Agencies Slow to Transition to EIS Telecom Contract; Chris Smith, Tony Wellen Quoted

The General Services Administration expected nine out of 17 major agencies to award task orders by March 31 through the $50B Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions telecommunications contract but only one of those agencies used EIS to issue a task order, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Thirty eight of the 181 micro or small agencies were expected to have awarded EIS task orders by the end of March, but only five of them transitioned to the contract.

A spokeswoman for GSA said those are just preliminary figures and the agency will update the data by May 15.

Chris Smith, vice president for civilian and shared services at AT&T’s global public sector, said chief information officers and mission leaders should leverage the EIS vehicle to advance modernization.

“We except to see the bulk of the fair opportunity solicitations in by end of this calendar year,” said Smith. “Roughly, we’ve seen about one-third come through the door already, which means a busy time to get there all of them out by the end of this fiscal years. We do expect some may carry over into next year, but only a limited number.”

Tony Wellen, president and CEO of BT Federal, cited delays in the transition to the EIS vehicle, including the slow process of issuing requirements. “GSA has given agencies the date that they should fully transitioned by May 2023, and it’s just going to be tough without the rigor and discipline that is needed,” he added.

AT&T and BT Federal were awarded spots on the EIS contract in 2017.