GSA Schedule Consolidation

$40+ Billion GSA Multiple Award Schedule Consolidation

 

The new GSA Consolidated Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation is revolutionizing the selling and buying of commercial solutions for the Federal Government. This restructured acquisition platform is the “go-to buying source” within the Federal Marketplace!

Background of GSA Schedule Consolidation Phasing Process

GSA has prioritized the MAS Consolidation process based on what will provide the greatest value to the Federal customers and remains as the top priority for the agency. Consolidating the 24 individual Schedules into one Schedule has eliminated the need for industry to manage multiple Schedule contracts, multiple contracting officers and multiple sets of terms and conditions. GSA has been implementing this Consolidation through the following three Phases:

Phase 1 - Completed
Phase 1 was the largest phase and is now complete. GSA reviewed all terms and conditions across all Schedules, isolating what terms and conditions are for all vendors and what are very specific to a category or subcategory. On October 1, 2019, GSA released its new consolidated Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation. The new solicitation modernized federal acquisition by consolidating and streamlining the existing 24 Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) into a single Contract for services, solutions, and products. The services, solutions and products offered under the MAS Contract have been broken down into 12 large categories, 83 subcategories and 324 Special Item Numbers (SINs) closely aligned to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes.

Click here to view the 12 Categories and their subcategories.

Phase 2 - Completed
GSA issued a Mass Mod in January 2020 to all vendors holding a GSA Schedule contract. This Mass Mod migrated contractors to the new terms and conditions under the new GSA MAS contract, keeping the same contract number, existing task orders and BPA’s. Contractors had until July 2020 to accept this Mass Mod or risk losing visibility in GSA eLibrary as a GSA approved vendor. Please note, all vendors are required to update their GSA pricelist(s) through the GSA Advantage system by March 31, 2021 or again GSA will remove the vendor listing from GSA eLibrary and will not allow vendors to use the GSA eBuy system.
Phase 3 - Ongoing

On August 1, 2020, GSA began working with vendors that hold more than one GSA Schedule legacy contract to begin the process of consolidating those contracts into one final GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract.  GSA has been working with impacted contractors over the past year to put together consolidation plans.

GSA contract vendors that have not started the process of consolidating their GSA MAS contracts must submit a consolidation plan by December 31, 2021.  If this deadline is missed, the contractor should reach out to their GSA Contracting Officer(s) (CO) as soon as possible and work with the CO to determine an alternate date for plan submission.  The consolidation plan is the first step in determining the surviving contract and starting the process of getting down to one contract.  No Phase 3 modifications will be approved without a completed and approved GSA plan.

A Phase 3 consolidation plan consists of a letter outlining the vendor’s contract consolidation strategies and a completed GSA Phase 3 checklist.  The process includes coordinating with all Contracting Officers, completing and providing a consolidation plan and GSA Phase 3 checklist to all COs, approval of the consolidation plan by GSA, and other steps before completion of contract consolidation.  Currently, GSA is only asking that the consolidation plan and Phase 3 checklist be provided to your GSA CO.  Final steps towards contract consolidation will be completed later with the GSA CO who manages the surviving contract.  GSA has indicated it may take two to five years to complete all vendor contract consolidations due to issues such as long-term GSA Schedule Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) with Federal agencies.

GSA designed Phase 3 to ensure that no GSA contract numbers change, and no contracts will be canceled that have active BPAs.  GSA vendors impacted by Phase 3 will have to weigh the following options in developing a plan for Phase 3.  Let The Gormley Group (TGG) help you decide which option is best for your company and its contracts:

OPTION 1:  CHOOSE A SURVIVING CONTRACT AND CANCEL THE OTHER(S)

If you choose to move forward with a surviving contract, you will need to add the SINs and items/services from the other contract(s) to the surviving contract via a modification request. Please note that SINs, contract offerings, and other negotiated factors, such as delivery and discounts, will not automatically transfer from one contract to another and this is where TGG can be particularly helpful.

After the modification(s) are approved, you will need to update your GSA Price List and GSA Advantage listing.  Once the surviving contract has been modified to add all contract offerings from the legacy contract(s), you will have to identify the earliest possible cancellation date for the other contract(s).  This cancellation date should take into account any open orders and BPAs to ensure continuity of service for federal customers.  Vendors must continue to maintain any legacy contract(s) as long there are open task orders and/or active BPAs, which means for a period of time the legacy contract(s) with open orders and BPA(s) will remain in place and run-in tandem with the surviving GSA MAS contract.

OPTION 2:  GET A NEW CONTRACT AND CANCEL THE OLD CONTRACT(S)

Submit a new MAS Contract offer through the GSA eOffer system and after award begin identifying the earliest possible cancellation dates for your legacy contract(s).  This proposed cancellation date should again, as in Option 1, take into account any open orders and/or BPAs to ensure continuity of service for your customers.  Vendors must continue to maintain any legacy contract(s) as long there are open task orders and/or active BPAs.

TGG’s Federal Acquisition expertise is unmatched in the industry, having helped thousands of companies secure and maintain their GSA MAS Schedule contracts.  Since it was announced that GSA was moving towards consolidating its 24 Schedules into the one, new MAS Contract, TGG has followed the progress very closely and responded to Requests for Information (RFIs) when GSA needed Industry input.  We are extremely conversant with the new GSA MAS Contract Program and are currently helping existing clients impacted by Phase 3 of the consolidation to determine the best strategy forward.  Let us put our experience, knowledge, and skills to work for you to identify where we can help your company with the new GSA MAS Program.

Please reach out to The Gormley Group at 202-833-1120 or via email at info@gormgroup.com if you would like help with the Phase 3 consolidation process.