From Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic President & Founder
Professional services contractors now have the “green light” to offer their work to federal agencies through a contract vehicle that the government wants to function as a single source for acquiring that support work.
The General Services Administration announced this week that it has opened the doors the OASIS vehicle, through which 74 GovCon firms will compete to provide services such as engineering and R&D work to agencies.
In GSA’s announcement of the move, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Tom Sharpe said many federal agencies have already started to look to both OASIS and its small business counterpart vehicle — OASIS SB — for commercial and non-commercial services work that industry offers.
Sharpe also said GSA wants both vehicles to help in “delivering solid benefits to the selected OASIS and OASIS SB industry partners and maximizing opportunities for small businesses.”
Many emerging players in the GovCon space have increasingly eyed contract vehicles such as OASIS and DHS’ EAGLE II as a means to expand their companies’ footprints in the government market.
Bill McMullen, CEO of Reston, Va.-based services provider WBB, told ExecutiveBiz in a May interview that his firm is among those companies that have factored shared vehicles into their plans.
“Going into the competition we felt EAGLE II and OASIS were two “must wins” for WBB,” McMullen told our staff.
“Beyond their scope, we believed several key customer agencies would soon be using them as their primary contracting vehicle.”
SAIC CEO Tony Moraco described to ExecutiveBiz in November 2013 how agencies use shared vehicles as established companies like his also view those vehicles as avenues for growth in the government market.
“That prime contractor footprint allows us to control our destiny, gives us access to agency-level strategies and road maps.”
“The IDIQ contracts offer flexibility to customers and allow them to be selective and specific in what they buy under a broader services business model.”