Can GSA handle two GWACs?

Two planned General Services Administration information technology and telecommunications contracts could overwhelm the agency’s capacity for good management, Rep. Tom Davis said today.

There is an "apparent lack of management coordination" between the Networx telecommunications acquisition and regional GSA office telecommunication contracts, Davis (R-Va.), House Government Reform Committee chairman, writes in a letter sent today to Stephen Perry, GSA administrator.

Many of the planned regional office telecommunications contracts "seem, at least in some instances, to impinge upon the requirements to be solicited through the Networx program," states the letter from Davis. "I do not believe there is a pressing need for these local telecommunications contracts," he adds. They "send the wrong signal that it is acceptable for the GSA regions to go off on their own."

In addition, planned IT contracts under the recently-announced Alliant umbrella will lead to confusion among agency customers over whether Alliant or Networx contracts provides the best telecommunications solution, Davis writes.

Alliant programs “are to be run out of two different GSA regions,” Davis states, another management challenge to GSA’s limited resources.

As a result, GSA should conduct a comprehensive review of Networx and Alliant “to determine whether GSA has the capacity to manage them all concurrently,” Davis states.

A GSA spokeswoman could not be reached for immediate comment.