GSA begins work on new telecom strategy

The General Services Administration has its massive Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract in place through 2032, but they and some other agencies still rely on older contracts to supplement and transition telecommunications work to EIS.

GSA wants to do better the next time.

In a new sources sought notice, GSA is asking several question as it prepares for what it is currently calling the Next Generation Network Infrastructure strategy.

The request for information's questionnaire covers a wide range of telecommunications and IT services.

Below are some examples:

• Voice
• Data
• Contact center
• Transport
• Wireless
• Managed Network services
• Commercial satellite communications
• Managed security services
• Artificial intelligence services
• IT service management

“GSA is in the planning phase to determine the Next Generation Network Infrastructure (NGNI) strategy and GSA’s next acquisition initiative to meet future federal telecommunications and information technology requirements,” the agency writes in the RFI.

GSA wants to understand the current state of IT and telecommunications, as well as the trends moving forward.

The agency is asking respondents to identify the type of company they are. That can include wired telecom carriers, a telecom resellers, cloud services providers, IT providers and others.

Following a long list of possible services, GSA asked what services respondents expect to not offer in five years. The agency also wants that same information for 10 years ahead and 15 years.

The emphasis on not is key because GSA wants to know what services will go away.

GSA also asked for observations on the transition to EIS from predecessor contracts, such as Networx.

“What does the commercial marketplace do well with transition that the government should adopt?” is one of those question.

The RFI went out on Thursday and comments are due March 15.