EIS RFP might spill into October

The managers in charge of developing GSA’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract have made their final tweaks to the request for proposals and are looking to one last agency -- and possibly White House --review before releasing the document in the coming week or so.

GSA officials told FCW that the release of the final RFP for the 15-year, $50 billion telecom contract is on track, but they’re hedging a few days on the exact release date because of the complicated approval cycle big federal contracts have to pass through, which could include the Office of Management and Budget.

“The EIS team is working diligently through the various required review and approval points, coordinating across GSA and stakeholder agencies, to release the final EIS RFP as close as possible to our previously estimated date of Sept. 30 or shortly thereafter in October,” Amando Gavino Jr., director of GSA's Office of Network Services Programs, said in a statement to FCW.

One key detail has surfaced in advance of the RFP, however: GSA plans to set the fees federal agencies will pay to use EIS -- once intended to run as high as 7 percent -- at a “significantly” lower rate. 

The Professional Services Council noted in an August letter to GSA that the draft RFP's rate "far exceeds the fees currently paid to GSA for use of Alliant and OASIS contracts." According to a source familiar with the discussions, GSA has told PSC it was “significantly lowering” the fee structure in the final RFP, although GSA officials did not disclose the revised rates.