GSA targeting governmentwide cloud vehicle launch for early fiscal 2022
The General Services Administration is expecting to offer a governmentwide contract vehicle for core cloud services in early fiscal 2022 as it launches a new cloud marketplace that could further centralize federal agency IT procurement.
It is understood that the new contract will focus on the delivery of cloud services that government agencies use most frequently and that a request for information will be issued in the coming weeks.
The contract vehicle will be part of a new cloud marketplace GSA is developing in the hope of expanding options for agencies seeking commercial software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions. Advocates say that increased centralization of procurement for such digital services can result in greater contract flexibility and cost savings for agencies.
GSA’s work to establish a new marketplace comes as federal agencies respond to President Biden’s recent cybersecurity executive order, which required government departments to develop zero-trust security architecture plans that make use of secure cloud services.
A day after the cybersecurity EO was issued in May, GSA issued a request for information seeking feedback from industry on its new proposed cloud services acquisition strategy and blank purchasing agreement.
Currently, GSA uses the cloud and cloud-related IT professional services special item number (SIN) 518210C as a vehicle for multiple-award procurements. The contract type can be used to acquire cloud computing services, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Pandemic remote work has seen agencies alter their IT environments, embrace zero-trust security and seek more cloud offerings, so GSA wants to develop a solution set for federal, state, local and tribal governments that fits those evolutions.
GSA’s cloud acquisition strategy is rooted in the 2018 Cloud Smart strategy and the administration’s IT modernization goals.
