Off & Running 

After successfully navigating some “bumps in the road”, the 10 year, $15 billion Alliant Small Business GWAC is open for business. Visit http://www.gsa.gov/alliantsb to get started.

Alliant SB: Geared For “Shovel Ready” Stimulus Spending

Ghiloni expects to see a lot of awards based on the Stimulus Package soon.

“As all the stimulus funding begins coming to agencies, they need to turn around on that in a short time frame,” he said.  “The President has made it clear that he really wants, or he expects that agencies will be able to take that stimulus funding and turn it into projects.”

“I don’t know if ‘shovel ready’ is the appropriate phrase for IT, but using the GSA GWAC like Alliant SB is a great way to do a streamlined acquisition while ensuring that you are adhering to all relevant federal acquisition recommendations.”

“You are ensuring competition and you are doing it in a streamlined fashion. And so it’s really win-win, we think, in this context. The timing couldn’t have been better.” So get stimulated.

A facility manager has a complete overview of a building and its current and planned future uses - something your IT staff probably lacks. It can be a trusted partner when it comes to dealing with power and cooling considerations. They can help with the planning and layout to help you make the most of your resources.

Facilities management professionals can help IT calculate the amount of power that must be supplied in a Server Room/Data Center and how much cooling capacity is needed to remove the resulting heat. At the same time, it can help IT plan for the how it will impact on people and the office layout throughout a building.  Information like this is clearly invaluable for the IT department. Thus it is essential the two departments to communicate regularly.

By forming a partnership with your facilities team when planning the layout of your data center, you will get expertise that can be invaluable in your efforts to ensure the facility will be practical to run, and as green and energy efficient, as possible. 

First, the facts according to GSA Alliant Program Director Jim Ghiloni...

 

“The Alliant Small Business Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (Alliant SB GWAC) is a competitive multiple award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) set-aside small business contract. The contract is designed to provide worldwide IT solutions to federal agencies while strengthening opportunities in federal contracting for small businesses.”

 

Why should you consider using Alliant SB? Ghiloni says because you benefit by using a GWAC that:
* Is a pre-competed, multi-award contract that has a short procurement lead time; choose from 72 small businesses that have been vetted and are committed to serving you.

 

*The scope includes any and all components of an integrated IT solution, including all current and any new technology which may emerge during the contract’s the life cycle. Further as the definition of IT changes over the lifecycle of the contract, the scope coincides with the current definition at any given time.

 

* Is structured to support the objectives of the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) and developed within the framework prescribed by the new investment budget guidance issued by OMB.

 

It conforms with the changes to changes to Exhibits 53 and 300 of OMB Circular A-11. The same language you use to fill out your Exhibits can be used in your procurement. It is also designed to minimize contract bundling, while maximize small business participation.
*Is a vehicle that has a 5 year base with one 5 year option, with ordering procedures based on Fair Opportunity and has a program ceiling of $15 billion.

 

*Is a vehicle that provides the full gamut of contract types: fixed price, cost reimbursement, labor hour plus time and materials.

 

*Allows you to earn Small Business credits and limits protests in accordance with NDAA2008.

 

* Provides training and support from the Alliant SB GWAC acquisition team.

 

*Saves you money with a low user fee (0.0075 percent) included in your purchase price and paid by your industry partner.

 

Go to http://www.gsa.gov/alliantsb and you’ll find the Ordering Guide, applicable pricing, a copy of the contract, contract modifications and an industry partner listing.

 

For a contract holders list, visit http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov.  GSA associates visit the IT Solutions Shop (ITSS) http://itss.gsa.gov.

 

Racing Ahead
Ghiloni told 1105 Government Information Group Custom Media in recent interview that “we are helping agencies achieve their procurement preference goals to use small businesses while at the same time giving them access to integrated IT solutions. They encompass essentially the entire gamut of IT.” While acknowledging that it’s been a long road coming with some bumps in the road, what resulted was a better contract. “We realized there were a couple of things we needed to fix so we went back and took some corrective actions. And I think the result is well worth it. We came up with 72 highly qualified small business industry partners.”

Ghiloni said GSA likes to get a lot of small businesses on these contracts because “we hope that they will grow through their participation in the program and grow out of the small business category and become large businesses.”

 

That excites GSA and Ghiloni. “We have been off and running with training and we are already receiving scope statements to review even though the contract has been up and running for a short time,” he noted.

 

xxx Already 420 GSA and customer agency staffers have participated in webinars, phone and in-person training. 51 delegations of procurement authority (DPA) have already been issued with others in progress. That number is growing daily.

 

If you are ready to use Alliant SB, GSA will provide that initial training and issue the DPA. Then GSA professionals are available as a resource for customers to get advice or examples of what others have done to really help facilitate them getting through the acquisition process.

 

“Ultimately everyone’s goal is to get through that acquisitions process in as fair and reasonable manner as possible,” said Ghiloni. “And that’s what the GSA GWACs are really designed to do; to streamline the acquisition process so they can get somebody on the ground working as quickly as possible.”

 

One of the value added services GSA performs for GWACs is “if a customer wants to send us their scope statement or their SOW, we are happy to take a look and give an opinion about whether it’s in the scope of the contract,” explained Ghiloni. “We also give them any advice that we might have based on our observation of best practices over the years with other agencies.”

 

Attention ANSWER & Millennia Users
Alliant and Alliant SB are designed to replace ANSWER and Millennia (expiring in 2010) and also ITOP 2 (inherited from DOT) Ghiloni remarked.

 

“Those are enterprise contracts – not small business contracts – but they add a significant small business presence through subcontracting. So the Alliant program, which would be both Alliant and Alliant SB, is designed to replace those contracts.”

 

Ghiloni added that Alliant and Alliant SB are essentially identical. “The question really is:  this work appropriate for a small business based and that’s a decision that’s usually made very early in the acquisition process before you even get down to picking a contract.”

 

So if it is appropriate for a small business, then Alliant SB is your choice. If you need a large business, then you use (the recently awarded) Alliant. “Either way, they are going to have a suite of highly qualified industry partners that are again prequalified by us and ready to go and meet the requirements.”

 

Why Use Alliant SB?
There are a lot of contracts out there but Alliant Small Business is unique in a few ways said Ghiloni.

 

“It’s by far the most comprehensive contract for IT services and solutions. There is nothing that is IT that is not within scope and in fact there are a number of ancillary services that support IT solutions that are in scope,” Ghiloni said.

 

“So you can get a total solution through a single purchase on Alliant Small Business and there are really – in my opinion – no other contracts out there that can offer the same comprehensive scope.”

 

It’s also incredibly flexible said Ghiloni.  COs have a lot of control and latitude operating in FAR Part 16 which is designed to streamline acquisition.

 

Teaming Ability
“There is also the ability to team,” added Ghiloni. There’s a lot of flexibility in subcontracting because the Industry Partners can build teams to meet particular requirements “without having to jump through a lot of extra hoops to set up pre-described teaming arrangements and there’s a lot of flexibility in subcontracting to really enable a company to pull together the right team for the requirements. “ Plus there is the unique value of being aligned with the Federal Enterprise Architecture.

 

“We are very confident that the Industry Partners we’ve brought to the table are the best and the brightest Small Business IT service providers,” Ghiloni said. “So customers get a very good, comprehensive solution in a very efficient manner that addresses their requirements.”

 

Alliant SB is the total package. “Other contracts, including ours, offer pieces of that. But the ability to do contracts of any type is a unique feature,” Ghiloni noted. That’s why Alliant SB is “off to the races.”