GSA Ponders Slashing 2-Year Experience Requirement for IT Contractors

The General Services Administration is trying to make it easier for new IT contractors to sell technology to the government. 

In a new request for information, GSA is asking tech companies to comment on how the federal contracting system can be improved.

The agency is also considering eliminating as a requirement for a spot on the Schedule 70 – GSA's list of approved IT vendors – that potential contractors must have at least two years' corporate experience, according to the RFI.

Eliminating the corporate experience requirement could ensure that "sources that otherwise have the capacity and capability to accomplish a given requirement" have access to the federal market, according to the RFI.

Instead of two years of corporate experience, potential vendors could submit a narrative description of their relevant experience, and documentation demonstrating the company's financial responsibility. 

Eliminating the 2-year experience requirement would be worthwhile if it increased the number of new and emerging small businesses added to the schedule, and if new contractors were able to meet sales criteria, among other metrics, according to the RFI.

"By making it easier for suppliers to work with us, we will offer government as a whole better access to innovative companies, enhanced technology solutions, and a wider range of contracting options,” GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth wrote in a blog post. 

GSA is collecting input both from the private sector and federal agencies until Sep. 18, 2015. Specific topics include:

• What are potential benefits and downsides to removing the 2-year corporate experience requirement? 
• What other requirements or processes prevent businesses from obtaining a Schedule 70 contract?
• What requirements and processes make it hard to work with the government even after getting a Schedule 70 contract?

Image via Rena Schild/Shutterstock.com