Starting the year off on a good note is often a personal goal for many people, but the same should be true for your GSA contract. GSA compliance can be seen as complicated and confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. In one of our recent blogs, we point out the 10 most often forgotten compliance issues and what you should be on the lookout for to make sure you are on the right track with GSA. Between maintaining your Commercial Sales Practices and making sure to keep your pricelist up to date per the MAS Consolidation, it’s crucial to keep things current, complete, and accurate in the New Year.
Need a refresher on what a GSA Schedule is, Large Category breakdown, or the requirements and process for GSA Schedule acquisition? Join us on January 26 for an introduction to the GSA Multiple Award Schedule.
Current and prospective industry partners, here’s your opportunity to Join GSA for MAS Office Hours! Engage with MAS Experts and Policy Makers as they cover new and potential offeror topics. Join here.
Attention Professional Services contractors: Please join GSA for an overview of the MAS Sales Reporting Portal (SRP). GSA offers this training each quarter to either OASIS or Multiple Award Schedule holders. GSA will focus on OASIS in CPRM and MAS in the SRP. Interested participants must register for each session. For information contact CAM@gsa.gov.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Couldn't make December's Lunch and Learn? You can now watch the webinar about Bid Protests on demand. In this webinar, two partners from McCarter & English, LLP discuss what to consider before filing a protest, who can protest, and an overview of the bid protest process.
Migrating Your GSA Advantage! Catalog to the Multiple Award Schedule
As you create new goals and plans for the new year, you should add this to your calendar right away. To be in full compliance with the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Consolidation, you need to update your GSA Advantage! catalog and your price list (text file) to reflect the MAS by March 31, 2021.
To avoid having your GSA Advantage! catalog removed, your Schedule Input Program (SIP) or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) catalog must be updated to the new consolidated SINs. You also need to update your price list (text file) using the MAS Consolidation Price List Guide to organize your offerings under the new SIN structure.
While the end of March may seem far away, we suggest you get a plan in place now. Updating your catalog and price list can take longer than you anticipate, and all your catalog submissions will need to be reviewed by your Contracting Officer, so you won’t want to delay the process. If you want to learn more about how you can update your catalog and price list in the Schedule Input Program (SIP), check out our training here.
QUICK TIP OF THE MONTH
How to Determine if You Can Participate in Cooperative Purchasing or Disaster Recovery
Cooperative Purchasing and Disaster Recovery are two programs that allow contractors to sell to state and local governments using their GSA Schedules. Cooperative Purchasing allows state, local, and tribal governments to purchase IT, law enforcement, and security products and services off GSA Schedules. If you want to know whether or not a specific SIN is subject to cooperative purchasing, you can check the SIN description in its large category attachment.
Disaster Recovery allows state and local governments to purchase from GSA Schedules when a disaster has been declared under the Stafford Act. All SINs can be listed as Disaster Recovery, and all GSA Schedule holders are able to participate.
As a quick way to check whether or not your contract includes Disaster Recovery and Cooperative Purchasing options, check your GSA eLibrary page. Next to your SIN numbers, there will be icons saying “COOP PURCH” for cooperative purchasing and “DISAST PURCH” for Disaster Recovery if you can sell through these programs for each SIN. If these icons do not appear and you would like to add these options to your contract, you will have to submit a terms and condition modification and then perform a SIP upload with an updated GSA Advantage! pricelist to add the option to your GSA Schedule.
EMERGING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Cyber Vulnerability Assessment
The Department of Defense (DoD) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for sources qualified to conduct a cyber vulnerability assessment of a custom Government Off-the-Shelf (GOTS) secure microprocessor. The assessment will consist of a comprehensive analysis of the hardware and software that makes up the secure microprocessor. This opportunity is listed under NAICS Code 541512 - Computer Systems Design Services. Responses are due by February 12, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST. More information can be found under Notice ID: 21-X-0358.
The Department of the Navy has released a pre-solicitation for engineering services in support of the Network Integration Engineering Facility (NIEF). The requirement includes support of rapid-design and integration of COTS/GOTS and Non-Developmental Items for military applications and Equipment Qualification Test services. Responses are due for this IDIQ contract by February 19, 2021. More information can be found under Notice ID: N66001-21-R-0041.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: How do I start my Phase 3 Consolidation Modifications?
A: If you hold two or more GSA contracts, there are some questions that you may need to consider:
Do all my contracts have the same DUNS number?
How many contracts do I have? What are their contract numbers?
What is the period of performance for each contract?
Which contract best represents my core business/ preponderance of work?
What are the status of open orders and BPAs on my contracts?
If you’re able to answer all these questions, you are ready to take on Phase III of the MAS Consolidation. To begin, you should complete the contractor checklist and planning spreadsheet provided by GSA, which can be found here. Once this is done, you will need to add SINs and items to your surviving contract by submitting modifications to migrate those SINs. To complete your modification requests, please review the MAS Modification Guidance that can be found here.
Q: How are Phase 3 Modifications different from typical MAS Contract Modifications?
A: Work with your PCO to determine what strategy you should use to accomplish your modifications efficiently (e.g., performing a bulk SIN adds, adding and deleting SINs one at a time, etc). MAS Consolidation Phase 3 Streamlined Add SIN modifications should include the “Request to Hold Continuous Contracts” completed template, which can be found here. Phase 3 Consolidation Add SIN mods also waive the requirements for relevant project experience. If you are adding Professional Services/Training/Products to your contract to complete Phase 3 you must submit all required documentation. After the modification(s) is approved you will need to update your GSA Price List and GSA Advantage! catalog file using SIP.
Q: What should I do after my Phase 3 Consolidation Modifications have been awarded?
A: Once your surviving contract has been modified to add all of your offerings, you will have to identify the earliest possible cancellation date for your other contracts. This cancellation date should take into account any open orders and BPAs. To ensure continuity of service for your customers, you must continue to have a contract as long as you have open orders and BPAs.
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