In an effort to increase government efficiency and further cut costs, the General Services Administration has released a request for quotation as part of the agency’s Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative.
Called SmartBUY Large Publisher, this FSSI program will reduce the price for federal purchases of Microsoft software by 15 to 20 percent, according to a GSA announcement.
The federal government spends roughly $6 billion yearly on software products and related services. SmartBUY Large Publisher will be the first GSA BPA to include Microsoft software and services.
GSA said federal agencies previously individually sourced Microsoft product offerings through different acquisition vehicles. The new program enables blanket purchase agreements to provide a single set of agreements with standardized terms and conditions.
In addition, the program will make it easier for the government to do business by slashing procurement lead times for agencies purchasing off the contract, through prenegotiated pricing and precompeted products and services.
“GSA is committed to working collaboratively with our partners at Microsoft resellers to reduce multiple contracts into a single set of agreements to save money and streamline the purchasing process for government agencies,” said Tom Sharpe, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA. “Saving time and money is essential.”
The deadline for RFQ responses is Dec. 18, 2013
