[co-author: Dinesh Dharmadasa*]
The General Services Administration announced that it plans to consolidate all 24 Multiple Award Schedules into a single schedule by FY 2020.
Takeaways
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The GSA’s 24 Multiple Award Schedules will be consolidated into a single schedule for both products and services.
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A single-schedule system means that products and services can be sold together with one set of terms and conditions.
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The changes will occur in phases over the next two years and GSA will continue to incorporate user feedback during each phase.
Over the next two years, the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to consolidate the agency’s 24 Multiple Award Schedules into a single schedule. The consolidation is part of GSA’s strategy to optimize the federal acquisition process. By FY 2020, GSA plans to have one set of terms and conditions, which should enhance consistency in the acquisition process. With one schedule contract, agencies can buy and vendors can offer a “solutions-based approach” including both products and services.
With common terms and conditions, vendors will likely spend less time on contract administration issues—especially those vendors that offer products or services across multiple schedules. Vendors that sell under multiple schedules can combine their products and services to offer unique solutions to agencies without having to comb through varying acquisition requirements. New vendors may be more willing to do business within the GSA schedule system, as it will likely be less time consuming and easier to navigate.
As of this time, there is no reason to believe that GSA will be reducing or eliminating Special Item Numbers. However, the changes will occur in phases over the next two years and GSA noted in its announcement that these changes were a result of feedback shared from stakeholders. GSA continues to solicit feedback so that it may be incorporated throughout each phase—feedback can be submitted by e-mailing maspmo@gsa.gov.
* We would like to thank Senior Law Clerk Dinesh Dharmadasa for his contribution to this alert.
