GSA, OPM delay HR business line solicitation, awards

The General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management have pushed back the awards for the Human Resources Line of Business to August. GSA and OPM previously said they hoped to award contracts to private-sector providers by June 30. However, sources said the agencies extended the timeline because of the large number of questions vendors are submitting and how those questions are forcing GSA and OPM to rethink the request for proposals. In answers to contractor questions that GSA is posted on FedBizOpps.gov, officials said GSA would issue a “refreshed” solicitation for Federal Supply Service Schedule 738.x, including the new special item numbers for services, this week. “Evaluation of proposals will be an involved process, including operational capability demonstrations,” GSA said in its answer to a vendor's question about the new timeline. “A very tentative timeline would place possible awards around August 2007.” The delayed timeline also could affect how agencies move to shared-service providers. OPM had said it expected three agencies to begin migration in fiscal 2007, but that is now in doubt as the commercial providers will not be available until late this year. Under the request for information released in late January, GSA said vendors must provide three core services: The new RFP will address a number of questions that vendors have asked, including the role that Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 will play in competitions, the contracting approach under which private-sector service centers will compete with government shared-service providers, and whether agencies that are seeking an HR LOB provider will be required to seek proposals from government and private-sector shared-service providers.