GSA Makes Major Award for Small Business
GSA announced that Catapult Technology Ltd. of Bethesda, Maryland was the winner of a GSA IT Infrastructure Technology Global Operations (GITGO) task order worth at least $200 million. Catapult’s primary job will be to consolidate GSA’s IT infrastructure services.
The U.S. General Services Administration’s award of a $200 million contract to an 8(a) service-disabled veteran owned information technology and consulting firm proves small businesses can win large government jobs, and more, that it will serve as inspiration for other small firms and save taxpayers at least $15 million a year, Administrator Lurita Doan said today.
“I disagree with the critics who say small businesses can’t handle large and complex procurements,” Administrator Doan said. “The truth is that small companies are ready and able to take on bigger challenges.”
GSA’s new initiative to consolidate all contracts for desktop computing, networking, messaging and other services under the 8(a) Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) aligns with Administrator Doan’s broader goal to impose stricter fiscal discipline at GSA and achieve a higher return on taxpayer dollars.
The GITGO initiative will:
– Combine 40 disparate contracts into one consolidated contract;
– Enhance efficiency by aligning functions now performed by multiple organizations and locations;
– Establish consistent IT infrastructure levels of service throughout GSA;
– Establish a consolidated helpdesk for all IT infrastructure issues;
– Improve management controls over funding for IT infrastructure, as funding will be consistently documented and analyzed; and
– Simplify enterprise efforts such as implementing new software versions, responding to various security issues, and maintaining asset inventories.
“This initiative will help GSA continue to improve the cost effectiveness, security, and reliability of our shared information technology infrastructure,” said Michael Carleton, GSA’s Chief Information Officer. “This approach emulates commercial best practices and conforms to OMB recommendations for federal organizations of our size and scope.”
At the same time, Catapult’s success in a competitive process demonstrates that small firms can take on and win large, complex procurements.