Decoding GSA Schedules With VARStreet

Let’s understand more about GSA

Established in 1949, GSA is a federal government agency that works in government procurement. Some of these sectors include managing government buildings and real estate, providing procurement and service support and developing policies and regulations.
This brainchild of President Harry Truman was a way to structure the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA has more than 12,000 federal workers working in different departments to streamline the federal government’s administrative work.

Role of GSA

GSA was meant to bring together on one platform:

• The National Archives Establishment
• The Federal Works Agency and it’s Public Buildings Administration
  The Bureau of Federal Supply
• The Office of Contract Settlement
• The War Assets Administration
• Government procurement and provision storage.

The goal of GSA

What did streamlining the entire process mean? What was the outcome of the GSA?
The main goal was to supply to the military:

• Stockpile supplies in case of emergencies
• Manage records
• Get rid of surplus

The government also looks for consumer products which is when it involves the public sector of industry and manufacturing.

What happens next when the government turns to the public sector?

Private businesses are allowed to sell their goods, services and solutions to government buyers which is what the GSA Schedule Federal Contract facilitates. The main mission of the GSA is to “deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government.”

Importance of GSA Today

For a business to engage with the federal government, it is a requirement to go through and work with the GSA. Today the GSA goes beyond government real estate and infrastructure management.

In the modern world of technology, GSA has turned out to be a major supplier and a bridge to solutions for the federal government on a daily basis.

Some GSA Schedule features

• The GSA works to carry out government requirements in a symbiotic association.
• Saving taxpayer’s money by finding plausible solutions while working with the GSA.
• GSA is a catalyst that cements professional relationships and approves contracts proposed by businesses to government buyers. The first step for this is through bidding on contracts. The lowest bidder acquires the contract.
• GSA supplies communications and products for US government offices.
• GSA provides office space and transportation to federal employees.
• GSA develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies and other management tasks.

The Bidding Process

Let’s get to the bidding process, which might be cumbersome to some, but for businesses to work with the government, bidding on contracts amongst competitors requires a proper understanding. Hence the questions that come to mind are:

• Is GSA right for your business?
• How does your business want to go about getting a contract through GSA?

Selling to the government is a long process that can last months to over a year. However, the approach your business takes determines the time taken.

Is it worth it to go through the process for a GSA Schedule Federal contract?

Got a small business? A GSA Schedule might be worth the effort. Don’t rule out lucrative contracts in the long run for bigger businesses. But what next?

• The bid is then reviewed by the GSA along with other competitors who have submitted their bidding offers. After the review and scrutiny, the GSA decides whether to approve the bidding offer and post that, if approved, your business is awarded the contract.
• What is suggested is, start with finding the right price to offer for the service or product offered to the government through the bidding process.
• There are ways to determine the GSA pricing and finding a cost-effective way to deliver quality services and products which would benefit the government and your business. Don’t always look for the cheapest value, also make sure that quality services and products are being offered.

How VARStreet can assist your business

VARStreet has a bid support package which assists VARs in working with the government.

Some key highlight of our government contract software:

a) Exceptional support

A dedicated VARStreet bid support team member to work closely with you to understand RFI, RFQ, RFP requirements.

b)  Modifications

An in-house team of highly experienced engineers who can take any enhancement or modification request for a particular contract and turn it around quickly for contract compliance and management.

c) Compliance

EPEAT, 508 compliances and other Green Compliance Data. We also support GSA Schedules and BPA. Remain in compliance always.

VARStreet has been designed to meet the unique requirements of government and education VARs. We work with some of the largest VARs selling to the GovEd with many of them using VARStreet for multiple contracts.

Understand whether the GSA schedule is right for you?

Before your company acquires the GSA Schedule Federal contract after the bidding process, assess if you have the legitimacy and experience to work on government contracts.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides resources for small businesses or start-ups to contract with the government.

A GSA contract has certain limitations in production, workforce or the age and growth rate of your business.

If bidding for a GSA Contract is not the right option for your company, or if you need to gain more experience, contracts on the open market or subcontracting may be for you, for now. Bigger government agencies prefer businesses with at least two years’ experience with other forms of government contracting.

If your business can win a contract and actually manage to sell to a government agency, it is a foot in the door of a billion-dollar market contributing a large chunk to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

What are the finer details?

A GSA Schedule requires time, hard work, accuracy and efficiency. There are also the government red tapes to consider.

Is your business ready to go through this? If yes, then a GSA schedule is the best-selling option.

Why do we say this?

Your company finds out the bidding cost, puts forward a bid and your offer is reviewed through GSA and all this takes up to a year. Here is the catch.

Despite the efforts put in, your business is still not guaranteed to win a contract with the government.

Why is that?

Even if your business has crossed the bidding stage and bagged the contract, it does not make it mandatory for the government to buy from you.

Wonder why you put in all the hard work? Because you become a viable option for the government and the rest lies up to what the government decides on services or products to acquire. This is where marketing plays a big role which your business must not ignore. Continue marketing your business even after obtaining the GSA Schedule.

GSA Support Through VARStreet

At VARStreet we understand the work that goes into acquiring a GSA. We understand your company profile, whether it meets the requirements and what can be done going forward to get a Schedule.

We support VARs for hundreds of state and local contracts including some large federal contracts like DHS FirstSource, Netcents, SEWP, DHS Eagle, ITES, ECS etc.

Some of the benefits of VARStreet for GovEd contracts:

a) Bid Support Package

Our unique ‘Bid Support Package’ has helped many IT and office supplies retailers in responding and complying to the RFP requirements

b) PunchOut

PunchOut integration with various third party procurement platforms like SAP, PeopleSoft, Jaggaer (formerly SciQuest), Ariba, JD Edwards and many others.

c) Compliance

Compliance to the government. audit, pricing, delivery and procurement rules. EPEAT, 508 compliance and other green compliance data.

Key highlights for government and education VARs.

a) Store within a store

Create multiple sub stores with a configurable look, products and pricing for each of your customers or contracts.

b) Govt costs from distributors

Daily download of K-12, Higher Education, State and Local or Federal pricing from distributors.

c) Add contract elements

Add contract data elements such as CLIN #, Contract # etc. for an SKU. Add contract terms and conditions while creating a contract.

d) Add workflows and buying limits

Procurement workflows like approval workflow, cost, center-based procurement, budgets and buying limits can be set up.

e) Add products against a contract

Ability to add products from the aggregated or custom catalog against a contract.