FTS to handle SmartBuy

An effort to develop governmentwide enterprise software licenses has found a new home at the General Services Administration.

GSA's Federal Technology Service has taken over operational control of the SmartBuy program, according to FTS Commissioner Sandy Bates. The Office of Governmentwide Policy, which had been the sole GSA unit for SmartBuy, will retain policy control.

SmartBuy efforts, shared between GSA and the Office of Management and Budget, began last year with a target of getting the first contracts ready by fall. When that didn't happen, the agencies regrouped to try new approaches.

Emory Miller, director of information technology professional development at GSA and the agency's SmartBuy leader, retired this month. Mark Forman, former administrator of OMB's Office of E-Government and IT, left the government last year. Forman's successor, Karen Evans, is leading the effort at OMB, which asked FTS to take a role, Bates said.

"With her determination, I'm confident that SmartBuy is going to come about," Bates said, speaking at a meeting of the Computer Marketing Association.

Evans will make some announcements regarding SmartBuy's future within the next month, Bates said.