Page 40 - FCW, Jan/Feb 2018

EIS CONTRACT SET TO LEAD IT MODERNIZATION
Q&A With Amando Gavino
of GSA’s Federal Acquisition
Service
Though EIS is a follow-on of sorts from Networx, it differs signi cantly in a number
of ways. Amando Gavino, director of the Of ce of Telecommunications Services in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, described what went into the design of EIS, and what that means for government users.
What in uenced you the most in the initial stages of putting the EIS contract together?
Networx was very successful in reducing prices paid by federal agencies for telecom services, and the EIS team wanted to improve upon that. Networx included mandatory geographical coverage and 36 mandatory services that limited competition to only the very large Tier 1 carriers. To dramatically increase the potential supplier pool, EIS reduced the minimum geographic coverage and required only four mandatory services — all other services were
optional. That helped drive additional and signi cant competition in the EIS acquisition which resulted
in awards to a larger pool of ten suppliers.
Additionally, EIS achieved on average
a 21 percent reduction of prices
from existing Networx prices.
In what way does EIS simplify the process that agencies use to acquire telecom and IT products and services?
EIS is a solutions-based contract, which allows an agency to use a single source to buy a full array of services and solutions. This means that agencies use one contract to
get a full solution instead of piecing
it together through multiple contract vehicles, requiring additional costs and effort to integrate and manage those contracts in order to get to a good outcome. EIS also incorporated new innovative solutions that reduced the overall number of Contract
Line Items (CLIN). This reduces the need for suppliers to add contract modi cations and provides agencies greater control of the ordering process at the task order level. These are features that our stakeholders, both industry and federal customers, told us would be valuable and enhance the usability and exibility of the EIS contract.
EISisa solutions-based contract, which allows an agency to use a single source to buy a full array of services and solutions.
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