The Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, Mary Davie spoke with WashingtonExec’s Federal Business Council, sponsored by Dell Services Federal Government, about the many changes that have occurred in the Federal IT space in the recent months.
Davie began her discussion by explaining that GSA is establishing a comprehensive IDIQ cloud-computing contract to increase mission agility and cost effectiveness. The contract will serve as a one-stop-shop procurement source for all things cloud but also maintain enough flexibility to incorporate cloud services and technologies that continue to emerge.
In her discussion, Davie emphasized the importance of collecting insight from the customer side along with input from the vendor side. While GSA will continue to collect information from customers, such as DISA, it is vital to also have insight into the vendor side in order to create a full picture.
In a number of RFI’s (Request for Information) from the customer and the vendor sides, Davie found a few common threads in all answers. She found that common barriers to cloud sales were security requirements, long procurement delays, inflexible pricing structures, and the need for more fluidity in making changes and modifications to the offerings as cloud tech evolves. In the end, the vast majority of responses to the RFI indicated a need for GSA to create a new cloud IDIQ contract to replace the IaaS contract.