GSA cloud program office open for business

An office in the General Services Administration has positioned itself as a guide for helping other agencies get to the cloud.

Meant as a one-stop shop for “flexible, pre-competed contracts and cloud acquisition expertise [to] give you faster, easier access to cloud computing services available in today’s market,” the Cloud Computing Services Program Management Office opened in 2010 to help agencies meet the federal cloud-first mandates, according to the GSA website. Using the office’s services, GSA says, will help agencies take to the cloud in a more efficient, agile and trusted manner.

More recently, the program office issued a request for information in February 2015 seeking “alternative models and/or solutions for future cloud acquisition contracts and processes that would continue to add value to Government Agencies in procuring Cloud Services.”

A GSA spokeswoman was not available for comment on the office and its services prior to publication.

The office will use existing GSA cloud acquisition vehicles — like Schedule 70’s cloud special item number and blanket purchase agreements for enterprise-as-a-solution and infrastructure-as-a-solution services — and offer expertise on emerging cloud technologies.

“Cloud is one of those technologies that is ever evolving in standards, security, and capabilities,” Stan Kaczmarczyk, director of GSA’s cloud computing project management office, told FedScoop in February. “GSA acknowledges this and has issued this latest RFI to gain a better understanding of how the cloud market has matured and how GSA can best provide continuity of service while allowing for product evolution.”

The website for the cloud office also offers several other end-to-end cloud solutions from within GSA’s Office of Integrated Technology Services, such as the Networx telecommunications vehicle, those on IT Schedule 70 and the current CCS PMO BPA. The PMO also offers sample statement of objectives templates, through which GSA believes “[a]gencies will realize cost savings quicker through increased efficiency, agility, and innovation, and will require less time to close data centers.”

Correction: Jan. 4, 2016

An earlier version of this story misstated the launch date of the CCS PMO. It actually opened in 2010.