IT hallway to launch in the fall

The General Services Administration is looking to roll out by autumn an acquisition "hallway" concept for acquisition of IT gear and other goods that entails developing a team of experts offering guidance and best practices with the aim of ensuring pricing transparency and common standards.

In a report posted on the Office of Management and Budget's Performance.gov site, GSA said it would implement an IT category management "hallway" under its Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI).

The report said the hallway concept would bring together all the dollars spent in similar commodity areas, such as IT, under stronger management. There are hallways planned for other acquisition areas as well, offering centralized management and standards for categories of federal acquisition, although "many agencies will continue to award their own contracts," the report said.

Although GSA officials had indicated they would create new strategic acquisition strategies and concepts under FSSI and category management practices in the last few months, they hadn't elaborated on a timeline.

In an April 9 blog post, Thomas Sharpe, commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, said the agency was using its experience with FSSI to implement category management practices similar to those used in the private sector. The plan, he said, includes providing technical expertise and targeted purchasing information to agency customers.

Sharpe said that among the first concepts GSA would adopt under category management practices would be category hallways available under the agency's common acquisition platform (CAP).

CAP, according to Sharpe, is a technology platform and strategy that will help deliver the benefits of category management and guide buyers through every step of the acquisition process.

After entering through the digital CAP gateway, users will be able to choose a category, or search for the product or service they need. From there, Sharpe said, they will be able to virtually “walk” down a hallway that houses everything from subject expertise and data to tools and on-demand procurement assistance.

"The hallways will house both advice and acquisition sources that government-wide category managers have determined would help professionals make better buying decisions," he said.