GSA pushes ahead with schedule consolidation

The General Services Administration wants to hear from industry on its plans to consolidate its 24 multiple award schedules, including its popular IT Schedule 70, into a single solicitation format by the start of fiscal year 2020.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy announced in November that the agency would unify the schedules to reduce duplication and overlap among the contracting resources.

The request for information posted June 7 seeks industry input on the format of the single schedule for products and services, including streamlined terms and conditions, and the solicitation cover page that outlines instructions applicable to all contractors.

Industry has 10 business days to respond.

This consolidation is part of the agency's Federal Marketplace Strategy that looks to smooth and unify buying and selling experiences for buyers, sellers and the acquisition workforce.

"I'm pleased to report GSA is on track to do exactly what we set out to achieve -- create a new solicitation with one easy-to-understand set of terms and conditions for a single schedule by the end of FY19," Murphy said in a June 7 statement.

Multiple award schedule vendors offer more than 10 million commercial supplies and services to federal, state and local agencies. GSA said those entities spend about $31 billion dollars through the schedules every year.

In a conference call with reporters last November announcing the consolidation, Murphy called the move "long overdue" in an acquisition environment in which federal buyers look to draw from multiple schedules for their projects.