GSA: Oracle deal is close

The General Services Administration has instructed agencies to stop buying software and services from Oracle Corp., the government's second-largest software vendor.

The post on GSA's FedBizOpps Web site puts agencies on notice that a deal is imminent to sign Oracle to a governmentwide enterprise license deal under the SmartBuy program.

Although some experts praised the move, one industry official, who requested anonymity because his company's deal still is in the works, said GSA may be getting a bit ahead of itself.

"They want to get this program moving, even though some of the deals are not close to being finished," the official said.

Federal Sources Inc. of McLean, Va., estimates that Oracle sells more than $200 million in software and services to the government each year.