Symantec, GSA negotiating final stages of SmartBuy deal

The General Services Administration late last month told agencies to postpone any further purchases from Symantec Corp. for antivirus software in anticipation of reaching an enterprisewide agreement with the company.

In a notice posted at FedBizOpps.gov, GSA said it intends to enter into the agreement with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company under SmartBuy.

The listing at the FedBizOpps Web site puts agencies on notice that a deal is imminent and they should refrain from buying Symantec software or renewing current deals with the company. Agencies that can justify continuing with their own deals can apply for waivers, according to a memo posted on the CIO Council's Web site last year.

The Symantec announcement preceded a similar announcement made in relation to government purchases from McAfee Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif.

GSA already has agreements in place with Oracle Corp; ESRI Inc. of Redlands, Calif.; Novell Inc.; Prosight Inc. of Portland, Ore.; Manugistics Group Inc. of Rockville, Md.; and Eyak Technology LLC of Anchorage, Alaska, for WinZip compression software.

The agreement follows the Defense Department's agencywide deal with Symantec for security software. DOD officials said they were not in negotiations to take this contract governmentwide. But with GSA's announcement, the Defense contract's terms and conditions could be used as the basis for a governmentwide deal.

The announcement of the deals with Symantec and McAfee is something GSA officials have been working on for at least two years.