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GSA Advances Services Contracts with Small Business
Long-awaited set-aside is aimed at reducing duplication across agencies.
The General Services Administration has awarded 125 contracts to small businesses for its-long anticipated One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services, called OASIS, for companies qualified to meet agencies’ complex professional service requirements.
Designed exclusively as a small-business set-aside, OASIS is the federal response to the growing need for a streamlined government-wide acquisition vehicle to reduce agency duplication for both commercial and noncommercial agency needs, GSA said in a Tuesday statement.
The list of the 125 companies ready to supply integrated professional services was posted on FedBizOpps.
“We created OASIS SB to meet the growing demand for a hybrid, government-wide acquisition vehicle that maximizes opportunities for small businesses,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Tom Sharpe. “We believe that the large pool of awardees will provide government with access to highly skilled small businesses through a contract that is not only cost-effective, but also efficient and streamlined for easier use by federal agencies looking to purchase complex professional services.”
The new OASIS for small businesses complements GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules and provides greater flexibility, offering agencies “On-ramp/off-ramp procedures to ensure a flexible, vibrant vendor pool,” GSA said. It is intended to drive down costs and boost efficiency by reducing the time needed to develop complicated contracts.
In December, the Air Force committed to an OASIS contract in place of several previous multiple-award, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity acquisition vehicles worth $1.4 billion a year.
The Professional Services Council, which represents contractors and has long eyed an increase in federal services contracts, applauded GSA for “sticking to its procurement plan and making an award in a timely manner.” The real test, however, said CEO and President Stan Soloway, “will be in the execution of the contract and how efficiently and effectively it meets its intended goals.”
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