The General Services Administration’s (GSA) 2nd Generation IT (2GIT) contact will wipe out small businesses alleges Rick Vogel, the federal government sales manager for Coast to Coast Computer Products.
Vogel claims that the strategic sourcing initiative for IT will restrict access to contracts to a select few companies and leave thousands of small businesses out in the cold much like what happened when strategic sourcing for office supplies was introduced back in 2010.
Jason Miller outlines Vogel’s points in this article for the Federal News Network:
“The 2GIT solicitation is a violation of the Small Business Jobs Act and it will decimate the industry,” Vogel said in an interview with Federal News Network. “GSA got away with it under Schedule 75. I look at this as I’m fighting for my livelihood here. I’m dying on this hill.”
Coast to Coast filed a pre-award bid protest with the Government Accountability Office alleging GSA violated several provisions of the 2010 small business law with the 2GIT solicitation.
Among the provisions in the law that Coast to Coast alleges GSA violated are:
No analysis of 2GIT’s potential impact on small businesses.
No evidence of having evaluated alternative contracting approaches to a multiple award contract with a limited number of awards.
2GIT will negatively impact more than 700 small businesses under the five special item numbers that are part of the new contract.
2GIT violates the bundling statute because it’s not a direct follow-on to the Air Force’s NetCents contract.
The evaluation factors are unduly restrictive, including the requirement for the small firms to be certified under the ISO-9001 standard.
The self-evaluation factors are unduly restrictive giving too much power to resellers ProMark and the Immix Group.“They are making it impossible for so many small businesses to compete for a spot on 2GIT,” Vogel said.
