SEWP business is up, fee down

NASA said it received so many orders in the first five months of its new governmentwide acquisition contract that it lowered the fee it charges agencies to place orders.

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NASA broke procurement promise to GAO, senator says

NASA needs to account for misleading the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on a pledge to review contracting irregularities after having a bid protest dismissed in 2005, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a letter to the space agency.

In the letter sent April 5, Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said NASA made specific commitments to GAO as part of its response to a bid protest. The commitments led GAO to dismiss the protest. However, a review by NASA’s inspector general found that agency did not follow through on its promises, Grassley said.

“NASA needs to ensure that basic procurement principles are followed,” Grassley said.

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Small businesses get big portion of SEWP

NASA awarded 45 information technology governmentwide acquisition contracts today to 37 vendors, half of which are small businesses.

Contractors for the fourth installment of SEWP, now known as Solutions for Enterprisewide Procurement, went to 23 small businesses — six of which are owned by service-disabled veterans, according to NASA.

Companies can earn as much as $5.6 billion per contract, NASA said.

“I have my own meaning [of the SEWP acronym]: success every way possible,” said Alan Bechara, president of PC Mall Gov.

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Doan 'elated' by SEWP decision

Reversing her previous stance, Lurita Doan, administrator of the General Services Administration, said today she was elated by the decision to allow NASA’s acquisition contract to continue.

In December, Paul Denett, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, granted NASA an extension to its Scientific and Engineering Workstation Procurement governmentwide acquisition contract. Originally opposed to it, Doan said she now considers his verdict a justified response to meeting a niche need in the federal marketplace.

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SEWP stays with NASA; Doan upset by decision

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has cleared NASA to proceed with the next installment of its multibillion-dollar Scientific and Engineering Workstation Procurement, which the General Services Administration had hoped to take over.

SEWP IV will have a five-year duration and a ceiling of $6 billion, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Under the new designation, SEWP IV will provide online tools and training to provide for agencies’ high-end solutions.

“NASA effectively leverages its in-house technical knowledge and management experience to provide the federal scientific community with timely access to the high-end IT product solutions they need at competitive prices and reasonable fees,” said OFPP administrator Paul Denett in a press release.

NASA has served as executive agent of SEWP since 1992. It currently manages the SEWP III governmentwide acquisition contract, which expires in January.

Lurita Doan, administrator of the General Services Administration, is disappointed with Denett’s decision, she said in a statement Tuesday.

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OFPP's Denett: Competition works

Where some market observers see an overabundance of governmentwide acquisition contracts, the government's top procurement official sees market forces at work.

“I don’t see a proliferation of GWACs themselves,” said Paul Denett, administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in an interview Tuesday. Instead, he describes it as strategic, niche contracts that fill needs in the marketplace.

Denett approved NASA’s Scientific and Engineering Workstation Procurement IV GWAC Monday. In a letter to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, Denett wrote that NASA had shown a need for SEWP IV in the federal marketplace and that NASA has the expertise to lead it.

Competition is the bedrock for the federal marketplace, Denett said. “Some competition is beneficial. It keeps people paying attention to their customers.”

Too much competition could be counterproductive, he added.

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