GAO: Take account of reverse-auction growth

The government's watchdog agency recommended that federal acquisition rules be amended to better account for agencies' growing use of reverse-auction platforms for buying IT gear and products.

In a Dec. 9 report, the Government Accountability Office said it had monitored the use of reverse auctions by the Army and the departments of Homeland Security, Interior and Veterans Affairs to buy IT products and medical gear from 2008 to 2012. Most of the auctions resulted in contracts with relatively small dollar values -- typically $150,000 or less -- and a high rate of awards to small businesses.

According to GAO, the four departments have steadily increased their use of reverse auctions during that time period and awarded about $828 million through them in 2012.

Reverse auctions have been gaining steam because they are structured to spur sellers to compete for business by lowering their prices. The approach can also reduce agencies' acquisition processing time and costs, improve the transparency and collection of data, and encourage the participation of small businesses.

In a Dec. 3 blog post, Mary Davie, assistant commissioner of the General Services Administration's Office of Integrated Technology Services, said reverse auctions were among a panoply of acquisition techniques GSA is using to reduce costs for other agencies. Davie said that as of Sept. 30, the agency's six-month-old ReverseAuctions.GSA.gov site had saved 17 agencies an average of 7.27 percent, or $161,549.

In its report, GAO noted that another reverse-auction user, the Defense Logistics Agency, has issued internal guidance stating that the pricing platform should be used for all competitive purchases of more than $150,000.

GAO recommended that the director of the Office of Management and Budget take steps to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to address the growing use of reverse auctions and issue governmentwide guidance instructing agencies to collect data and share best practices on how to maximize competition and savings when using reverse auctions.

OMB officials mostly agreed with the recommendations but wanted to discuss them with the FAR and Chief Acquisition Officers councils.