GSA further sketches out the STARS III picture
By
Ross Wilkers
A final call for bids is in the works, but the General Services Administration is giving 8(a) small businesses a broad look at the next STARS contract for IT services.
The General Services Administration is giving industry more of a glimpse at the next iteration of its main government-wide IT acquisition contract vehicle only for small businesses with the 8(a) designation.
A final solicitation will hit the streets in roughly two weeks, but GSA’s presolicitation notice posted Thursday for the future STARS III contract pegs the ceiling at $50 billion. Previously issued contracting documents have indicated that STARS III will have an initial five-year base period followed by three individual option years.
Over early April and mid-May, GSA said the current 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services II contract hit its $15 billion ceiling and that new control numbers would no longer be issued for task orders against the vehicle. Contracting officers who previously obtained a control number could still place orders against STARS II, which is slated to end on Aug. 30, 2021.
A contracting officer at the National Institutes of Health’s IT acquisition shop told our sister publication FCW in May that their CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP vehicles could fill the void of STARS II.
The STARS program’s areas of work will include data management, information and communications technology, IT operations and maintenance, IT security, software development, and IT system design. There are also two scope sub-areas for bidders to consider: one one for emerging technology requirements and one for performance outside of the continental U.S.
Meanwhile, the situation around GSA’s Alliant 2 Small Business vehicle for IT services and solutions remains unresolved due to a successful protest by a disappointed bidder. GSA indicated in August 2019 that it would set dates for a pre-proposal conference and a deadline for revised bids. None of those dates appear to have been set yet.