The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced the creation of a brand-new office designed to make the federal government’s buying process simpler, faster, and more cost-effective. The Office Of Centralized Acquisition Services (OCAS) will serve as the central hub that supports how agencies purchase goods and services. For example, in June of this year it was determined that Program Management, Administrative, Clerical & Technical Services III (PACTS III) offered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was not a mission critical contract and that it offers redundant services available through existing GSA contracts such as OASIS + and the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS).
By consolidating these efforts under one office, GSA hopes to reduce duplication, cut costs, and negotiate better deals by using the government’s combined buying power essentially getting more for taxpayers’ money. This new office follows an executive order 14240 issued in March of this year from the current administration calling for procurement consolidation. It also builds on other modernization efforts, such as rewriting sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how federal contracts are managed.
The OCAS will be led by Thomas Meiron. It is said that the new office will take on contracting responsibilities for agencies such as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). In addition, the office may eventually oversee some of the federal government’s largest IT contract programs, including:
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NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP)
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The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP4 contracts
Earlier this year, GSA announced plans to bring IT contract vehicles worth more than $100 billion in annual spending under its management. If approved, these moves would further expand GSA’s role as the federal government’s main purchasing agent assisting agencies to operate more efficiently.
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