The Federal Supply Service, the General Services Administration (GSA) organization responsible for GSA schedules, is undergoing significant changes. Scope of work issues have placed the agency under a microscope. At present, the Federal Supply Services and the Federal Technology Service are being combined into the Federal Acquisition Service and agency managers are focused almost solely on the reorganization.

The results of these changes are as follows:

* GSA contract specialists, those who initially review GSA offers, are more often "in training" and unavailable to assist vendors. As a result, proposal review timelines are increasing.

* GSA Schedule solicitations are being revised and refreshed (or reissued) with increasing frequency. Inexperienced vendors may be working on a proposal for an outdated solicitation and they most likely have no idea they are doing so.

* Reissued solicitations are adding new wrinkles and new conditions to be met.

* GSA's proposal evaluation standards have always been inconsistent across the different schedules and these inconsistencies are growing as solicitations are reissued.

* GSA's proposal evaluation standards have become more rigid and strict. Therefore, more proposals are being rejected based on GSA's perception that the vendor's experience does not fit the scope of work of the schedule.

* Final price negotiations with GSA are becoming more difficult.

* Proposal rejection letters are becoming more legalistic and are harder to decipher.

All of the foregoing changes may, in the short run, make GSA Schedule contracts more difficult to obtain and administer. However, this too shall pass. The federal bureaucracy is overreacting, as it always does, when problems are found. Unfortunately, this is the way the system works. GSA is being particularly defensive right now but things will return to normal.

In the meantime, the use of GSA Schedule contracts for federal buys is becoming increasingly more prevalent because they are fast and efficient. During the past several years, the Department of Defense (DOD) was thought to be abusing GSA Schedule contracting policies. The press was therefore predicting that the use of GSA Schedule contracts at DOD would be reduced. However, DOD recently issued a policy memo reaffirming that GSA Schedules may be used as long as policies are carefully followed.

Moral of the story - You can't kill a good thing.

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