Buying event helps museum save on computers

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum saved $75,000 on laptop and desktop computers under the General Services Administration's initiative to buy from a pool of designated computer hardware, according to one of GSA's top IT services officials.

The museum, which is overseen by the public/private U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, bought 100 laptop and 125 desktop computers with a $230,845 order through the Government-wide Strategic Solutions (GSS) for Desktops and Laptops initiative, wrote Kay Ely, GSA's deputy assistant commissioner of integrated technology services, in an Aug. 26 blog post.

The program saved the museum $75,000, allowing it to buy an additional 55 computers it would not have gotten under old pricing models, Ely said. The purchases were made through an IT Schedule 70 reverse auction during a GSS buying event earlier this month.

Agencies have until October to transition to designated computer models specified under the Office of Management and Budget's hardware initiative.

OMB issued the policy last October to take advantage of the government's purchasing power and reduce the number of duplicative hardware contracts among federal agencies.

According to Ely, three dozen agency representatives have attended events to learn about their buying options, while five agencies have said they intend to buy a total of 56,000 laptops and desktops.

Ely said the GSS team plans to conduct buying events twice a year.