GSA's COMET contract moving ahead
Bids on half of the IT contract that will eventually support the General Services Administration's acquisition service are due at the end of the month.
NOTE: This article appeared first on FCW.com
Vendors have until April 29 to submit their bids for half of the General Services Administration's CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation contract.
The agency split COMET into two parts that are being bid separately. The request for quotations on the architecture, engineering and advisory support portion closes on April 29, according to the notice posted April 12. The agency is looking for a single provider for architectural and programmatic services under the AEA contract.
In the same April 12 announcement, GSA said it is reviewing vendor responses to the other half of the contract, the multiple-award blanket purchasing agreement. GSA released the draft RFQ for the BPA in mid-March, splitting vendors into large and small vendor tracks for app maintenance, enhancement and transformation services. Both BPA tracks, it said, would likely contain up to five vendors each.
COMET is a recompete of GSA'S CAMEO contract that supports the main IT environment at the Federal Acquisition Service, which encompasses the GSA Global Supply, multiple award schedules, personal property management, travel, fleet, purchase card services and integrated technology programs.
The BPA draft emphasizes GSA's aim to inject more agility into solutions development, asking prospective bidders to explain how they will guide federal customers through continuous development, development sprints, iterations and "user stories."
"Often times Government 'thinks' it's Agile by using the proper buzzwords but does not act Agile. How has/will the offeror coach and advise Government to carry out agile methodologies?” GSA asked in the March BPA RFQ.
GSA issued the initial request for information for COMET last November. It focused on leveraging agile development and the cloud platform model.