Acquisition system needs integration

GSA, DISA call for more interagency cooperation

By Jason Miller
Executive Editor
FederalNewsRadio

The federal acquisition system actually is not a system at all.

According to Jim Williams, the acting administrator of the General Services Administration, it is a bunch of stove pipes that do not integrate.

“We need people, process and technology to all work together,” says Williams Thursday at the National Contract Management Association’s Government Contract Management Conference in Bethesda, Md. “We need to look at acquisition as one government.”

Williams says agencies need to address people by hiring and training an acquisition workforce that does not waste resources by duplicating contracts.

“We are not leveraging the scarce resource of the acquisition workforce,” Williams says. “We do not need one more agency saying they need another IT support services contract.”

Williams says agencies spend too much attention on the source selection piece of an acquisition and not enough around developing requirements and post award management.

Agencies also do not have standardized Web tools for acquisition. Williams says during times of emergencies the lack of standardization makes it harder to bring together a contingency contracting team because of the differences in their tools.

GSA is trying to address the lack of similar tools through the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) e-government project. IAE features 10 systems, including a central contractor registration database, a prime contractor past performance system and system for prime contractors to report on how they are meeting their subcontractor goals.

Williams says a big opportunity is to reduce duplicative multiple award contracts.

“Agencies want their own procurement and that is not necessary,” Williams says.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy found in 2007 that there are more than 240 multiple award contracts, such as the Army’s ITES, the Navy’s NetCents and the Homeland Security Department’s Eagle.

Williams says by having so many redundant contracts, agencies are wasting money and time setting them up and managing them.

Instead, they reduce the number and rely only on those agencies that have expertise in certain areas.

He says GSA could be the one source for agencies to buy commercial or common items, while more complex procurements could be handled in a number of different ways, including through a shared service set up.

Williams is not alone in his desire to reduce the number multiple award contracts.

Tony Montemarano, the Defense Information Systems Agency component acquisition executive, says having so many different contracts is costing the government too much.

“If GSA, the Air Force or the Army has a contract, we should use theirs and support each other,” says Montemarano Thursday during a luncheon sponsored by IAC in Arlington, Va. “We need to get away from creating another vehicle if we don’t need to.”

DISA is eliminating three of multiple award contracts that are duplicative.

Montemarano says I-Assure, a $1.5 billion contract awarded in 2000 to provide hardware and technical support services around information assurance, will not be recompeted.

He says the Global Enterprise Management Support (GEMS) contracts, which DISA set up to provide IT program management support services in 2002, expired this year. And, Montemarano says NexGen for large and small business will expire next April.

“People come up with requirements and perceive them to be unique,” Montemarano says. “They do their market research, but do they do it enough? We’ve said enough is enough. We have to push the issue to explore contracts that are not obvious to you.”

Montemarano says if there is a contract available, then DISA should use it.

“We have to develop our interagency, inter-department relationships,” Montemarano says. “We are trying to exploit the benefits of someone else’s efforts to reduce costs.”

He adds many times agencies do not consider the cost of the employees to create and run these contracts.

“Even if you have to pay a fee to use another contract, it may be worth your time,” Montemarano says. “It may not be, but you have to at least take a better look than we have in the past.”

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On the Web:

FederalNewsRadio – GSA FAS made $100 million in 2008

FederalNewsRadio – GSA keeps pushing for better schedule contracts

FederalNewsRadio – A better plan for buying services

GSA – Integrated Acquisition Environment

DISA – Defense IT Contracting Organization

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