We are starting to see the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Cost Efficiency Initiative take shape in the federal government—the Department of Defense (DoD) recently released a memo that limits services contracts, especially IT, management, and advisory professional services. The memo, “Implementation of Executive Order 14222 – Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative” outlines four new policies that are aimed at reducing external support and relying on in-house expertise for these services. If you are a contractor within the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), this update could affect you—here’s what we know so far.

GSA recently announced their plans for Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation Refresh #27, which will be released in June 2025. This Refresh includes several changes to the MAS Program including expanding Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) and making it mandatory for some contractors and retiring 10 Special Item Numbers (SINs). GSA will also end the TDR pilot in this Refresh. Since the Solicitation Refreshes apply to all GSA Schedule contractors, it’s important you understand the changes before you accept the Mass Modification (Mod) once it’s released.

Q4 of the federal government Fiscal Year is like Christmas Eve at a mall—a spending spree full of exciting opportunities for your company and all the chaos that comes with it. While this is the most important time of year for taking advantage of government business, it can come with its own set of challenges. During Q4, government agencies are rushing to spend the remainder of their budget and releasing scores of solicitations. This means while contractors will have a great opportunity to win business during this time, they often face increased competition, tight deadlines, lack of resources, and stringent compliance requirements.

GSA Schedule contract compliance is not an easy task--there are so many requirements to abide by and keep up with, and frankly, it can be overwhelming. GSA Schedule contracts can be a great asset to your company, but they require time and dedication. One of the most important parts of maintaining contract compliance is sales reporting. This is the General Services Administration’s (GSA) way of tracking how your company is performing as a contractor, and collecting data on the solutions that are being acquired through the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program.

The American federal government isn’t the only procurement landscape shifting its attention to denfence spending. The European Union (EU) is undergoing a significant transformation, with a stronger focus on military readiness. This includes organizations like the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), which is also leaning more into defence. As a result, we can expect to see emerging opportunities for both U.S. and EU contractors. In this blog, we’ll cover recent European/NATO defence initiatives so you can stay ahead of these future opportunities.

Recently awarded contractors know that one of the first steps to take after contract award is to upload your product catalog to GSA Advantage!, GSA’s online shopping platform for products. But now you may be wondering what actually happens when governments customers place orders through GSA Advantage? Orders placed on GSA Advantage! are sent to contractors through the Purchase Order (PO) Portal. The PO Portal is a critical part success for GSA Schedule contractors, so in this blog we’ll go over navigating and using the PO Portal.