The Office of Management and Budget issued a new draft directive on Dec. 21 that, when finalized, will require agencies to purchase software licenses in a more controlled, centralized manner. On the heels of that release, the General Service Administration announced awards on a new blanket purchase agreement to support this effort.
More: Salesforce Governmentwide Blanket Purchase Agreement
The new Salesforce Implementation, Integration and Support Services (SIISS) BPA offers standardized services from six companies, giving agencies access to applications and web portals that can be replicated across government to meet every mission.
Per the new OMB directive, agencies interested in using Salesforce services will now have to purchase them off this BPA, rather than creating their own contracts.
“This new solution brings together the best of the administration’s efforts to drive category management and increase innovation in the delivery of IT,” said U.S. Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung. “By driving agencies to these BPAs, we will be able to leverage industry’s agile talent while ensuring that we deliver the best value for the American taxpayer.”
Rung and Federal Acquisition Services Commissioner Tom Sharpe noted the new BPA adheres to both the new directive and the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) enacted late last year.
According to a Dec. 21 blog post by Rung and Federal CIO Tony Scott, OMB projects agencies can save between 50 percent and 80 percent on software development costs by reusing existing apps and code that have already been licensed elsewhere in the government.
The five-year, $503 million contract includes offerings from Accenture, Acumen, Capgemini, Deloitte, PhaseOne and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Spots on the BPA were competitively awarded from a pool of qualified vendors on GSA’s IT Schedule 70.
