GSA, Defense implement acquisition agreement
Memo signed late last year is designed to mesh the two organizations’ acquisition policies.
The General Services Administration and its biggest customer, the Defense Department, have begun implementing all of the action items outlined in a memorandum of agreement signed last December to shore up the two agencies' acquisition policies.
Of the 24 objectives detailed in the agreement, all are under way and 13 are already completed. Among the finished tasks are developing standardized content for interagency agreements, providing online and video training for all GSA contract specialists, and fleshing out reporting requirements for data put into the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation.
Meanwhile, the 11 remaining action items are scheduled to continue indefinitely without predetermined completion dates. They include cooperating on policy memos, acquisition letters and alerts, and issuing standardized quarterly data to the Pentagon's comptroller.
Molly Wilkinson, GSA's chief acquisition officer, says agency officials review the list once a week to ensure that they are on track and are addressing potential problems. "The MOA is really important because every time something is completed, the DoD can see that we are serious about providing quality service to them," Wilkinson says.
GSA released an updated fact sheet this week touting the progress of the interagency relationship. The document highlights an oversight agreement that will require GSA to justify sole-source acquisitions on behalf of Defense and highlights increased communication between the two parties. Officials with the Office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy confirmed the accuracy of the fact sheet but were not available to discuss the agency's relationship with GSA.
A Defense-GSA Working Group has been meeting monthly to evaluate the progress of the agreement and to address any new issues that have arisen. The two agencies also have begun conducting training sessions together. Earlier this month, more than 250 Defense and GSA workers-including some stationed in Korea and Hawaii-participated in a Web and video training program that spelled out interagency acquisition rules and answered questions about the Pentagon's use of external contracting vehicles.
The agreement was signed after a tumultuous period of conflict between GSA and Defense. The dispute was sparked after investigators revealed widespread misuse of GSA technology contracts, with both sides failing to follow key acquisition requirements.
The two agencies also had sparred about the interpretation of a federal law that governs when the clock begins counting the time remaining on contracts for services procured annually -- which are known as "severable services." GSA eventually acquiesced to the Pentagon's interpretation of the law. GSA recently clarified its views on the issue, issuing an updated version of its "cutoff memo," detailing to its federal customers how it will manage compliance with procurements at the end of the fiscal year.
The problems between the two agencies hit bottom in early 2006 when the Defense inspector general nearly declared four regional GSA technology shops off limits for departmental purchases of more than $100,000. The move would have been a substantial blow for the GSA, which has suffered in recent years from declining defense business. The IG eventually backed off the proposal.
According to agency data, GSA's information technology fund took in $5.2 billion last year from Defense, compared to $6.9 billion in fiscal 2005 and $8.2 billion in fiscal 2004. During the first quarter of 2007, the fund brought in $1.2 billion from Pentagon purchases, roughly equal to the same period in 2006.
GSA did not make second quarter figures available to Government Executive, but Wilkinson says she expects Defense business to remain relatively steady in fiscal 2007 with improvements coming in subsequent years.
There are other signs that the business relationship between the two has improved. In April, Kenneth Krieg, then Defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, issued a memo urging the department to use GSA's new VETS governmentwide acquisition contract to meet its congressionally mandated goal of awarding at least 3 percent of all contracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.
Despite the progress, some procurement experts suggest that it will take more than a litany of action items to cure what ails the Defense-GSA relationship. Bob Woods, former commissioner of GSA's now-defunct Federal Technology Service, says the problems will only be solved when both agencies adopt new mindsets.
"The DoD needs to change its attitude," Woods says, suggesting that the Pentagon wants to keep as many of its contracts in-house as possible. "And the GSA needs to realize that while [Defense] might not always be right, they will always be the customer, and as a result, you have to dance to their tune."