Microsoft and GSA enter agreement to address federal IT acquisition

The General Services Administration and Microsoft reached an agreement under the Governmentwide Microsoft Acquisition Strategy (GMAS) to streamline IT acquisition processes and enhance cybersecurity standards for agencies procuring the company’s services, the GSA announced Wednesday. 

The GMAS initiative seeks to establish improved standardized conditions through governmentwide engagement and enhanced cybersecurity measures to address “critical risks in government IT systems,” according to the press release. The program will also include commitments to develop “enhanced governmentwide support and education capabilities.”

Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner in the GSA Office of Information Technology Category, said in a statement that “the GMAS program exemplifies how collaboration with industry can drive innovation and deliver significant value to government and taxpayers alike.”

Over the past year, Microsoft has been the target of multiple cybersecurity threats, including a breach that affected the federal government. The company also has been the subject of a Cyber Safety Review Board investigation into an online exchange incident. 

In a March report following that incident, the CSRB found that Microsoft’s operational and strategic decisions pointed to a “corporate culture that deprioritized both enterprise security investments and rigorous risk management.”

The board also said in its report that “Microsoft had not sufficiently prioritized rearchitecting its legacy infrastructure to address the current threat landscape.”

Microsoft will now work with GSA to offer workshops across agencies to help ensure that they are strengthening their security posture, achieving optimal value from investments, managing cloud services and more, according to the GSA. 

The GMAS initiative looks to bring together the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies to have conversations about cost reduction strategies and standard terms that are possible in government transactions for both software and services. 

The agency stated in its release that “Microsoft’s commitment to this effort ensures a unified approach offering consistent benefits to agencies regardless of size or purchasing method.”

GSA’s IT Vendor Management Office is set to provide resources for agencies to maximize benefits from this agreement and hands-on support for agencies through contract review service to support “individual requests for acquisition implementation strategies.”

“Microsoft’s participation underscores the importance of a strategic agreement between the federal government and one of its largest technology providers,” the release states. “This alignment is a critical step toward greater efficiency and security.”