Another opportunity is on the horizon for GSA IT contractors. GSA has released the final draft solicitation for Pool 1 of their new Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) called Ascend. This contract vehicle will serve as a one-stop-shop for government customers to acquire secure cloud service offerings from GSA contractors. The first pool focuses on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (Paas), and will be followed by 2 other pools geared toward Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and and cloud-IT related professional services. Let’s breakdown this upcoming BPA and what it could mean for you as a GSA IT contractor.
What is the Ascend BPA?
For a few years, GSA has been putting out feelers for a cloud marketplace for government customers. The idea is, agencies looking for comprehensive and secure cloud service solutions would have a marketplace to go to with vetted contractors and efficient ordering procedures.
Ascend will complement Special Item Number (SIN): 518210C - Cloud and Cloud-Related IT Professional Services. This contract vehicle will be set up as a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), which means government agencies can more easily and efficiently order recurring products and services from a set of awarded contractors. During acquisition, BPAs generally specify the frequency of orders, invoicing, discounts, requirements (estimated quantities, labor needed, etc.) delivery locations, and time period.
Who Does the Ascend BPA Apply to?
Within the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for Ascend, a contractor is defined as a company that currently holds a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract and has a current catalog for their cloud services and cloud-related IT professional services under SIN 518210C.
The Cloud Ascend BPA Will Have 3 Pools
Ascend will have 3 main independent pools, with respective independent sub-pools. GSA plans to roll out these pools separately, so they will not all be released at once. As mentioned above, the first draft solicitation for Pool 1 was released early October 2024.
Each sub-pool will be independently evaluated and awarded. The government may add additional pools and sub-pools over time based on agencies’ needs and emerging technology. Here are the 3 main pools:
Pool 1: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS)
IaaS provides agencies with processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources. Agencies will not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, but will have control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications.
PaaS allows agencies to deploy consumer-created or acquired applications using programming languages, libraries, services, and tools supported by the provider. Agencies will have control over deployed applications and configuration settings, but not the underlying cloud infrastructure.
Pool 1 currently has 2 sub-pools:
- FedRAMP: Moderate and Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Levels (IL)
- FedRAMP: High and DoD IL
- DoD IL
Pool 2: Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS provides government agencies with the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. These applications are accessible from several devices through an interface such as a web browser or a program. Agencies do not control or manage the underlying cloud infrastructure including the network, servers, operating systems, and storage. This pool will be added at a later date and time via an onboarding process.
The current sub-pools identified in Pool 2 are:
- Office Productivity and Collaboration Tools
- Information Technology Service Management (ITSM)/Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM)
- Customer Relationship Management
Pool 3: Cloud-Related IT Professional Services
Cloud related-IT professional services are focused on supporting the government’s adoption of migration to, integration, governance, or management of commercial cloud services.
The sub-pools identified for Pool 3 are:
- Application and Rationalization Services
- Multi-Cloud Management
- Cloud Migration and Operations
GSA’s Ascend Cloud BPA Has a Strong Emphasis on Cybersecurity and Compliance
Since the Ascend vehicle is focused on secure cloud solutions, GSA is emphasizing security requirements by establishing minimum cybersecurity baselines. GSA will integrate recently updated standards on Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) and Cyber SCRM (C-SCRM). Additionally, Ascend will provide access to only Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) or Department of Defense Cloud Authorization Services (DCAS) authorized cloud solutions. The goal is that by instituting these requirements along with Zero-Trust Architecture principles, there will be a reduced amount of evolving threats and negative cybersecurity incidents.
Ascend will also provide the following to agencies:
- Data ownership and portability: agencies must own their accounts and data and Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) can make the data portable.
- Standardized reporting: of financial information for contract administration, cost control, chargeback and budget management/forecasting (i.e., FinOps).
- Compliance: Ascend has complex requirements built into contract to reduce agency risk and ensures ongoing compliance.
- Ease of ordering: Agencies can have access to standardized catalogs of cloud services under a single acquisition solution.
Benefits of the Cloud BPA for Contractors
We've talked about what Ascend will bring agencies, but this vehicle will also benefit GSA contractors. For contractors, Ascend will:
- Follow a phased acquisition strategy that allows solution providers to participate both at initial award and be eligible for later award pools.
- Get access to high-quality business leads for BPA holders.
- Leverage more opportunities for small business awardees offering cloud-related IT professional services.
What’s the Timeline for the Ascend BPA?
As you may know by now, there’s never a clear or firm timeline when it comes to the government. We do know that the draft solicitation is out for Pool 1 and GSA is collecting comments and recommended answers/solution rationales on the Table 1 - Ascend BPA Draft Solicitation spreadsheet by October 18, 2024. You can review and comment in the posting on GSA eBuy. The date for the final solicitation for Pool 1 and subsequent pools is still to be determined.
Staying On Top of GSA Schedule Opportunities
The positive problem to being a GSA Schedule contractor is there are so many opportunities to follow, and it can be overwhelming to keep up with them. To learn more about upcoming opportunities, you can always use the SAM.gov contract opportunities section and GSA eBuy to your advantage. To stay in the know on future contracting opportunities and updates, you can subscribe to our blog or our monthly newsletter.
In the meantime, you should make sure your GSA price list is updated, and you are proactively marketing your GSA contract. If you have questions about going after the Cloud BPA opportunity or prepping your GSA Schedule for future opportunities, contact one of our consultants.
