Page 36 - FCW, September/October 2021

Acquisition
Thirty years ago, scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center found themselves at the heart of a consequential race against time — albeit one far less publicized than that of their astronaut companions.
Leaders from the technical, policy and procurement worlds convened at the center in 1992 to explore new, faster ways for NASA scientists to get their hands on the latest computers. The goal was to create a procurement method that would allow NASA to make critical purchases in a matter of months by reducing the red tape that delayed the acquisition of emerging technologies.
NASA leaders eventually requested procurement authori- ties from the General Services Administration so that they could establish pre-competed indefinite-delivery, indefinite- quantity (IDIQ) contracts, which allowed them to negotiate their own prices and pre-qualify sellers. The program became known as NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP), and it served as the pilot project for an experimen- tal approach at the time: the governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC).
Joanne Woytek, who launched SEWP a year after those meetings were held at Goddard and continues to manage day-to-day operations as the GWAC’s program manager, said its purpose remains largely unchanged despite nearly three
“With each iteration of SEWP, we have reviewed technology trends and customer requirements and expanded
the scope of the contracts to be inclusive of all IT, AV and communication products, and with SEWP IV and V, all related services.”
JOANNE WOYTEK, NASA
decades and five distinct iterations.
“While almost 30 years have gone by, much of the basics
of SEWP I remain,” Woytek told FCW. “With each iteration of SEWP, we have reviewed technology trends and customer requirements and expanded the scope of the contracts to be inclusive of all IT, AV and communication products, and with SEWP IV and V, all related services.”
Although its foundation is intact, SEWP continues to evolve and to serve as both a precedent and a trailblazer for other GWACs. Changes include switching from time-consuming paper-based updates of technology offerings to electronic updates that are typically executed in less than an hour and emphasizing support for agencywide initiatives rather than focusing on individual procurement actions.
A streamlined process and IT expertise
GWACs quickly grew in popularity after Congress passed the Clinger-Cohen Act in 1996. The law cemented the procure- ment method into law and designated the Office of Manage- ment and Budget to monitor the effectiveness of agencies’ IT investments. As GWACs evolved, more agencies began using them, said Andrew Endicott, a principal research ana- lyst at Deltek.
For example, the Department of Homeland Security has expanded its use of GWACs and moved away from its own pre-established, multiple-award contracts such as the Tech- nical, Acquisition and Business Support Services and the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions.
Perhaps the biggest selling point is that GWACs have focused on cost savings since their inception while becoming more innova- tive and streamlined. For example, there is a new emphasis on category management and a Best in Class designation for specific vehicles. GWACs also offer increasingly competitive rates on fees. NASA’s SEWP has always had the lowest fee of any GWAC, starting at 2.6% in 1993 and dropping to the current rate of 0.34%, according to Woytek.
Furthermore, these large pre-competed contract vehicles reduce the amount of effort and time other agencies need to expend on procurement. “The ability to utilize already established vehicles is a real cost savings for them as opposed to running these massive procurements that could take several years from inception to award and conclusion of any protests that will almost inevitably fol-
low,” Endicott said.
On the industry side, GWACs have the potential to pro-
vide government contractors with a simplified process and access to federal IT acquisition specialists, said Linda Cure- ton, CEO of Muse Technologies and former CIO at NASA.
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“I’ve seen from both the government and industry sides
NASA’s SEWP has always had the lowest fee of any GWAC, starting at 2.6% in 1993 and dropping to the current rate of 0.34%.