Fedsim IT manager to lead SmartBuy

Jim Ghiloni will take over the SmartBuy program when Emory Miller retires in January.

Miller, director of information technology professional development at the General Services Administration, introduced Ghiloni today at a meeting of the Association for Federal Information Resources Management. Ghiloni is project manager of IT solutions for GSA's Federal Systems Integration and Management (Fedsim) program.

SmartBuy will be in good hands with Ghiloni, said Miller, who described his successor as a quick learner. "He understands the FTS business model," Miller said. "He understands how SmartBuy can be adopted into FTS. He's extremely articulate."

The SmartBuy program, an effort to sign governmentwide software licenses with major vendors, has made tremendous progress even though no contracts have yet been signed, Miller said.

"We're still at the dance," Miller said, referring to ongoing negotiations between the government and several vendors. Microsoft Corp. was the only one he would identify. "We don't know exactly when, but we think we're close to a couple of deals, big ones."

The Office of Management and Budget, GSA's counterpart agency in the program, had earlier predicted the first deals would be in place by Sept. 30.

"The first one is the hardest one to put into place," said Ghiloni, who joined GSA in 2000, coming from the private sector.

Fedsim, a core part of GSA's Federal Technology Service, offers agencies services to help them buy products and services using GSA's contract vehicles, including Millennia and Millennia Lite.