IBM to Merge Contracting Systems

The government announced on Thursday that IBM U.S. Federal has won a $74.4 million dollar contract to consolidate disparate systems that track contractor performance. The reconfiguration is intended to make it easier for federal acquisition workers to monitor the purchase of equipment, supplies, information technology and telecommunications services governmentwide, according to the General Services Administration, the agency that awarded the contract.

The consolidated databases "will also improve transparency of the process by providing the public with a single, comprehensive source for contracting data from all levels of government," said Michael Robertson, associate administrator of governmentwide policy.

But not all of the databases slated for the system are currently accessible to the public, according to contracting industry officials. For example, the public Web site FedBizOpps allows the public and vendors to search through solicitations, but the Past Performance Information Retrieval System, which rates the work of contractors, is only accessible to contractors and federal officials.

The potential eight-year, fixed-price contract would meld nine acquisition databases to support a GSA initiative called the integrated acquisition environment. The envisioned environment is aimed at improving the procurement process by increasing efficiencies and collaboration among government buyers and sellers, according to GSA officials.

Northrop Grumman, Vertex Information and Computer Consulting Services Inc. and Collins Consulting Inc. are the subcontractors on the project, according to an IBM press release.

The nine databases pegged for the system include:

FedBizOpps -- publicly posts solicitations over $25,000, enabling vendors to search and compete for financial opportunities in the federal government.

Wage Determinations Online -- provides Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon wage determinations to the contracting community.

Central Contractor Registration -- validates vendors who want to do business with the government.

Federal Agency Registration - is accessibly only to government workers and publishes information about federal organizations that buy and sell from other federal entities.

Online Representations and Certifications Application -- allows vendors to update, annually, representations and certifications for use with all federal contracts.

Past Performance Information Retrieval System - is accessible only to contractors and government officials and stores information on the quality of work that contractors provided to the government on prior occasions.

Excluded Parties List System - identifies vendors that are barred from obtaining awards.

Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation - displays data on contracting actions to the public

Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System - enables prime contractors to update the government on work that is supposed to be conducted by subcontractors.