Letter: Commercial terms among vendors and government should match
A reader writes, "In my purchases, [General Services Administration] Schedule prices are always just a starting point for negotiations."
Regarding "GSA short on customer input": I find it difficult to verify that schedule prices are x% discounted from list prices, especially when the only list price available is the schedule price.
In my purchases, [General Services Administration] Schedule prices are always just a starting point for negotiations. Rarely do I pay the schedule price. So what does that say about competitive schedule pricing?
I think the schedule contracts for COTS [commercial-off-the-shelf] software should already modify vendors standard commercial terms to match those of the government (i.e., no terminations without the CDA, Prompt Pay supercedes commercial interest charges, only the DOJ can defend the Govt in court, state law vs. federal law, taxes, "entire contract," termination, indemnity, injuctive relief, limitations on actions, etc.)
Also need to address the fact that software maintenance is normally paid one year in advance as standard industry practice. If my vendors change that practice, the GV always ends up paying more because of all the extra work involved in monthly and quarterly billing.
Anonymous
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In my purchases, [General Services Administration] Schedule prices are always just a starting point for negotiations. Rarely do I pay the schedule price. So what does that say about competitive schedule pricing?
I think the schedule contracts for COTS [commercial-off-the-shelf] software should already modify vendors standard commercial terms to match those of the government (i.e., no terminations without the CDA, Prompt Pay supercedes commercial interest charges, only the DOJ can defend the Govt in court, state law vs. federal law, taxes, "entire contract," termination, indemnity, injuctive relief, limitations on actions, etc.)
Also need to address the fact that software maintenance is normally paid one year in advance as standard industry practice. If my vendors change that practice, the GV always ends up paying more because of all the extra work involved in monthly and quarterly billing.
Anonymous
What do you think? Paste a comment in the box below (registration required), or send your comment to letters@fcw.com (subject line: Blog comment) and we'll post it.