Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

The Army’s newest $21 billion contract is not your typical government contract

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Last week the Army awarded Microsoft the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) contract, a potentially $21 billion undertaking by the Army to develop next-generation night vision and “situational awareness capabilities” in a Heads Up Display.  Unlike Microsoft’s last multi-billion dollar contract award, the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI), which is still pending before the Court of Federal Claims more than a year after Amazon filed its bid protest challenging the award in November 2019, IVAS is unlikely to experience the same fate.  Why?  Because IVAS was awarded under the Army’s Other Transaction Authority (OTA) and is not subject to the same FAR rules as the JEDI contract.

Continue reading at:  The Contractor’s Perspective

GAO clarifies its jurisdiction over OTA protests

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The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in Spartan Medical, Inc., B-419503, recently clarified the scope of its jurisdiction over bid protests involving an agency’s use of its other transaction agreement (OTA) authority.  The GAO’s decision in this case is noteworthy because agencies are increasingly relying on OTAs to meet their procurement needs.

Continue reading at:  Bradley’s BuildSmart Blog

Other transaction agreements: Where does an unsuccessful bidder go?

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A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona highlights the complexity of jurisdictional issues faced by unsuccessful offerors that challenge government awards of “other transaction” (OT) agreements.  Over the past few years, OT agreements have grown significantly in popularity due to their immunity from the regulatory provisions that typically govern government procurement contracts, including those that address intellectual property rights, cost accounting, and other key terms.  By some reports, Department of Defense (DoD) spending on OT agreements has grown from $2.3 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 to, by some accounts, more than $7 billion in FY 2019.  It is no wonder that companies not selected for an OT agreement have at times attempted to challenge their exclusion in various judicial fora.

Continue reading at:  Hogan Lovells

Journal article: OTAs are government contracts, and why it matters

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Readers of this Journal are likely aware of the burgeoning interest in Other Transactions and Other Transactions Authority (OTA).  Some believe that agencies endowed with OTA are free from the traditional rules of procurement contracting when forming Other Transactions.  With the freedom of OTA, the theory goes, agencies can contract with the most innovative commercial firms, which might otherwise decline the boilerplate terms and compliance burdens associated with procurement contracting.  This article is a reminder that the authority to create an Other Transaction is, at bottom, the authority to create a government contract.  It first explains why Other Transactions qualify as contracts and then begins exploring the implications of the contractual nature of Other Transactions.  Any private party entering into an Other Transaction should be aware of the significance of contracting with the United States.  OTA might clear away many burdensome procurement statutes and regulations, but principles of sovereign immunity and separation of powers, along with the pervasive precedents of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, will continue to ensure that doing business with the federal government, even by “Other Transaction,” is never quite the same as doing business in the commercial market.

Continue reading at:  Arnold & Porter

GSA begins pilot using OTA-like streamlined acquisition process

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The General Services Administration announced Monday its client support center for acquisitions will use a streamlined process, designed to attract startups, to procure innovative, commercial solutions.

As part of a pilot, GSA’s FEDSIM innovation team will rely on the commercial solutions opening (CSO), a solicitation outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation, to acquire technologies and services in the production phase or adapted from existing products from “traditional and non-traditional government contractors.”

“The goal of this pilot program is to provide a streamlined approach for acquiring innovative commercial products and services,” GSA says.

CSO is a recently created tool with simplified contract terms, which Section 880 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017 authorized GSA to create the pilot.  It’s similar to the Other Transaction Authority of defense agencies but differs in that it’s not legally binding, GSA says.

Continue reading at:  FedScoop

OTA agreements exploding in popularity

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The Defense Department is ramping up spending on other transaction authority agreements, according to a recent report by big data analytics firm Govini.

The agreements are a contracting mechanism intended to cut through bureaucratic red tape associated with the Pentagon’s standard acquisition practices, and help the department tap into innovation from nontraditional suppliers.  The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act expanded their application.  OTAs are now available for basic, applied and advanced research projects and for prototype projects and follow-on production, noted the Govini report titled, “Evaluating the Innovative Potential of Other Transaction Authority Investments.”

“To ensure U.S. military advantage, it is imperative for DoD to partner with businesses and academia to incorporate innovative technological advancements into military capability,” the study said.  “DoD is increasingly using OTAs to leverage commercial technology for research and prototyping.”

Following the change in the NDAA, obligation totals grew by 122 percent, eventually reaching a total of $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2018, according to the report.

Continue reading at:  National Defense Magazine 

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