NOTE: This article was originally published on Sept. 26, 2014.
We know who the GSA OASIS Unrestricted and OASIS Small Business vendors are – but who can you expect to use OASIS in FY 2015?
At this time, we know only of one department that has publicly committed to using OASIS – the Air Force. The Air Force signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSA in December 2013 agreeing to use OASIS SB as part of the department’s goals to increase both the use of strategic sourcing for services and small businesses. The Air Force indicated in the MOU that it plans to obligate more than $500 million within the first 18 months the contracts are active. The Air Force has identified three programs to be competed using OASIS SB: Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Technical Support (STS-2); Engineering Professional Administrative Support Services (EPASS); and Technical and Management Advisory Services (TMAS), as detailed in Deltek’s Opportunity Advisor: The Air Force and GSA’s OASIS
When trying to determine which other departments are likely to use OASIS in the next fiscal year there are a couple of areas to consider: whether a department prefers to use agency-specific contract vehicles or GWACs and GSA Schedules and professional services contract recompetes anticipated this fiscal year.
Historical spending trends give us insight into what the future may hold. I’ve looked at the departments and agencies that are, historically, the top spending agencies for professional services and information technology, and then identified each agency’s preferred contract vehicles for both industries. Why include IT? It gives us a broader sample to help determine preferences.
Based on reported spending from fiscal years 2010 through 2013, the Army, Defense, Navy and Air Force are the top-spending departments in both professional services and IT, while HHS ranks fifth for professional Services and DHS also comes in fifth for IT.
The Army leans towards agency-specific vehicles for both professional services and information technology, with top professional services vehicles being its LOGCAP IV ($16.4B) and Field and Installation Readiness Team (FIRST) Unrestricted ($2.7B), and GSA’s MOBIS ($1.3B). The Army’s top IT vehicles are its Strategic Services Sourcing (S3) ($10B) and ITES2 ($4.4B).
Defense has mixed use of agency-specific vehicles and GSA schedules, so it may be more open to using OASIS. It’s important to note that more than 40 percent of its professional services spending during the four fiscal years was for Air Charter for people and things via agency specific contract vehicles. Beyond air charter, the top professional services vehicles were GSA’s MOBIS ($683M) and US SOCOM’s Global Battlestaff and Program Support Services (GBPS) ($554M). Similarly, preferred vehicles for IT were DISA’s Encore II ($3.9 B) and GSA’s Schedule 70 ($3.7B).
The Navy uses agency-specific vehicles, with its SeaPort-e being the most utilized for both professional services and IT.
HHS is inclined to use GSA schedules for professional services, with MOBIS ($2B) and Schedule 70 ($1.2B) being the preferred vehicles. In FY 2013, MOBIS and Schedule 70 combined accounted for 15 percent of the department’s professional services obligations. HHS’s IT spending is split between a GWAC managed by NIH, CIO-SP2i ($1.7B), an agency specific vehicle, Enterprise System Development (ESD) Full & Open ($1.7B), and GSA Schedule 70 ($1.5B).
DHS tends to use agency-specific vehicles for both professional services and IT, with the department’s Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge (EAGLE) being the preferred vehicle for both ($1.35B for professional services and $7.8B for IT).
As noted in Deltek’s Federal IT Task Order Trends Report (August 2014): “The breadth of OASIS could have a significant impact on recompetes of existing professional services contracts. GSA stood up the vehicle leveraging the Government’s buying power to reduce costs and to eliminate contract duplication. Both goals could be achieved by centralization under OASIS.”
One example of this is the Army’s Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3), which is the consolidation of two contracts: Strategic Services Sourcing (S3) and Rapid Response Third Generation (R2-3G). The government has stated that the acquisition strategy will be finalized in November; it is important to note that while the government previously stated that it is unlikely the requirement will be encompassed within OASIS, the RFI states that the Army is still evaluating and considering using OASIS as an option.
Who will use OASIS?
