GSA Blog

OASIS On-Ramps are Complete! What’s Next?

In 2018, the federal Category Management Leadership Council (CMLC) asked GSA to increase the industrial base available through its OASIS contract program. While we hadn’t planned on tackling a large on-ramp, given OASIS’s special status as a Best-in-Class contract (or BIC) we set out to achieve the ask.

Two years, 2,351 questions, 1,662 proposals, and 730 contract awards later -- we issued the last of our notices to proceed on November 13, 2020 to:

• 446 contractors for OASIS Small Business Pools 1, 3, and 4
• 160 contractors for OASIS Small Business 8(a) Sub Pools 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5b
• 124 contractors for OASIS Unrestricted Pools 1, 3, and 4

Post on-ramp, the OASIS contracts are better than ever - now with more than 1,100 OASIS BIC contracts, approximately 70% of which are awarded to small businesses. Equally important, our new industry partners have access to more BIC procurement opportunities.

Today, the majority of our new contractors are fully integrated into GSA systems, including GSA eLibrary and e-Buy, and are eligible to formally compete for task order opportunities. Information about all of our OASIS contractors, ordering guides, and updated reference materials can be found at GSA.gov.

On behalf of GSA and my team, I would like to thank the CMLC, U.S. Small Business Administration, our customer agencies, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, our GSA colleagues, and industry for their support and participation during the on-ramping process. The OASIS contract program is better for it.

What’s Next?

Our category management, on-ramping, and assisted acquisition services work has highlighted best practices, as well as what can be improved in our governmentwide services contracts. With these lessons learned in mind, this year FAS begins a new Federal Marketplace initiative - the Services Marketplace - to holistically approach how we are supporting the federal acquisition community's procurement needs for services.

FAS supports billions in services spend annually and we recognize the needs of our federal customers have become increasingly complex. To better meet these needs, the Services Marketplace initiative will focus on achieving three goals:

• Rationalizing, aligning, and expanding GSA’s Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), Multiple Award Contract, and MAS service contract offerings.
• Improving FAS’s market research and buying tools for federal acquisition professionals.
• Improving the data and reporting systems used in support of our acquisition programs.

To achieve these goals, we will begin with:

• Awarding the 8(a) STARS III GWAC.
• Establishing the next generation small business IT GWAC Polaris. 
• As a follow-on to OASIS, whose ordering period ends in 2024, establishing a broader and more flexible next generation services Best-in-Class Multi-Agency Contract (BIC MAC). 
• Improving our MAS service offerings as part of its consolidation.
• Improving the digital experience for both the federal acquisition workforce and industry when using our contract management tools and resources for services procurements.
• Establishing a more formal collaborative community to better align our work in the services contract space.

Each of these efforts is significant, and input from the federal acquisition community and industry will be fundamental to our acquisition strategies and systems investments.

For the Services Marketplace procurement solutions, FAS’s Information Technology Category is leading our GWAC efforts, and my organization will lead the development of the government’s next generation services BIC MAC. Customer agencies’ needs will serve as the foundation for BIC MAC’s acquisition strategy, scope, and fair opportunity construct; while industry will be invited to provide us with feedback and input on their needs through focus groups, listening sessions, industry days, and input from industry associations. Details on how to get involved will be published on FAS’s Professional Services Interact site and here on GSA.gov in the coming weeks!