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Found 11 results

  1. Joint Proposal Calls for Amendment of the FAR to Support Environmental Concerns. A joint proposal requesting to amend the current Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to focus on the environment and sustainability and to implement a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable was issued on August 3, 2023, by the Defense Department (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This proposal is on the heels of the Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability Executive Order (EO 14057). In this EO, President Biden challenged agencies to meet the following targets: Achieve 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030, including 50 percent on a 24/7 basis. Reach 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisition by 2035, including 100 percent light-duty acquisitions by 2027. Achieve net-zero building emissions by 2045, including a 50 percent reduction by 2032. Reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent from 2008 levels by 2030. Establish targets to reduce energy and potable water use intensity by 2030. Reduce procurement emissions to net-zero by 2050. Have climate resilient infrastructure and operations. Develop a climate- and sustainability-focused workforce. Advance environmental justice and equity-focused operations. Accelerate progress through domestic and international partnerships. More importantly to NITAAC, the EO also directs agencies to purchase sustainable products and services in accordance with relevant statutory requirements, and, to the maximum extent practicable, purchase sustainable products and services identified or recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At NITAAC, protecting our environment is at the forefront of our procurement strategy. In fact, our environmental best practices have been lauded for four consecutive years by the Global Electronics Council, which owns and manages the EPEAT Purchaser Awards. The awards recognize excellence in sustainable procurement of EPEAT-registered products. NITAAC is one of a few Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) to receive this global award and has been recognized for excellence in multiple categories, including computers, displays and servers. Environmentally Responsible Spending NITAAC takes considerable pride in doing our part to ensure the federal government has access to sustainable products. As agencies look to purchasing commodities, such as laptops and desktops, NITAAC can help. We are committed to providing EPEAT certified laptops, desktops, printers, monitors and servers to meet every federal agencies’ information technology (IT) needs. With almost 4000 EPEAT certified products to choose from, the ordering process is as easy as the click of a button. To start your order, download a copy of the NextGen GSS Ordering Guide here, then click the log in to e-GOS button in the upper right hand corner of any NITAAC web page. NITAAC not only offers the standard configurations of the GSS program, we also can handle more complex requirements through our CIO-CS Government-Wide Acquisition Contract for IT Commodities/Solutions. NITAAC offers training in use of our GWACs and is happy to provide customized training for any federal office or organization. Together, we can achieve the President’s vision for a more sustainable future. We strongly believe it is not only our job to provide a first-class acquisition experience but to also do our part to create a healthier planet. To learn more about how NITAAC can help you meet your end of year laptop and desktop buying needs, and meet the President’s directive in EO 14057, visit https://nitaac.nih.gov/services/government-wide-strategic-solutions.
  2. There is an adage that simply says, “Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.” This adage is quite apt for the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 (CIO-SP4) solicitation. In our ongoing quest to bring to market the best Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), we’ve, unfortunately, had to wait on the hand of time. Although waiting has admittedly caused me both frustration and impatience, it has not stopped NITAAC from continuing to provide any federal agency, government-wide, with an easy, cost-effective and accessible method for acquiring information technology for citizen services or mission delivery. If there is no other takeaway from this month’s Director’s Corner, please understand that we are open for business and both the CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business GWACs are available, and will continue to be available, for agency use. Both GWACs have been extended through April 29, 2024, to ensure there is no gap in contractual coverage between CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP4. The extension allows our customers to continue to acquire mission-critical information technology on our fast and cost-effective GWACs through the remainder of the fiscal year. Rest assured, we are ready and capable of fulfilling all your task and delivery orders to ensure all your mission-critical information technology (IT) needs are met. NITAAC was developed specifically by the government for the sole purpose of speeding up IT acquisition for the government. I am grateful we have provided acquisition support to virtually every federal agency, department and program in the federal government since we launched over 25 years ago as part of the Clinger-Cohen Act. No matter how large or how complex your IT challenges may be, you can count on NITAAC contractors to get IT done quickly and get IT done right. From operations and maintenance of legacy systems to complex, emerging technologies like Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI), NITAAC contractors are ready to help federal agencies excel. As we head into the end of the fiscal year and approach buying season, NITAAC is here to help you. Our three GWACs, CIO-CS, CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business have everything you need to get IT done, from a pool of highly qualified contractors to robust labor categories, multiple task areas and a multitude of socioeconomic categories to help you meet your goals. NITAAC is your one-stop shop for all things IT. The perfection of CIO-SP4 has not changed the one fundamental value every NITAAC team member upholds and that is our commitment to customer service. Customer service is not something we take for granted. We've geared our operations around your needs, so whether you are just beginning a solicitation and need help with research, or you’ve already placed a task or delivery order on one of our vehicles, NITAAC is committed to making sure you get answers faster, so you can keep your acquisitions and mission critical IT needs on tracks. This commitment to service is something we will continue through the close out of CIO-SP3 and the introduction of CIO-SP4. I invite you to experience our customer service firsthand. To obtain a complimentary, Technical Assessment of your Statements of Work, Statement of Objectives and Performance Work Statements, or to simply learn more about all the ways NITAAC can help you exceed your IT goals, contact our customer support team at NITAACsupport@nih.gov.
  3. According to Bloomberg, information technology (IT) continues to be a large source of federal market growth, accounting for more than $76.4 billion dollars. Most of these dollars are typically spent through commodities, solutions, and services purchased from a myriad of companies operating within the United States. But, with so many vendors competing for federal dollars, how can government agencies ensure fair opportunity in government contracting? Before we answer this question, let’s first examine what fair opportunity is and why it is important. What is fair opportunity? The concept of fair opportunity is mandated by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b). It is intended to level the playing field so that agencies cannot give an unfair advantage to one contractor over another. Fair opportunity is a mandatory requirement and is applicable to all federal agencies purchasing IT products and services when using a multiple-award contract. According to the (FAR) 16.505(b), fair opportunity must be exercised when a purchase exceeds the $10,000 micro-purchase threshold. When this happens, an agency must give every company that holds that contract an equal opportunity to respond to a request for proposal (RFP). Why is fair opportunity important? Encouraging competition has a myriad of benefits. Competitive contracting often results in lower overall costs for the government as contractors are more likely to submit more competitive bids to win the business. This results in lower direct public service costs and reduced internal costs. Additionally, competition opens the door for everyone to participate in contracting. According to a recent survey by Zippia, 70.6 percent of most government contractors are white. In 2021, only two percent of federal contracts were awarded to minority-owned firms. Although fair opportunity does not guarantee equity, it does ensure that every qualified offeror receives consideration. In fact, last year, the Biden administration set a goal of increasing the share of federal contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses to 15 percent by 2023, a 50 percent increase from recent spending levels. This lofty goal has left many agencies wondering how they can achieve this goal. NITAAC can help. Ensuring fair opportunity in federal contracting Let’s face it. Most agencies do not have the time or manpower to sort through multiple contracts to ensure every eligible offeror is included. As a result, the federal government still struggles with ensuring parity in contracting. According to a January 2023 FedScoop article, the world’s largest software companies, received at least 25% to 30% of government sales over the last 10 years through less than fully competitive procurement processes. NITAAC has the solution for this problem. NITAAC has designed an electronic Government Ordering System (e-GOS) to ensure that fair opportunity is carried out correctly on every order. This web-based, secure system is fast and easy to use—allowing contracting professionals to walk through the entire solicitation process seamlessly. NITAAC’s commitment to fair opportunity does not stop there. Leveling the playing field NITAAC is committed to leveling the playing field for all contractors. In FY22, seven of the top ten performing CIO-SP3 Small Business contract holders were Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), 8(a) or Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone). NITAAC boasts one of the highest numbers of socioeconomic categories compared to most other GWACs. Agencies can award opportunities in a number of categories, including: 8(a) – 131 Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) - 22 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) - 53 Small Business (SB) - 311 Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) – 21 Agencies looking to get fair opportunity done right, need to look no further than NITAAC. The three NITAAC GWACs, CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS are multiple award IDIQ contracts for IT that can be used by any federal agency. Our Electronic Government Ordering System (e-GOS) takes the guess work out of fair opportunity and ensures that fair opportunity is carried out correctly on every order. To learn more, visit https://nitaac.nih.gov/resources/e-gos.
  4. On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden signed his first Executive Order (EO), EO 13985, which called for “a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” At NITAAC, we are committed to advancing equity across the Federal Government and strongly believe that by leveling the playing field for all socioeconomic groups, we create a federal contracting experience that benefits everyone. That was the spirit behind our CIO-SP3 ramp on. In support of EO 13985, the CIO-SP3 ramp on increased the number of Service-Disabled Veteran Businesses (SDVB), 8(a) and Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) small businesses to ensure equal access to contracting opportunities. The ramp on added over 200 Small Business Contract Holders to the vehicle, including 40 SDVB, 20 HUBZone and 81 8(a) contractors. In fact, in FY22, of the top ten performing CIO-SP3 Small Business contract holders, seven were ramp on contractors. The top 10 contractors contributed to $1.7 billion of the dollars obligated. $1.2 billion of the obligated dollars came from ramp on contractors. As a result of the CIO-SP3 Small Business ramp on, the percentage of NITAAC Small Disadvantaged Businesses increased by 75%, with over 70% of our awarded contracts being spread out over small business/socioeconomic categories. 8(a) – 131 Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) - 22 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) - 53 Small Business (SB) - 311 Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) – 21 But our efforts have not stopped there. In support of EO 13779, which was designed to strengthen the capacity of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) to participate in federal programs, access federal resources, including grants and procurement opportunities, as well as available partnership opportunities with federal agencies, the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 (CIO-SP4) Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) solicitation allowed offerors to provide up to three examples of Information Technology projects that directly supported HBCU’s. Each example was worth 100 points with a maximum total of 300 points possible. The federal government’s goal in advancing equity provides everyone with the opportunity to reach their full potential. We are proud of the strides we have made to promote equity in federal contracting and take the President's orders to remove systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups, quite seriously.
  5. September 30 marks the end of the federal fiscal year and the beginning of what has become a phenomenon in federal acquisitions known as the end of fiscal year buying season. In a nutshell, at the end of the fiscal year, unspent funds expire, and agencies make plans to spend their allocated dollars to exhaust the “use or lose” funds in their budgets. In 2021, 28% of all total federal fiscal year spending obligations were spent in the fourth quarter. According to Pulse.com, for the most part, federal agencies use 69% of their discretionary funding before the start of Q4 which leaves an average of 31% of all fiscal year funds available for the Q4 sprint. During the buying season frenzy, time is of the essence and it is essential that agencies have a way to make awards fast and in an efficient, simple, and easy manner. Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) like CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS are an excellent way for agencies to obligate any last-minute funds. Designed for Efficiency and Speed GWACs were established by the Clinger Cohen Act as a mechanism to streamline the information technology (IT) procurement process. In a nutshell, contracting officers found it was taking a long time to award IT procurement contracts⁠—so long that by the time the award was made, the technology being awarded, was obsolete. GWACs were created as a mechanism to reduce the timeframe to meet an agency’s mission-critical IT needs. The NITAAC GWACs can be used by any agency to acquire information technology services, solutions, and commodities from pre-qualified vendors at lower than open-market prices in less time than going the traditional full and open route. For federal agencies looking to award task orders quickly during this year’s buying season, CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business orders can be awarded in as little as 45 days. CIO-CS orders can be awarded in only two days, depending upon the complexity of the procurement. Everything IT What’s more, with the NITAAC family of GWACs, agencies are not limited in what they can purchase. The CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business GWACs offer everything IT with IT services and solutions across ten Task Areas, ranging from biomedical research to software development. CIO-CS also features everything IT across nine categories, ranging from hardware to managed services. You aren’t limited by categories or catalogs, either, because NITAAC can easily add products and services to the contracts as they emerge, taking advantage of innovations as soon as they are viable. Direct orders can be made through NITAAC’s secure, online ordering and competition management system known as e-GOS (the Electronic Government Ordering System.) And, you have up until close-of-business on September 30th to make your awards. As you may have heard, the CIO-SP3 GWACs have both been extended through November 1 so you can order through the end of the year. NITAAC is also committed to making sure there is no break in coverage and will extend again if necessary while CIO-SP4 is awarded and onboarded. Laptops and Desktops, Too NITAAC Government-Wide Strategic Services (GSS), now in Version 8, offers agencies five standard configurations of laptops, desktops and more than 3,483 EPEAT certified products to choose from. NITAAC GSS is available under the CIO-CS IT Commodities and Solutions Contract, part of the Category Management Initiative of preferred contracts of the White House Office of Management and Budget. As agencies look toward the end of the fiscal year and find themselves purchasing commodities, NITAAC can help. We are committed to providing EPEAT certified laptops, desktops, printers, monitors and servers to meet all our agency partner IT needs. If your needs are more complex, like Cloud-in-a-box, managed services or Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS), the CIO-CS GWAC is for your agency, too. Dozens of commercially available commodities and commodity-enabling solutions can be found on CIO-CS or added in a 24-hour turnaround technology refresh process (TRP). Direct awards are always quick and easy using NITAAC’s e-GOS. NITAAC is Your Single Source for End of Year Buying Needs From IT modernization to cyber to software to Health IT, NITAAC is your one-stop source for all your end of year spending needs. And nobody makes getting IT quite as easy as NITAAC. You can find it and order it (with little or no training) through our easy-to-understand e-GOS. If your agency has “use or lose’ funding, maybe it’s time you lose yourself learning about NITAAC. For twenty-six years, NITAAC has been a trusted source for federal IT procurement. If you are interested in partnering with us on a requirement, or simply want more information, contact NITAAC Customer Support at 888-773-6542 to speak with an intake specialist or visit our homepage.
  6. September 30 marks the end of the federal fiscal year and the beginning of what has become a phenomenon in federal acquisitions known as the end of fiscal year buying season. In a nutshell, at the end of the fiscal year, unspent funds expire, and agencies make plans to spend their allocated dollars to exhaust the “use or lose” funds in their budgets. In 2021, 28% of all total federal fiscal year spending obligations were spent in the fourth quarter. According to Pulse.com, for the most part, federal agencies use 69% of their discretionary funding before the start of Q4 which leaves an average of 31% of all fiscal year funds available for the Q4 sprint. During the buying season frenzy, time is of the essence and it is essential that agencies have a way to make awards fast and in an efficient, simple, and easy manner. Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) like CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS are an excellent way for agencies to obligate any last-minute funds. Designed for Efficiency and Speed GWACs were established by the Clinger Cohen Act as a mechanism to streamline the information technology (IT) procurement process. In a nutshell, contracting officers found it was taking a long time to award IT procurement contracts⁠—so long that by the time the award was made, the technology being awarded, was obsolete. GWACs were created as a mechanism to reduce the timeframe to meet an agency’s mission-critical IT needs. The NITAAC GWACs can be used by any agency to acquire information technology services, solutions, and commodities from pre-qualified vendors at lower than open-market prices in less time than going the traditional full and open route. For federal agencies looking to award task orders quickly during this year’s buying season, CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business orders can be awarded in as little as 45 days. CIO-CS orders can be awarded in only two days, depending upon the complexity of the procurement. Everything IT What’s more, with the NITAAC family of GWACs, agencies are not limited in what they can purchase. The CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business GWACs offer everything IT with IT services and solutions across ten Task Areas, ranging from biomedical research to software development. CIO-CS also features everything IT across nine categories, ranging from hardware to managed services. You aren’t limited by categories or catalogs, either, because NITAAC can easily add products and services to the contracts as they emerge, taking advantage of innovations as soon as they are viable. Direct orders can be made through NITAAC’s secure, online ordering and competition management system known as e-GOS (the Electronic Government Ordering System.) And, you have up until close-of-business on September 30th to make your awards. As you may have heard, the CIO-SP3 GWACs have both been extended through November 1 so you can order through the end of the year. NITAAC is also committed to making sure there is no break in coverage and will extend again if necessary while CIO-SP4 is awarded and onboarded. Laptops and Desktops, Too NITAAC Government-Wide Strategic Services (GSS), now in Version 8, offers agencies five standard configurations of laptops, desktops and more than 3,483 EPEAT certified products to choose from. NITAAC GSS is available under the CIO-CS IT Commodities and Solutions Contract, part of the Category Management Initiative of preferred contracts of the White House Office of Management and Budget. As agencies look toward the end of the fiscal year and find themselves purchasing commodities, NITAAC can help. We are committed to providing EPEAT certified laptops, desktops, printers, monitors and servers to meet all our agency partner IT needs. If your needs are more complex, like Cloud-in-a-box, managed services or Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS), the CIO-CS GWAC is for your agency, too. Dozens of commercially available commodities and commodity-enabling solutions can be found on CIO-CS or added in a 24-hour turnaround technology refresh process (TRP). Direct awards are always quick and easy using NITAAC’s e-GOS. NITAAC is Your Single Source for End of Year Buying Needs From IT modernization to cyber to software to Health IT, NITAAC is your one-stop source for all your end of year spending needs. And nobody makes getting IT quite as easy as NITAAC. You can find it and order it (with little or no training) through our easy-to-understand e-GOS. If your agency has “use or lose’ funding, maybe it’s time you lose yourself learning about NITAAC. For twenty-six years, NITAAC has been a trusted source for federal IT procurement. If you are interested in partnering with us on a requirement, or simply want more information, contact NITAAC Customer Support at 888-773-6542 to speak with an intake specialist or visit our homepage.
  7. At NITAAC, we not only are fueling information technology (IT) modernization across the government, we are also leading by example. As one of the federal government’s top sources for ‘everything IT,’ NITAAC has taken the message of modernization to heart and has reimagined how agencies acquire IT. NITAAC’s three easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, Best in Class (BIC) Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) – CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business, and CIO-CS – provide any federal agency, government-wide, with an easy and accessible method for acquiring more effective citizen services or mission delivery. Whether your agency buys direct or needs help from a Contracting Officer, NITAAC has a program that’ll work for you. And no matter how large or how complex your IT challenge may be, you can count on NITAAC Contract Holders to get it done quickly and get it done right. From operations and maintenance of legacy systems to complex, emerging technologies like Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, NITAAC Contract Holders are ready to help federal agencies excel. Check out CIO-SP3 with its 137 labor categories and ten task areas, CIO-SP3 Small Business with depth in five socioeconomic categories, or CIO-CS for IT Commodities and As-A-Service Solutions. What’s more, the NITAAC Government-Wide Strategic Services (GSS) program, a subset of CIO-CS, provides a real opportunity under category management for buyers to acquire laptops and desktops quickly and efficiently. Although fiscal year 2020-2021 was full of challenges and a collective new normal as we faced a global pandemic, we’ve been undaunted in our efforts to improve our customers’ user experience, choice of contracting approach and overall accessibility. So, what exactly can agencies expect when they engage with NITAAC? Read ahead for a quick synopsis and check out the full Federal News Network 2021-2022 NITAAC Contract Guide for more information. Plus, here’s a link to watch the NITAAC Contract Guide video interviews. Best in Class GWACs: CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS The BIC designation doesn’t just benefit the NITAAC community; it benefits the entire federal government. The BIC designation is awarded to contracts that consistently deliver strong results. By relying on contracts with good track records, agencies — and the federal government as a whole — can raise the baseline for the quality of acquisitions. The BIC designation for all three of our GWACS signals to the acquisition community that NITAAC consistently demonstrates value that allows agencies to save time, money and realize speed to delivery. We also offer solutions and processes necessary to meet the federal government’s ever-evolving IT requirements. Quite simply, BIC tells the federal community that agencies are getting the best in both services and spend under management (SUM). Agencies can meet all their SUM tier goals (0, 1, 2 and 3) using NITAAC BIC GWACs. We are tremendously proud of this distinction because it’s a testament to the quality of our Contract Holders, contracting officers, customer service and overall team. But, even more importantly, the designation will result in even further cost savings for our agency partners. Since 2012, agencies have obligated more than $35 billion to NITAAC GWACs because they understand the value and cost-savings doing so affords. Democratizing Expertise with Assisted Acquisitions If your agency would prefer even more detailed guidance throughout the acquisition process or you just need an extra pair of hands, our Assisted Acquisitions program is ready to pair you with an experienced FAC-C, Level 3, Digital Services Certified Contracting Officer capable of helping you navigate the procurement process. Warranted acquisition professionals will work with you to determine the best course forward for your acquisition, from the market research and acquisition planning phase all the way through administration and closeout. NITAAC Assisted Acquisitions is there for your agency throughout the entire procurement lifecycle. Eliminating Redundancies and Delivering More Value with NITAAC GSS The Federal Government spent over $89 billion in 2020 on hardware, software, telecommunications, IT security, and IT professional services through tens of thousands of contracts and delivery orders. NITAAC is pleased to serve as one of three Best in Class sources for purchasing laptops and desktops for civilian agencies. In fact, NITAAC GSS increased 33% in 2020 (over 2019) for laptop and desktop buys. What’s more, NITAAC GSS goes beyond standard configurations, offering products outside of the OMB-mandated specifications such as Apple iPads and Macs. It’s a perfect program for end-of-year use-it-or-lose-it funds. Accept No Substitutes: Outstanding Customer Support Customer service is not something we take for granted at NITAAC. We've geared our operations around our customers’ needs so whether they are just beginning a solicitation and need help with research, or they’ve already placed a task or delivery order on one of our vehicles, NITAAC is committed to making sure they get answers faster, so they can keep their acquisitions on track. From a vendor standpoint, open and frequent communications are key. For our CIO-CS Contract Holders, we work very hard to rapidly approve their Technology Refreshment Proposals (TRP) to add new commodities on the contract so customers can always get what they need, when they need it. We guarantee that TRPs will be reviewed within 72 hours, but the majority of TRPs are reviewed within 24 hours. If a Contract Holder or customer needs something sooner, we ask them to call NITAAC Support so we can expedite the review. Want to learn more? To learn more about these, and all the ways NITAAC can help you reimagine your acquisitions, read the Federal News Network 2021-2022 NITAAC Contract Guide, watch the NITAAC Contract Guide video interviews or contact our customer support team at NITAACsupport@nih.gov.
  8. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. In fact, small businesses create two-thirds of net new jobs and drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness. The contributions of small businesses are so great that federal legislation has been enacted to ensure that small businesses have fair and equitable access to federal spending. This legislation includes the requirement that federal agencies meet goals for small business and establishes several socioeconomic categories by which they can do so. The SBA negotiates with agencies to establish individual agency goals that, in the aggregate, constitute government-wide goals. There are 24 agencies that are subject to meeting socioeconomic goals, and the NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), through our Best in Class Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), is uniquely poised to assist each of these agencies in meeting their goals and fulfilling their information technology-related missions. Goals Met with CIO-SP3 Small Businesses The NITAAC CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC features a wide variety of leading small business innovators and can be used by any federal, civilian or DoD agency to fulfill information technology requirements and meet socioeconomic goals. CIO-SP3 Small Business boasts pre-vetted contract holders in key socioeconomic categories, such as: 8(a): The SBA 8(a) Program is an essential instrument for helping socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain entry in government contracting. This certification is intended for organizations that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC features 133 8(a) designated Contract Holders. Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone): The government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses in HUBZones. It also gives preferential consideration to those businesses in full and open competition. The CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC features 22 HUBZone small businesses located in underutilized urban and rural communities. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB): The SDVOSB designation is given to small businesses that are at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans. The CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC features 53 SDVOSB Contract Holders. Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB): To help provide a level playing field for women business owners, the government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses that participate in the WOSB Federal Contracting Program. In fact, the federal government's goal is to award at least five percent of all federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses each year. The CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC features 21 dynamic Women-Owned Small Businesses. NITAAC Has You Covered No matter your socioeconomic goal, CIO-SP3 Small Business can help you meet it. To learn more about CIO-SP3 Small Business, visit https://nitaac.nih.gov/services/cio-sp3-small-business.
  9. IT modernization still more important than ever to federal agencies According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Management Budget’s (OMB) 2019 budget document, over 80 percent of all information technology (IT) spending is on the Operations and Maintenance of "aging legacy systems, which pose efficiency, cybersecurity, and mission risk issues, such as ever-rising costs to maintain them and an inability to meet current or expected mission requirements." That’s because the current push for modernization is not just about updating or replacing old technology. It’s about “creating the platform for change,” as the President’s Management Agenda describes it—that is, finding more cost-effective, innovative approaches to delivering IT services and improving services delivered to the citizen. As the pace of modernization accelerates, many agencies might find themselves struggling to keep up. Here at NITAAC, we get it. That’s why our contracting officers are so essential to our offerings. We have a team of FAC-C-DS Level-III certified contracting professionals who can guide customers through every step of the acquisition lifecycle. They understand how to leverage different contract vehicles, how to define IT requirements accurately and clearly, and how to translate those requirements into solutions that work. Using proven methods, they can get from requirements definition to award in as few as 30 days. It’s acquisition at the speed of innovation. But innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in the context of individual procurements, each reflecting the unique mission and goals of an agency. Whatever your modernization requirements, our GWACs can help. CIO-SP3 is a good choice for agencies looking to develop innovative solutions based on cutting-edge technology. The program includes 137 different labor categories (and more can be added at the task order level), and supports every contract type in the FAR. CIO-SP3 also has a small business companion contract, which helps agencies meet their small business goals for HUBZone, 8(a), Woman-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, and Small Business. CIO-CS, on the other hand, provides easy access to a wide range of commodity and commodity-based solutions that can be deployed either on premise or in the cloud. The offerings are always current, with a technology refresh process that enables product updates to be added as soon as they become available. Not in days or weeks—but hours. The contract includes both original equipment manufacturers and value-added resellers. CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS are all designed to simplify the acquisition process. You don’t need a special “Delegation of Procurement Authority” to issue task or delivery orders, nor do you need to synopsize or post requirements, since these programs fall under FAR 16.5. The streamlined process doesn’t require you to compromise on price. As part of the original contract awards, we negotiated competitive prices for products and services—and as part of task and delivery orders, you can negotiate even better rates and prices. The pricing for commodity products is lower than open market and less than or equal to what you can get through federal supply schedules. We can’t promise that modernization will be easy. But what we can promise is that the acquisition process can support your efforts, rather than frustrate them. We’re here to make that happen. For more information, visit https://nitaac.nih.gov or call us at 1.888.773.6542. You can also email NITAACsupport@nih.gov.
  10. As Congress continues to deliberate on the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), many small business contractors are wondering if the reforms started in 2018 will continue. The FY 2018 and 2019 NDAA both contained positive provisions for small businesses. From making it easier for small businesses to win follow-on contracts, to encouraging prompt payment of small business contractors, to increasing the amount of funding that can be authorized through the rapid prototyping program and specifically directing small businesses to apply, previous NDAAs greatly encouraged the viability of small business contracts and incentivized defense agencies to further utilize small business contracts. Regardless of the final direction of the NDAA, adopting a strong small business procurement posture makes continued sense for the DoD. NITAAC understands the importance of small businesses to defense contracting. America’s nearly 30 million small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They also provide critical goods, services and technologies which actively contribute to the health of the manufacturing and defense industrial base. The NITAAC Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 Small Business Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC) is uniquely positioned to help the DoD accomplish its information technology missions. With 10 task areas covering virtually every defense agency need, CIO-SP3 Small Business contractors offer innovative solutions that are capable of meeting upcoming modernization and acquisition reform priorities, such as software licensing and cloud computing. Even better, CIO-SP3 Small Business customers benefit from built-in Fair Opportunity competition, no protests for awards under $25 million for the DOD and unparalleled customer support. CIO-SP3 Small Business makes vetting and competing small business awards easy. With a $20 billion contract ceiling spanning five socioeconomic categories, including Small Business (SB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), there are no better options for the DoD when soliciting small business products and solutions and meeting small business goals.
  11. NITAAC Program Guide-at-a-Glance At NITAAC, we are not only fueling modernization across the government, we are leading by example. As one of the federal government’s top sources for ‘everything IT,’ NITAAC has taken the message of modernization to heart and is proud to launch a refreshed experience that will change how agencies acquire new technology. NITAAC’s three easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, Best in Class GWACs – CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business, and CIO-CS – provide any agency, government-wide, with an easy and accessible method for acquiring more effective citizen service or mission delivery. We’ve done a lot recently to improve our customers’ user experience, choice of contracting approach and overall accessibility. So, what specifically has NITAAC changed? Reimagining Our Website Reimagining acquisition is about creating a positive user-centric customer experience from market research through closeout. With this in mind, we made it a foremost priority to directly improve user experience at the starting point of most people’s acquisition journey – the NITAAC website. Our newly refreshed website focuses on educating contracting officers, contract holders and small businesses that are not already on contract, by showing them how to best participate with NITAAC and get the most out of CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS. Upon visiting the reimagined NITAAC website, the first thing you will notice is the clean look and feel. We have designed our new website with you – the user – in mind so that you can find the resources you need to get your next IT procurement off the ground and moving. To this end, we have enhanced our search capabilities for tools, templates, events and contract holders. The refreshed website will include improved tools and templates, short instructional videos, and other “quick hits” on buying to allow contracting officers to see best practices for buying federal IT. Additionally, the website gives customers a step by step overview on everything IT procurement from issuing a Task/Delivery Order Request (TOR/DOR) to managing their procurement and selecting awardees on e-GOS, our secure online ordering system. And because the federal workforce is becoming increasingly mobile, we have incorporated all of these changes into a flexible and responsive design that is accessible from any device so that the information you need is always at your fingertips. Intuitive Buying Through NextGen e-GOS Even with a sleek new website, user experience is not going to improve without improving the actual procurement process. With this in mind, we have also focused a great deal of our efforts over the past year on improving the next generation of our online customer ordering portal, e-GOS. With new ease-of-access features that complement the changes made to our website, customers are now seamlessly transitioned from the research phase all the way through the final procurement. NextGen e-GOS contains built-in FAR guidance and walks the contracting officer through what is necessary to meet FAR Part 16 requirements. Leveraging FAR Part 16, the goal of NextGen e-GOS is to truly streamline the process; allowing federal customers to ensure that their requirement only goes to contract holders who are qualified to do the work. NextGen e-GOS also will offer several new enhancements. For starters, it is operational in the cloud and will feature a new data upload feature. NextGen e-GOS is more user friendly – and mimics the user experience contracting officers are used to when shopping in their private lives. Customers will now enjoy product pictures, and can compare items, build a cart, and other features designed to personalize the buying experience. NextGen e-GOS also supports Best in Class requirements and provides better data reporting for our agency customers to meet FITARA guidelines, such as line-by-line analysis, quantities ordered, and payment amounts. Best in Class GWACs: CIO-SP3, CIO-SP3 Small Business and CIO-CS The BIC designation doesn’t just benefit the NITAAC community, it benefits the federal government, in general. The BIC designation is awarded to contracts that consistently deliver strong results. By relying on contracts with good track records, agencies — and the federal government as a whole — can raise the baseline for the quality of acquisitions. The BIC designation for all three of our GWACS signals to the acquisition community that NITAAC consistently demonstrates value that allows agencies to save time, money and realize speed to delivery. We also offer solutions and processes necessary to meet the federal government’s ever evolving IT requirements. Quite simply, BIC tells the federal community that agencies are getting the best in both service and spend. Agencies can meet all their tier goals (0, 1, 2 and 3) using NITAAC BIC GWACs. We are tremendously proud of this distinction because it’s a testament to the quality of our contract holders, contracting officers, customer service and overall team. But, even more importantly, the designation will result in even further cost saving for our agency partners. Democratizing Expertise with Assisted Acquisitions If your agency would prefer even more detailed guidance throughout the acquisition process, our Assisted Acquisitions program is ready to pair you with an experienced Contracting Officer capable of helping you navigate the procurement process. Warranted acquisition professionals will work with you to determine the best course forward for your acquisition, from the market research and acquisition planning phase, all the way through administration and closeout. NITAAC Assisted Acquisitions is there for you throughout the entire procurement lifecycle. Accept No Substitutes: Outstanding Customer Support Customer service is not something we take for granted at NITAAC. We've geared our operations around our customers’ needs so whether they are just beginning a solicitation and need help with research, or they’ve already placed a task or delivery order on one of our vehicles, NITAAC is committed to making sure they get answers faster, so they can keep their acquisitions on track. From a vendor standpoint, open and frequent communications are key. For our CIO-CS contract holders, we work very hard to rapidly approve their technical review process (TRP) requests to add new commodities on the contract so that customers can always get what they need, when they need it. We guarantee that TRPs will be reviewed within 72 hours, but the majority of TRPs are reviewed within 24 hours. If a contract holder or customer needs something sooner than 24 hours, we ask them to call our Customer Support Center, so we can expedite the review. Internally, we have implemented a Salesforce CRM to ensure that we accurately, consistently and efficiently answer all customer and contract holder questions. And, we are constantly analyzing frequently asked questions to develop new training, templates, website resources, white papers, blogs, videos and other resources to support our customers and their IT missions. Want to learn more? To learn more about these, and all the ways NITAAC is reimagining acquisitions, be sure to follow us on our social media channels.
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