A government contractor always needs to plan ahead for future opportunities, arguably more so than in the commercial marketplace due to the bureaucracy involved. Given the fact that agencies often start planning future opportunities well in advance of the anticipated award date, you may feel you are keeping well informed of relevant contracting opportunities.

We live in an increasingly digitally connected age, and the federal government is no exception. If your business is in the Information Technology (IT) field, you may be leaving money on the table if you are not actively marketing your products and services to the federal government. While often thought of as out of date in terms of its technology, it’s worth noting that the federal government spends billions on new IT hardware, software, solutions, and services every year. Not only that, but it is also increasing its expenditures in an attempt to create a more connected and secure federal cyber infrastructure.

As a federal contractor, you may think you are well acquainted with the System for Award Management (SAM) platform. After all, contractors must keep an active registration in SAM.gov to be eligible for contracting opportunities from federal customers. To keep an active registration, you need to regularly, at least annually, update and renew your company’s SAM registration. However, since many contractors only login to SAM.gov once a year to complete this, you may be shocked by the number of changes to SAM.gov over the past year. As such, I will be going over some of these changes so that you are prepared the next time you log in to SAM.gov.

When you first got your GSA Schedule, you probably learned that it could last for up to 20 years. The thing to keep in mind about this 20-year period though, is that it’s broken up into four periods of five years, consisting of a base period and then three option periods. While your GSA Schedule may last for up to two decades, GSA maintains the right to cancel or allow your GSA Schedule to expire at any time (although it doesn’t generally happen without cause). After this 20-year period is up, you can submit an offer for a new GSA Schedule using streamlined acquisition procedures. As such, proper maintenance of your GSA Schedule is crucial to ensuring a smooth GSA Schedule renewal process whether it's every 5 years or 20 years. So, here's what you need to know about renewing your GSA Schedule.

Whether you already have a GSA Schedule, are working on obtaining one, or are just considering the possibility, you may start to wonder what your competition looks like. Conducting business with a GSA contract has its advantages and in this case, that includes transparency regarding pricing and sales. Once you find out what your competition on the GSA Schedule is, you can look into what they are offering, what their sales look like, and more. This research should allow you to develop a more informed plan on taking advantage of the opportunities available to you on your own GSA Schedule.

Once you’ve been awarded your GSA Schedule, you have a living document in your hands that can last up to 20 years and that any federal agency can purchase from. It's an exciting prospect, but as you are aware, 20 years is a lifetime in the business world. Think back to what was being sold two decades ago. Can you imagine being stuck with a catalog full of floppy disks? To avoid scenarios like this, GSA has established processes to modify your GSA Schedule after it has been awarded.