GSA releases final reorganization plan

The General Services Administration's final plan to reorganize the Federal Technology and Federal Supply services into the Federal Acquisition Service tries to instill the right balance of management controls and customer service needs, senior agency officials said.

GSA today released the final restructuring strategy that details the roles of the five national program managers and six regional zones.

This final plan comes a little more than two months after the agency issued a draft plan that received criticism from Capitol Hill, the administration and industry. But GSA administrator Stephen Perry said the agency has addressed those concerns.

"We focused on strengthening things to make sure we have management controls that are consistent and people who are accountable," Perry said today during a teleconference with members of the press about the reorganization. "We also made sure the duties of both the national and regional organizations are clear."

GSA officials had said FAS would replace FTS and FSS by Sept. 30, but the agency is waiting for Congress to pass its modernization act to take care of some of the more complicated issues, such as the merging of the IT Fund and the General Supply Fund.

Perry said that because there is no way to know when lawmakers will pass the bill or attach it to another piece of legislation, the timetable to combine the agencies is unclear.

"Some items will be implemented relatively quickly and we have already taken steps in those areas, such as establishing the FAS commissioner," Perry said. "Other parts will take longer to implement."

The national program managers will focus on agencywide issues, such as strategic sourcing, making sure processes are consistent and developing large governmentwide contracts including Networx and Allliant. GSA will have a national leader in five areas:

• customer accounts and eResearch


• acquisition management


• general supplies and services


• iIntegrated technology solutions


• travel, motor vehicle and card services.