The General Services Administration Management Services Center (MSC) held a two day industry event May 25-26, 2010 in Arlington, VA.  The Auburn, WA based staff headed east to meet with vendors and highlighted updates to the Center and to the GSA program.  The MSC Center covers many of the most popular Schedule contracts including MOBIS, Environmental Services, Logistics (LOGWORLD), Language Services, Engineering (PES), and others.

Below are a few of the highlights from the event:  

Nancy Goode from the GSA Office of Acquisition Operations provided attendees with an overview of statistics showing continued growth within the MSC managed schedules. 2009 sales exceeded $20.5 billion representing a 21.5% increase from 2006 with an average annual increase of 7.2%.  2010 MSC fiscal year sales have exceeded $11.2 billion to date and are on pace to meet the $22 billion goal set for the year.  The largest increase in sales were under the LOGWORLD Schedule with an increase of more than 19% and Schedule 738 II Language Services with a sales increase of 16% in 2009.

The MSC and Federal Acquisition Service overall are looking to meet the President’s Administration goals to achieve savings and move towards sustainability.  GSA is attempting to help meet these goals through the introduction of a Strategic Sourcing Initiative, which will attempt to make agency purchasing more efficient and less expensive. The initiative attempts to identify product areas where products can be standardized for simplified purchasing by the Government to leverage large volume buys at lower costs. GSA is currently focusing the initiative on office supplies and copy machines, but looking at other areas based on customer need going forward.  To meet the emphasis on Green initiatives GSA is improving the identification of green products through the introduction of new icons for GSA Advantage, pushing agencies to buy Green, and working with service providers to understand how they are meeting industry green standards.  

Other changes coming to GSA to improve the program for customers include the addition of new service areas, addition of ancillary services to all schedules, merging Schedules/SINs as appropriate, continuing the standardization of solicitations, expanding electronic contracting, and improving communications with ordering agencies.  GSA has been working to engage major Government customers, targeting large opportunities and working to influence agencies to use the GSA program for these opportunities. This work by GSA has already led to bringing in over $520 million in sales to the program in 2009 and 2010 to date.   

Clients are encouraged to attend GSA Industry Days as they are a great way to learn about changes and improvements coming to the program and to meet GSA leaders.  These events happen throughout the year and target specific Schedule Centers. The MSC will be having another industry day in Seattle, WA area sometime this fall and WMG will provide more details on the event as the date comes closer.

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Mark Lee, Policy Chief of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) also presented at the MSC Industry Day and provided an overview of several important program updates. He outlined the upcoming Contracts On-line Phase II implementation that will require capturing and displaying any standard clauses that vendors have taken exception to.  This will be done on a contract by contract basis for all GSA Schedule holders. The goal of capturing this data is to help meet the Obama Administration’s goal of Government transparency.  GSA is starting to capture this data on all new awards and incorporating exceptions into the systems now, all existing vendors will be required to provide a list of any exceptions through a mass modification to be rolled out June 21, 2010.  As WMG learns more about the requirement we will report those in the newsletter and your WMG consultant will guide you through the modification process.  We recommend all clients to begin reviewing contract award documentation and begin documenting any standard terms and conditions that may have been taken exception to during negotiations.  This will help expedited the modification process.    

Another positive addition to the program will the standardization and addition of Special Item Numbers for Other Direct Cost (ODC) items that may be necessary to compliment a contractors offering under a specific Schedule.  One important caveat to these SINs is that items/service primarily covered by other Schedule contract cannot be added under these SIN’s.  For example if you sell services under a MOBIS Schedule, you cannot add IT hardware under an ODC SIN as this is covered by the IT Schedule.  Changes to contracts not containing an ODC SIN will be rolled out through solicitation refreshes and mass modifications.  For more information on ODC’s or how the SIN’s will work contact your WMG consultant.  

Also, being rolled out as a result of GSAM 538 rewrite and a proposed 2009 rule include the following:  

• Mandatory eOffer/eMod clause inclusion to all Schedule contracts.

• Updates to the Commercial Sales Practice (CSP) Format will include specific Sales Practice formats for vendors with market pricing without an established pricing catalog and for those vendors with established catalog pricing.

 

• Change to Contractor Teaming Arrangements

• The introduction of a new task order period of performance clause

Change will continue its way through the GSA Schedule program in the next few years with the goal of improving the program for Government Customers, GSA vendors, and GSA

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On May 21, 2010, tbe Department for Homeland Security (DHS) released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for its $22 billion Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions II (EAGLE II) information technology (IT) contract.  The contract will have three functional categories: 1) service delivery, including integration, software design and development, and operations and maintenance; 2) program support; and 3) independent verification and validation. Each of the categories has a small business track and an unrestricted track. The draft RFP does not indicate the number of awards DHS anticipates making, but notes that the 25 unrestricted and 28 small business awards made under the first EAGLE contract were manageable. Comments on the draft are due by June 25 and the final RFP is expected in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010.

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GSA is continuing to roll out the mandatory use of the eOffer/eMod system and encouraging Schedule vendors to prepare to use the new system.  The first step to begin using the system is to obtain a digital certificate from one of the two GSA authorized suppliers, this will verify and make official authorized negotiators signatures when submitting offers, modifications, or other documentation to GSA. Ask your WMG Consultant if your Schedule mandates use of the system, if so we highly recommend obtaining your digital certificate required to use the system as soon as possible.  If clients are planning to submit a new offer or need to submit an urgent modification not having a digital certificate will delay submission of your modification by two weeks or more until the certificate is obtained.  We also encourage an administrative modification to ensure each contract negotiator’s name match the digital certificate exactly or the certificate will not work with the system and there will be further delay. WMG has been working with the system over the last year and are very familiar with how it works and can assist you in understanding, preparing, and submitting eOffers and eMods.

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An established professional services firm is looking for a seasoned, federal marketing leader to support expanding its presence in the public sector and a director of contracts to manage existing contracts and build compliant processes to support significant growth.  Positions in Vienna, VA.

Marketing Director 

http://us-careers-alvarezandmarsal.icims.com/jobs/1345/job

Contracts Director

http://us-careers-alvarezandmarsal.icims.com/jobs/1318/job

Non-profit association of government contractors seeks part-time person to assist with membership retention. Must be willing to learn basic association issues. Phone calling and e-mailing to current members required. Position requires excellent attention to detail and a 100% professional manner. Most work can be done at home, but some office time required. This is a non-staff position. 32 hours/week @ $25/hr. Initial term is for a 12 week period. Resume and cover letter should be sent to Denise Bailey at baileyd@fedsources.com.

WMG has recently increased our market research capabilities to expand our services to all clients.  We are now offering market research in areas such as market sizing, competitive analysis and Schedule analysis to support your informed and focused business development and strategic planning decisions.  Contact your WMG consultant for more details and for any research requests you may have.

New Event! Doing Business with the Federal Government presented by Tim Murphy (PA-18)
Wednesday, June 14, 2010
Please join Congressman Tim Murphy for this special event created for small businesses looking to enter into or expand their presence in the federal marketplace. During this event you will learn the role of GSA in promoting small business participation in government contracting, agencies’ views on small business opportunities and traits of successful contractors. To register for this event, please contact Elaine Klofta at (412) 344-5583 or elaine.klofta@mail.house.gov

FedSources Executive Breakfast – Get to know your CIO
Featuring David Bowen, Assistant Administrator and Chief Information Officer,
Federal Aviation Administration
June 17, 2010
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
Tysons Corner, McLean, VA.
For more information go to:
http://www.fedsources.com/Services/Events/brk_bowen.aspx

GSA Network Services Conference 2010
June 21 – 24, 2010
Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL.
For more information go to:
http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/eventView.do?viewType=DETAIL&eventId=5594&occurId=2481

FedSources & Lohfeld Consulting – Capture Management Training Seminar
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Offices of FedSources, McLean, VA.
For more information or to register go to:
http://www.fedsources.com/Services/Events/Lohfeld_Capture_Management_Training_062410.aspx

DoD Event Highlighting Procurement Policies As Applicable to Non-DoD Contracts
Wednesday June 30, 2010
Shay Assad, Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, will speak to the Coalition for Government Procurement (CGP) about current DOD policies and use of non-DoD contracts on June 30th, 2010 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington.  This is a great opportunity to hear directly from DoD and obtain insight into the agencies procurement strategies.  To register or obtain additional information regarding this event go to www.thecgp.org.