GSA Schedule Updates

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  By Aaron Boyd,
Senior Editor Next Gov

DHS Turns to Existing GSA, NIH Contracts to (Mostly) Replace EAGLE

As with a number of major IT vehicles this year, the Homeland Security Department is tossing out plans to recompete a central IT services contract and is instead opting to rely on governmentwide acquisition contracts beginning early next year.

Rather than recompete the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions, or EAGLE II, for a third generation, Homeland Security officials announced this week a transition to a broader acquisition strategy they’re calling EAGLE Next Gen. The strategy will tap a set of existing contracts to build a suite of IT services offerings for use across the department. Homeland Security officials also expect to compete targeted contracts to supplement niche mission needs.

“DHS conducted a thorough and collaborative analysis across the information technology and procurement communities in identifying DHS’s IT priorities, evaluating the IT services requirements needed to support those priorities and in establishing an overarching acquisition strategy that enables continued mission success,” Correa said in the announcement, adding her appreciation for services provided by vendors under EAGLE II.

Correa said the department will continue to use the EAGLE II contract until it expires in September 2020.

At times when existing vehicles won’t meet the department’s needs, Homeland Security contracting officials will compete new contracts to supplement those areas.

“As requirements evolve for specialized IT services, the department will develop acquisition strategies tailored specifically to each distinct procurement,” a spokesperson for Correa’s office told Nextgov. “DHS will continue to maintain timely and open communication with industry throughout the process of implementing the DHS-specific contract vehicles.”

Those contracts might be full and open competitions or might rely on GSA Schedules, the spokesperson added.

Homeland Security’s decision mirrors that of other agencies that have given up on large, complicated competitions in favor of existing contract vehicles.

In October alone, three agencies shifted the procurement strategy on multibillion contracts from full and open competitions to buying off GSA’s IT Schedule 70: the FBI’s $5 billion IT Supplies and Support Services, or ITSSS; the Air Force’s $5.5 billion replacement for Network-Centric Solutions 2, or NETCETS-2, which will be called Second Generation Information Technology, or 2GIT; and the Pentagon’s $8 billion Defense Enterprise Office Solutions, or DEOS, contract.

Homeland Security’s move aligns with the administration’s call to use existing contract vehicles whenever possible, as well as the department’s goal to “re-conceptualize its IT delivery model.”

“We are thinking about the business of IT differently for DHS,” said Deputy Chief Information Officer Steve Rice. “Instead of thinking about ‘data centers’ and ‘cloud,’ we are thinking about ‘compute and storage.’ We are thinking about how IT can better enable headquarters and the component to execute the mission. EAGLE Next Gen will take us in this direction.”  

NASA Voted Best Places to Work in Government

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The federal government’s long-running progress on improving employee engagement at agencies and departments has essentially stalled, concluded officials at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service in its annual “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” report released Wednesday. The findings were prepared in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group.

Although the Office of Personnel Management announced in October that engagement across government increased slightly in 2018, according to the results of its Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the Partnership found that at a majority of agencies, employee engagement actually fell.

Using its own weighted average to FEVS questions, the Partnership found that engagement declined at 59 percent of federal agencies and departments, compared to only 40 percent of agencies where scores improved. The remaining agencies saw no change. Last year, more than 70 percent of agencies saw gains in their engagement scores over 2016. BKM Management Consulting was encouraged to see that a Government Agency was ranked as one of the best places to work.  www.bkmmgmtconsulting.com

“This year’s rankings tell the tale of two governments,” said Partnership President and CEO Max Stier in a statement. “One part of our government has agencies with committed leaders who are fostering high and improving levels of employee engagement. The other part of our government is handicapped by a lack of leadership that has led to static or declining employee engagement.”

On the question of agency leadership alone, only 46 percent of agencies saw improvement this year, compared to 76 percent in 2017.

Among large agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration led the pack for the seventh straight year, increasing 0.3 points from 80.9 last year to 81.2 in 2018. The Health and  Human Services Department came in second, improving 0.5 points to 70.9 this year. And the Commerce Department saw a 1.1 point increase, from 69.2 in 2017 to 70.3 this year.

But the Agriculture Department saw a 6.9 point decrease in engagement, according to the Partnership’s rankings, falling to 59 this year, ahead of only the Homeland Security Department among large agencies in overall score. The State Department’s engagement score dropped 3.3 points, from 64 in 2017 to 60.7 this year.

Among mid-size agencies, the Federal Trade Commission led the pack, improving 2.6 points to a 2018 score of 84. The Small Business Administration was tied with the FTC for best improvement, reaching an overall engagement score of 62. Coming in second behind the FTC was the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which received a 83.9 engagement score, followed by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 82.1.

But mid-size agencies accounted for some of the worst declines in engagement as well. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fell 25.2 points, from 76.9 in 2017 to 51.7 this year. The National Labor Relations Board saw a 12.6 point decrease, reaching an engagement score of 55.3 in 2018, and Education Department fell 12.4 points, from 59.7 in 2017 to 47.3 this year.

The Veterans Affairs Department was not included in the rankings, as a result of its shift this year from FEVS to an internal employee survey. The department will return to the rankings next year, but it, along with any other agency that does not participate in FEVS, will not be included in governmentwide engagement scores.

Good Information for Small Businesses

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                            Agencies propose rule change to cut burdens on small business

By: Jessie Bur    1 day ago

 

A proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation rule change would make it easier for small businesses to comply with sub-contracting allowances.

The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and NASA have proposed a rule change to the Federal Acquisition Regulations that would standardize the limitations on subcontracting across agencies while reducing the burden on small businesses contractors.

The proposed rule change, issued in the Federal Register Dec. 4, would adopt the Small Business Administration’s approach to addressing requirements made by the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that limited the percentage of the contract that awardees could spend on a subcontractor.

“Prior to passage of section 1651 of the NDAA for FY2013, the limitations on subcontracting and the non-manufacturer rule were inconsistent across the small business programs,” the proposed rule states.

“For example, for awards under some small business programs, the prime contractor was required to perform a certain percentage of work itself, whereas under other programs, the prime contractor could include subcontracts to ‘similarly situated entities’ in the percentage of work it performed.”  GSA Schedule Contracts require big business to sub-contract 23% of the work they receive.

The NDAA requirements, however, focus on limiting the award amount given to subcontractors, rather than percentages of work.

“As a result, the prime contractor no longer has to track the percentage of costs incurred that it spends performing work itself; it only has to track the percentage of the overall award amount (i.e., contract price) that it spends on subcontractors. For small businesses, this change will reduce a substantial burden associated with tracking and demonstrating compliance with the limitations on subcontracting,” the proposed rule says. Under a GSA Schedule Contract all large businesses are required to submit a small business sub-contracting plan.

“These important changes give small businesses greater flexibility on how they choose to comply with the limitations on subcontracting. Under the current FAR clauses, there is only one way for a small business to comply with the limitations: it must spend the required amount on work performed in-house. As proposed in this rule, there will be more than one way to comply with the limitations, and the small business will be able to choose how to comply.”

These limitations on subcontracting, however, do not apply to small business set-aside contracts valued at less than $150,000. The GSA Schedules are separate within these rules.

 

Calling all Small Businesses for GSA Schedule Contracts

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DECEMBER 3, 2018 01:56 PM ET

10 Problems DHS Wants Innovative Small Businesses to Solve in 2019

The department will be offering millions of dollars to small businesses able to offer solutions to these 10 tough technical problems.

By Aaron Boyd,Senior Editor

The Homeland Security Department released a list of 10 bleeding-edge research areas it plans to pursue in fiscal 2019 in partnership with innovative small businesses. Go to : https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/advantage

The department’s Science and Technology Directorate and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office announced Friday the tentative list of technical areas for this year’s Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, program. In the coming year, Homeland Security SBIR officials are proposing research into topics including using drones to detect radiological threats, sharing cyber threat data, using blockchain for forensic analysis, and advanced identity management—from DNA to cyberspace.

“The SBIR program provides an opportunity for innovative small businesses to find solutions that meet the technology needs of the department’s operational components and the nation’s first responders,” William Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology, said in the announcement.

Homeland Security’s SBIR program obligated almost $250 million across 805 awards from its start in 2004 through 2015, the latest year with data available on the www.SBIR.gov  dashboard. The program hit its height in 2006 with almost $29.9 million in funds obligated to 95 projects.

In 2015, Homeland Security’s program obligated $20.7 million to 48 projects. This amount is relatively small when compared to the largest SBIR awarders that year: the Energy Department at $193.6 million, Health and Human Services at $714.4 million and the Defense Department at $956.9 million.

The list for 2019 includes eight topics under the Science and Technology Directorate and two more under the CWMD office’s program.

Reach-Back Capability for Fielded Rapid DNA Systems

Objective: Development of an accredited Homeland Security reach-back capability to review results from fielded Rapid DNA systems using the Office of Biometric Identity Management DNA store/match/share capability.