GSA declares lesson learned with Beta.Sam.Gov, but you should still be skeptical

I read with interest the FCW story we reprinted yesterday about how the General Services Administration now says it has learned important lessons from its transition of the old FedBizOpps.gov portal to the Beta.Sam.Gov.

The rollout was flawed, to put it mildly. But what I find most interesting and concerning is that it has taken GSA so long to acknowledge there were any problems to begin with.

Regular and habitual users of FBO faced a bevy of issues and frustrations, ranging from missing information to a clunky interface to lost functionality. FBO users like myself regularly used push notifications, alerts and a wide range of filters to track opportunities. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked and you knew what you were getting.

That all disappeared when it transitioned to Beta.Sam.Gov and the problems persisted for months.

In the middle of all this, GSA officials called the transition a “Good News Story.” I think they still cling to that view in many ways.

One GSA official said the agency was comforted because all of the contracting data migrated perfectly. But what good is all that data if you can’t find what you are looking for?

They claim “We have heard you.” I would have more faith and trust in that statement if they had been more upfront and candid about problems at the start. 

My attempts over several months to get information or questions answered from GSA were often met with silence. Other times I would get a FAQ sheet that would refer me to a training video, which did nothing to address my questions.

Things have improved but some simple functionalities still aren't there. For example, I only follow a few contracts and not the scores that I know others do. But my list of “Following” as Beta.Sam.Gov describes it does not show any differences from one opportunity from another. There is no procurement name or agency name showing. Just the record ID.

I have to click on each individual opportunity to see what it is. I can’t imagine if I had 100 or more to follow.

For the most part, I’ve given up on Beta.Sam.Gov. I still go on occasion and I know I’m missing things because I’m not regularly using the site. I feel I’m not quite getting everything I should, but perhaps my search parameters and filters need to be more precise.

Have things improved? Yes, and things will continue to get better. But it has taken too long and I worry about other debacles to come as other systems get pulled into Beta.Sam.Gov.

If I’m wrong, please tell me. I’m not afraid to admit a mistake. Frankly, I want to be proven wrong.