GSA preps launch of IT services contract for disabled vets
The General Services Administration is gearing up to launch the $5-billion successor to its governmentwide vehicle featuring IT services from veteran-owned businesses later this month.
GSA’s Office of Integrated Technology Services posted the pre-solicitation for its Veterans Technology Services 2, or VETS 2, governmentwide contract to FedBizOpps Tuesday, announcing that the actual solicitation will go live on or after April 21.
According to the pre-solicitation, GSA intends to make awards under the vehicle — which offers IT services provided by service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses — sometime in 2017.
The initial $5 billion VETS contract launched in February 2007 with a period of performance expiring Feb. 1, 2017, listed 44 vet-owned businesses offering customized IT services. VETS 2 will feature a similar structure of a five-year base period with a five-year optional extension, again with a $5 billion ceiling.
In October, GSA issued a draft solicitation for VETS 2, allowing potential bidders to help shape the eventual contract with their feedback.
Many agencies used the original VETS contracts for their custom IT needs. According to GSA, the Department of Veterans Affairs worked with a vendor on the contract to build a network to deliver wireless communications across 300 VA sites. Veteran-owned small businesses on the vehicle also provided around-the-clock help desk support to the Air Combat Command and supported the $97-million contract for the Next Generation Radar network, operated by the National Weather Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force.
