If you’re new to the topic, or perhaps a little rusty, the General Services Administration (GSA) administers a purchasing program called the GSA Multiple Award Schedule program. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule Program awards commercial companies GSA Schedule contracts to sell their products or services to federal agencies at a discounted price. As previously discussed on this blog, a GSA Schedule contract, or simply a GSA Schedule, is a little bit like being part of an exclusive selling network which allows you to agree upon set prices, terms and conditions with the GSA. This simplifies the buying process for different agencies and allows you to sell to the Federal Government through established long-term contracts. With that said, let’s discuss the 5 W’s of GSA Schedules!

GSA adds new Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS) SINs to its Schedule 70 Solicitation in September 2016 and will immediately begin review of modifications and new offers submitted for any of these four SINs. The HACS SINs support President Obama’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP) and the Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan (CSIP) to strategize long-term solutions to cybersecurity awareness and protection. Until now, it has been difficult for federal agencies to find a marketplace that has streamlined cybersecurity services that are both trusted and reliable. Eligible Schedule 70 contractors can now offer services under the four new HACS SINs:

Last month, our contract support experts represented the Winvale team at the Small Business Administration (SBA) Baltimore District Office’s workshop: Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting Program. Workshops hosted by the SBA are extremely beneficial for all small business owners looking to acquire the right tools to succeed in the federal marketplace.

The Formatted Product Tool (FPT) is one of GSA’s most recent developments in its Competitive Pricing Initiative and as of July 2016, FPT has been implemented to select product Schedules as part of its Phase I rollout. Below is a Beginner’s Guide for what contractors need to know once they’ve decided to implement FPT. If you’re interested in learning more about FPT and the implementation schedule, check our previous blog An Executive Overview to GSA's FPT.

Just after its 67th anniversary, GSA began Phase I rollout of its Formatted Product Tool (FPT) in an effort to facilitate the standardization of similar parts offered by different contractors and increase the efficiency in which contractor’s pricelists are updated and made available on GSAAdvantage!. FPT is a systems upgrade within the existing eOffer and eMod platforms for certain Schedules and is an enhancement for GSA Schedule contractors as it eliminates the need for the Schedule Input Program (SIP) and Contracting Officer Review System (CORS) processes. For those not familiar with SIP, this is one of the most common methods for uploading your GSA Pricelist, so that your products/services are visible on GSA eLibrary and GSAAdvantage!. This process can be quite lengthy because it is a multi-stage process requiring 1) a pricelist to be awarded through a new offer award or existing contract modification; 2) the pricelist to be uploaded by the contractor through SIP; and 3) the price ist to be approved by GSA which would result in the pricelist being posted online. Typically, contractors expect no less than 48 hours for their pricelist to be updated. The program can have glitches as well so, combined with the length of time to complete the process, it has been a source of frustration for contractors since its inception. FPT is meant to eliminate the lag between award and acceptance of their new pricelist.