Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Oracle to leave GSA schedule: A signal of broader change?

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GSA logoOracle is leaving the General Services Administration’s schedules program. It’s not going to just stop selling directly through the IT schedule, but the software giant will no longer use third-party resellers either, according to multiple sources.

Let that sink in for a second. One of the largest software vendors in the world is telling GSA, thanks, but we can live without you.

Sources said Oracle decided the GSA schedules just weren’t worth the hassle any longer — the compliance requirements, the potential and real threats of False Claims Act lawsuits and the new Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) rule, all played into this decision.

“The federal market is a very small chunk of their business and while it seems big for us, when you look at someone like Oracle’s overall business, they have to expend an exorbitant amount of resources for little payoff,” said Jennifer Aubel, a principal with Aronson Consulting, who said she wasn’t familiar with Oracle’s decision. “With the TDR and even with not having to do price reduction clause reporting, a company like Oracle would still have to do monthly reporting and there is a lot of concerns, including how GSA will keep the data secure.”

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2016/09/oracle-leave-gsa-schedule-signal-broader-change/

GAO: Out-of-scope delivery order modification was improper

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An agency may not procure new services under an existing GSA Schedule delivery order if the new services exceed scope of the original delivery order.

Peace CorpsIn a recent decision, Onix Networking Corp., B-411841 (Nov. 9, 2015), the GAO sustained a protest where the agency acquired a new type of software by modifying an existing delivery order for software license extensions because the acquisition exceeded the scope of the initial delivery order. According to the GAO, the out-of-scope modification amounted to an improper sole source contract.

The Onix Networking decision involved a modification to a GSA Schedule delivery order held by En Pointe Gov, Inc. The delivery order, which was awarded in 2013, called for En Pointe (a licensed Microsoft reseller) to provide software licenses, software maintenance services, and technical support services to the Peace Corps’s existing suite of Microsoft products.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/gao-out-of-scope-delivery-order-modification-was-improper/

GSA Schedule sales of Chinese products result In $2.3 million false claims settlement

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Sales of Chinese products off the GSA Schedule has resulted in a $2.3 million False Claims Act settlement.

According to a Department of Justice press release, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. has agreed to the settlement to resolve allegations that Samsung informed GSA Schedule resellers that certain products were manufactured in “designated countries” under the Trade Agreements Act, when in fact those products were manufactured in China.

GSA Schedule contracts require that vendors certify that their products comply with the Trade Agreements Act.  The TAA, in turn, generally requires that the government buy products manufactured in the United States or in a “designated country” with which the United States has a trade agreement.  Many countries are designated countries under the TAA, but China is not a designated country.

Samsung has designated resellers who hold GSA Schedule contracts.  Samsung certifies to its resellers that its products are TAA compliant, and those resellers then offer the products for sale off their Schedule contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/debarment-and-penalties/gsa-schedule-sales-of-chinese-products-result-in-2-3-million-false-claims-settlement/

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