IBM to integrate federal acquisition databases

The General Services Administration has awarded a contract to consolidate nine government acquisition-related databases, the agency announced today.

IBM U.S. Federal won the $74.4 million fixed-price contract to merge the acquisition databases that track pre- and post-award contract data across federal civilian organizations and the Defense Department. The Architecture and Operations Contract Support contract will have a three-year base period and five one-year option periods, according to GSA.

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• Federal Business Opportunities, a single point-of-entry for posting solicitations of more than $25,000 for companies to find opportunities in federal markets.

• Wage Determinations OnLine, which makes it easy for the federal contracting community to determine that contract wages comply with Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act guidelines.

• Central Contractor Registration, which maintains information on government contractors and other information such as Small Business Administration certifications for small businesses.

• Federal Agency Registration, which holds information for government officials about federal entities that buy and sell from other federal entities.

• Online Representations and Certifications Application, which allows vendors to enter representations and certifications once for use on all federal contracts.

• Past Performance Information Retrieval System, where acquisition officials can find pertinent information on contractors’ past work for other agencies.

• Excluded Parties List System, a directory of businesses banned from receiving federal contracts and certain subcontracts.

• Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation, an online repository of data on all federal acquisitions worth more than $3,000.

• Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System, which is designed for prime contractors to report their progress on achieving required subcontracting goals.

By consolidating the current Integrated Acquisition Environment's applications into the new standard architecture, GSA could realize significant operating cost savings, according to IBM.

“The consolidated databases will improve the efficiency of the contracting process by providing federal acquisition professionals with a streamlined tool for all of their pre- and post-award reporting and tracking work,” said Michael Robertson, associate administrator of governmentwide policy at GSA.

The latest award is the second of three programs aimed at various systems in the Integrated Acquisition Environment. The first, the Federal Service Desk, consolidated all help-desk support for the nine systems.

“The GSA continues to play a central role in transforming the government’s procurement process, making it easier and more cost-effective for federal agencies to acquire products and services,” said Charles Prow, managing partner for global business services in IBM's Public Sector unit.