GSA Seeking Feedback on Next Iteration of Acquisition Strategy for Centers of Excellence
On January 24, 2019, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on its Centers of Excellence (CoE) draft Blanket Purchase Agreement for Phase I discovery and assessment efforts (Discovery BPA). The RFI seeks industry feedback on the proposed Discovery BPA and is open for comment until Friday, February 8, 2019. Interested vendors can view the RFI on eBuy by searching RFQID number RFQ1347115 with a title of “Center of Excellence Discovery.”
The proposed Discovery BPA, has an anticipated three year performance period and would result in a pool of multiple awardees with expertise in at least three functional areas. It would replace the current Phase I approach, which uses one contract to cover all of a CoE’s Phase I work, with a model that allows CoEs to quickly issue call orders as needs arise. This new level of flexibility will enable each CoE to dive deeply into the areas they are tasked to work on, further facilitating rapid transformation.
“The desired outcome of the Discovery BPA is to emphasize repeatability and scalability. We want to give every agency that works with CoEs access to private sector partners who can provide the expertise and technological know-how successfully implement IT modernization agency-wide,” said Bob De Luca, Executive Director of CoE. “It will also serve to reduce the total cost associated with the CoE efforts, allowing agencies to allocate more of their budget towards deliverables rather than on administrative procurement work.”
The Discovery BPA seeks to fulfill the core requirements of Phase I by providing a contract to obtain discovery-related work on an as-needed basis and a procurement process that allows project teams to operate in a more agile fashion. It also aims to give government teams the ability to issue awards quicker and allow vendors to participate in a wider range of opportunities, whether individually or in teams.
The CoEs expect the awards resulting from the Discovery BPA will be against GSA Schedule 70, Information Technology across a wide variety of SINs. Vendors are encouraged to use GSA’s new FASt Lane if they feel they have the expertise needed and would like to participate in the pending procurement.
The CoEs want to hear from you, the vendor community, on the scope, approach, vehicle selection, and other feedback you may have!
Learn more with our frequently asked questions related to this RFI.
Return to Updates