Anna Forrester
Vendors seeking positions on the General Services Administration‘s 18F Agile Delivery Services Blanket Purchase Agreement say the vehicle reflects the government’s transition toward an agile acquisition process, FedScoop reported Wednesday.
Billy Mitchell writes that the BPA utilizes open data and technology development to facilitate a quicker evaluation of potential providers based on actual software prototypes rather than written proposals.
“It really is potentially a game-changer in terms of the way that not only federal procurement is done, but also the way new federal technology development is done in partnership with vendors as well as in-house,” NuCivic President Andrew Hoppin told FedScoop.
Aaron Pava, chief experience officer of CivicActions, added that 18F’s BPA works as an experiment for the federal procurement practice’s transition from the waterfall methodology.
Vendors also noted that the “vague” requirements in the request for quotation and the “sprints” in meeting those requirements provide both challenges and opportunities for participants to demonstrate their capabilities, the report said.
