Air Force awards consulting BPAs

The Air Force Standard Systems Group (SSG) this week issued blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) to Meta Group Inc. and Gartner Inc. for consulting, research and advisory subscription services.

All Defense Department organizations are authorized to order from the BPAs, which will run for one year and include two additional one-year options. The estimated combined value is $25 million during the three-year period.

The BPAs, which were awarded by SSG's acquisition division, enable DOD customers to purchase independent consulting, access current published information technology research and access to hundreds of analysts at considerable discounts from the vendor's comparable Federal Supply Schedule contract, said Frank Weber, SSG executive director.

The new BPAs fall under the Information Technology Tools (IT2) program, which includes commercial IT procurement vehicles that have done more than $2.5 billion in business during the past three years.

Last month, SSG announced two small-business BPAs for systems accessories and rugged devices. Companies have until July 9 to submit proposals for the BPAs, and awards should be made by the end of August.

"With the expiration date of several contractual vehicles on the horizon, SSG Acquisition Division recently launched Block 4 in the series of iterative acquisition blocks that are part of the IT2 acquisition strategy," said Stephen Sigler, SSG acquisition program manager, in a release. "Other supplier market categories include desktops, notebooks, servers, [input/output] peripherals, enterprise software and high-end workstations. These acquisitions are tentatively planned over the next year."