Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Don’t forget about the GSA Schedule program

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With so much attention on a series of forthcoming GSA GWAC contracts, it might be easy for companies to forget about the old, reliable, GSA Schedule.  However, GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule program did record business last year.  Larry Allen is president of Allen Federal Business Partners.  He talked with Federal Drive with Tom Temin about why the schedule contracts might not be getting the attention they deserve right now.

If you need help or guidance on the GSA Schedule process, feel free to reach out to a GTPAC Procurement Counselor.

Listen to the Podcast at:  The Federal News Network

A whole new marketplace: GSA’s “commercial platforms” initiative

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The US General Services Administration has opened up several commercial marketplaces, including Amazon Business, to allow direct micro-purchases (generally up to $10,000) by federal users.  With sales anticipated to total $6 billion annually, this “commercial platforms” initiative largely removes the federal procurement system as an intermediary in the purchasing process.

Recently, attorneys from Arnold & Porter’s Government Contracts practice and special guest LTC Abraham Young (USA) discuss GSA’s proof-of-concept effort, which has both reshaped procurement and potentially redrawn a marketplace.  They will review the co-authored article they published on issues that the entirely new federal marketplace presents, including competition, transparency, cybersecurity, and customer choice.  This discussion will be an essential briefing for contractors that might want to sell through this important new channel to their government customers, as well as for governments that are considering accessing platforms such as Amazon Business.

Watch the discussion at:  Arnold & Porter

GSA hosting small business event/webinar on April 15, 2021

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General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is hosting a Webinar – “How to do Business with GSA.”  The webinar is open to all small businesses looking for additional information and guidance on GSA opportunities.  This webinar is a comprehensive overview of GSA, which includes a discussion on the GSA Schedule program and Public Building Services (PBS).

Please register on the following Google Form and a calendar invite will be sent no later than the day prior to the event:  https://forms.gle/WebCCqK8NEhe5ArK8

The webinar will be hosted by the GSA Region 6 Small Business Technical Advisor on Thursday, April 15, 2021, from 10 am – 10:30 am EDT (9 am – 9:30 am CDT).

Note:  Webinar will be hosted using Google “Meet.”  Recommend using either the “Google Meet” App or Google Chrome when accessing the training link provided and there is no cost to attend this webinar.

You can find the original posting about the event here:  https://beta.sam.gov/opp/e4e41f808d534dc88bcac7e882f6363a/view

 

DUNS not “done” until spring 2022

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GSA has recently announced that the long-anticipated DUNS Number transition to the new Unique Entity ID (UEI) Standard has been pushed back to April 2022.

SmallGovCon first blogged on GSA’s intention to swap out the DUNS numbering system for the UEI Standard in July 2019.  They also “demystified” the DUNS-to-UEI-transition in a later blog, getting into a few of the details released in GSA’s Q&A on the topic.  As they explained, GSA initially anticipated a transition date of December 2020.  But clearly, that didn’t happen.

Continue reading at:  SmallGovCon

GSA providing automatic 180-day extension of expiring entity registrations in SAM.gov

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The U.S. General Services Administration is working to support the implementation of many aspects of the American Rescue Plan Act.  GSA’s Integrated Award Environment specifically is working to administer relief for certain entities already registered in SAM.gov in order to do business with the government.

To help reduce the burden, there will be a 180-day extension for SAM.gov registrations that have expiration dates ranging between April 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021.  This effort is intended as relief for those otherwise required to re-register during that time frame.  This does not impact entities registering for the first time during this time period.  No action is required on the part of registrants.

Continue reading at:  GSA Interact

Leave sufficient time to deal with technical difficulties when submitting a proposal electronically

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Offerors must be alert to the possibility of technology difficulties when electronically submitting a proposal for a federal procurement as the general rule regarding proposal submissions is that “late is late.”  GAO has heard countless cases in which proposal submission via email has presented complications.  Proposal submission via government portals has presented similar problems for offerors.

Recently, in People, Technology and Processes, LLC, B-419385, B-419385.2, Feb. 2, 2021, GAO heard a challenge to GSA’s rejection of a proposal from consideration for an order under OASIS.  The offeror, People, Technology and Processes or PTP, experienced technical difficulties while trying to submit the proposal via the GSA ASSIST online portal.  Although PTP was unable to submit its proposal, no systemic issues were reported with the portal and GSA timely received six proposals from other offerors.  In denying PTP’s protest, GAO’s decision provides three takeaways for other offerors using the GSA ASSIST portal.

Continue reading at:  Crowell

GSA hosting MAS program webinar March 19th

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The GSA Schedules Program: What You Need to Know!

General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is hosting a Webinar – “The GSA Schedules Program: What You Need to Know!”

The webinar is open to all small businesses looking for additional information and guidance on GSA Schedules (MAS) Program.

Webinar will be hosted by GSA Region 8 Small Business Technical Advisor Eric Rettig on Friday, March 19, 2021 from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET.

Please register on the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/ULWKXY6nVyfvnnqQ6

Virtual Conference login information:

Google Hangout:

Meeting ID:  meet.google.com/vya-bvvm-bht

Phone Numbers 617-675-4444; PIN: ‪150 872 505 4284#

Note: Webinar will be hosted using Google “Meet”. Recommend using either the “Google Meet” App or Google Chrome when accessing the above link.

There is no cost to attend this webinar.

For more information visit:  https://beta.sam.gov/opp/98f7543fde62413a8dee0b178b09ac47/view

GSA signals increased cybersecurity requirements in civilian IT GWACs

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The General Services Administration (“GSA”) is including language regarding cybersecurity requirements in requests for proposals relating to certain IT governmentwide acquisition contracts (“GWACs”).  Certain requirements will be modeled on those the Department of Defense (“DoD”) is including in its contracts as part of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) program.

The GSA confirmed recently that businesses preparing to submit proposals in response to two proposed GWACs (Polaris/Stars III) should expect to see Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) level-specific requirements in certain subsequent orders issued against those contracts.  Speaking at a recent event, Keith Nakasone, deputy assistant commissioner for IT acquisition at the GSA, explained that these new CMMC requirements will be incorporated at the order level rather than the contract level, in order to introduce flexibility in addressing unique needs and bolster an agile framework.

Continue reading at:  JD Supra

A related article can be found at FCW:  https://fcw.com/articles/2021/02/17/cmmc-gsa-gwacs-get-ready.aspx

GSA eyes summer release of final RFP for Polaris small business IT GWAC

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The General Services Administration (GSA) plans to release a final request for proposal (RFP) for its new Polaris small business IT contract by summer 2021.

Polaris is a new governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC).  It emerged as a replacement for Alliant II Small Business (A2SB), following a protest decision in March 2019 that forced GSA to ditch A2SB awards.

Polaris will fill a major gap left by A2SB for agencies to acquire IT service-based solutions from small business that have a range of cutting-edge technologies.  Detailed in a March 9 agency announcement, the contract will be divided into three subcategories, or pools, for companies as follows: HUBZone businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSB), and other small businesses.

Continue reading at:  Bloomberg Government

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