October 1, 2019.  You can find more information on the GSA’s Interact website including what to expect after the consolidated schedule is released.

 On October 1, 2019, GSA will publish the new, consolidated, solicitation on FedBizOpps along with applicable attachments.  The FBO package will contain:

  • Solicitation
  • Available Offerings Summary Document
  • One Attachment for each Large Category
  • Regulations Incorporate by Reference
  • Significant Changes Document

You can read more on the GSA Interact website.

GSA plans to remove refurbished technology SIN during schedules consolidation

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The General Services Administration plans to remove a special contract category for agencies’ purchase of used or refurbished technology during its ongoing schedules consolidation.

The problem with the category — which GSA refers to as a special item number or SIN — for reselling tech is twofold.  Fraudsters are impersonating agencies placing IT orders, spoofing small businesses into sending used hardware to empty warehouses where the equipment is intercepted and sold on the black market without the bill ever being paid.

There have also been cases where the used or refurbished tech, although sold properly through the category, is counterfeit or has been altered in some way that doesn’t meet government standards, leaving agencies open to supply chain risks

There are “clear signs” small businesses are being phished by fraudsters, Lawrence Hale, a director within the GSA Federal Acquisition Service, said at the 930gov conference Tuesday.  In the latter case, he said, it’s “essentially a supply chain attack.”

GSA’s best course of action, Hale said, is to shut the SIN down.

Continue reading at:  Fedscoop

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