Ethan Hannigan
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to centralize federal procurement for common goods and services under the General Services Administration. Vertosoft President Jay Colvita thinks the executive order will affect agencies’ procurement of cloud and IT services.
In a blog post Vertosoft published Sunday, Colvita said the centralization might result in the re-evaluation of ongoing programs, such as NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement and the NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center’s Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners program.
About the Executive Order
Signed on March 20, the “Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement” order is aimed at eliminating waste, reducing duplication and enabling federal agencies to concentrate on their core missions by giving the GSA mandate over the procurement process.
Colvita said such contract purchasing consolidation may spark a shift toward broader federal enterprise license agreements, which could include deeper discounts and greater flexibility for license transfers.
As a result, he advises suppliers to adapt by preparing for negotiations of broader agreements and offering competitive pricing and flexible license models to capitalize on the opportunities.
The Vertosoft executive also discussed speculation surrounding an expected modernization of the FedRAMP authorization process, which could reduce government involvement while increasing the role of Third-Party Assessment Organizations, or 3PAOs.
