Blog

Many vendors are aware of the cooperative purchasing trend in State, Local and Education (SLED) government, but not all have considered the potential of these contracts.  Defined simply as instances where two or more government agencies purchase from the same contract to obtain better pricing and efficiency in procurement, these purchases are growing steadily:  Approximately […]

The General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is undergoing a transformation.  The program is being restructured to facilitate pricing transparency, increase customer usage, and improve flexibility and competitiveness moving forward.  As part of this transformation, GSA has implemented the MAS Competitive Pricing Initiative. How it Works The new Competitive Pricing Initiative uses […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a new competitive pricing initiative aimed at identifying and addressing price variability across the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program.  This will be accomplished with the help of two key pricing tools that help federal agencies make smarter, faster buying decisions by allowing contracting officers to easily determine the […]

GSA announced a new tool for contract compliance, The Contractor Assessment Report. The new tool became operational beginning Monday June 15, 2015. This report succeeds the Contractor Assistance Visit (CAV) Report and the Administrative Report Card. The Contractor Assessment Report is designed to provide more effective feedback to contractors and the acquisition community. Shortly after completion […]

A digital signature is the legal equivalent of a hand written signature.  It is most often used on a digital certificate to ensure the certificate’s authenticity, verify the identity of all parties involved in the issuance and receipt of the certificate, and securely encrypt or decrypt data related to the digital certificate. A digital certificate […]

In response to increasing demand for cloud based services and offerings, a new cloud Special Item Number (SIN) was included as part of the General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70 refresh this month.  The cloud SIN makes it easier for agency customers to locate and purchase internet-based cloud service items, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), […]

Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) has issued its updated yearly list of product categories where Federal Prison Industries’ (FPI) portion of the DOD market exceeds five percent. This listing is based on a detailed analysis of FY2014 market and purchase data from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). Office Furniture Added to List Office […]

The General Services Administration (GSA) is continuing to work with vendors to migrate them into the newly formed Professional Services Schedule (PSS) formerly referred to as the Consolidated Schedule (00CORP) with the goal of having the project completed by October 1, 2015. Offers that have been submitted on existing stand- alone schedules are still being […]

In response to the question “Where do General Services Administration (GSA) contract articles originate?”, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) released a Notice of Final Determination on March 10, 2015 resolving ambiguity concerning whether or not a notebook style computer that is manufactured in a non-designated country has been “substantially transformed” by the installation of software or […]