GWACs ride the tide of popularity

Business in governmentwide acquisition contracts is booming, with agency buyers turning to the large-scale vehicles for price breaks and convenience.

"The word has gotten out on the flexibility and ease of use of GWACs," said Casey Kelley, acting director of the General Services Administration's GWAC Program.

During a panel discussion at the Digital Government Institute's 930gov conference on Aug. 24, Kelley said GSA's Alliant contract has $3.5 billion in the pipeline for fiscal 2017. GWACs like Alliant, which is set to expire in 2019, typically see declines in their later years, he added.

NASA's year-old Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V is also going strong, with growth of 25 percent expected in its first year, SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek said.

The National Institutes of Health IT Acquisition and Assessment Center, which oversees three big GWACs, has seen 30,000 orders this year, an increase of about 10 percent, said Charles Hicks, a NITAAC branch chief.

GWAC managers said the reason for the sustained growth is the contracts' ability to help federal customers move smoothly and quickly to address immediate IT needs rather than conducting protracted contracting efforts of their own.

GWACs can also handle newer contracting goals, such as incorporating agile methodologies.

"Since 1992, SEWP has been innovative in contracts," Woytek said. She added that it's up to federal agencies to give new contracting methods a try.