OEM & Acquisition Initiatives

Overview

To meet the growing demand for acquisition knowledge share including acquisition strategies, best practices, and governance approaches, the IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO) developed and implemented the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Assessment Initiative. The ITVMO engages directly with agency leadership and acquisition professionals, reviews reporting data, and analyzes annual IT spending trends to identify top OEMs being utilized across the federal government. OEM Assessments are completed following a seven (7) phase approach.

The focus of the OEM Assessment is to work with agency acquisition professionals and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to identify common challenges and opportunities for a specific OEM. Once identified, the ITVMO, as one voice for the federal government, engages directly with senior leadership at the OEM to develop and negotiate solutions to the common challenges which may include resources such as:

• Acquisition Strategy Guides
• Best Practices
• Buyers Guides
• Direct engagements with OEMs
• Office Hours Sessions
• Recorded Training
• Unique Terms and Conditions
• Webinars

Once resources are identified, the ITVMO documents and publishes the resources and reports back to both agency leadership, acquisition professionals, and SMEs informing all customers about the solutions that were developed and how to access all the available resources.

Below are the results of these ongoing efforts. Written materials are stored on OMB’s MAX portal which requires either a .gov or .mil email address for access. Webinar and Office Hours Session videos are stored on Acquisition Gateway.

To be included in discussions or help identify OEMs for future assessments, please complete our Point of Contact (PoC) Survey to ensure you stay up to date on all the work the ITVMO is completing for OEMs. You can also contact our OEM team at ITVMO@gsa.gov

Overview

Multi-year, enterprise-wide contracts to acquire software made by top Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) represent significant investments for all federal agencies. For the OEMs, these contracts represent some of the largest revenue commitments of their entire year. The OEMs and their Value Added Resellers (VARs) invest substantial resources in maximizing the value of these contracts through terms, conditions, pricing, and a thorough understanding of agencies IT infrastructure, maintaining a clear advantage over buyers that are often understaffed and uninformed as to what constitutes a “good deal”. The ITVMO, recognizing this information disadvantage, is offering a service to help agencies gain confidence in their software contract investments.

The ITVMO’s Contract Review Service (CRS) offers subject matter expertise and guidance via targeted, agency-specific software contract reviews to better prepare agencies for their next renewal.

CRS Process

1. Let’s Get To Know Each Other
   • Our questionnaire will establish the basic framework for the engagement, identifying important data points as well as priorities for the agency’s next contract.
   • Kickoff meeting with identified POC(s) to discuss the engagement and questionnaire results.
   • Sharing of data elements such as current contract documents, term sheets, and Statement of Work (depending on survey results and preliminary discussions).
2. Our SMEs Go To Work

   ITVMO will review the relevant shared documents and once complete, we'll convene to discuss preliminary findings, confirm our understanding, and ask relevant questions.

3. Here’s What We Think…

   ITVMO will deliver a recommendations report which summarizes our understanding and identifies our recommended areas of focus, pinpointing specific terms and concepts where appropriate. A final meeting will allow for questions or revised recommendations as necessary.

Benefits

Overview

The ITVMO has invested in enhancing the Federal Integrated Data Collection (IDC) for IT related categories (specifically Hardware and Software) to get clearer data from agencies to drive governmentwide procurement and acquisition strategies. The ITVMO uses the data provided by agencies through the IDC to drive decisions about Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), Engagements, and government wide enterprise purchasing. The data is used to prioritize the chartering of interagency working groups, developmenting special studies, and promoting useful resources that can be used to drive efficiencies across the acquisition landscape

As part of the IDC improvements, the ITVMO has planned for added agency IDC contributor support throughout the reporting process lifecycle. Today the ITVMO offers:

Want to be kept up to date on upcoming IDC resources and meetings?
Email us at ITVMO@gsa.gov

Overview

The President Management Agenda (PMA) Priority 3 is focused on Managing the Business of Government, driving lasting improvements that impact how the Government buys products and services to increase efficiencies and drive down costs. Pending new legislation will help improve acquisition flexibility and eliminate barriers to cost savings. The ITVMO in support of these actions will seek out top acquisition actions to prioritize and facilitate the development and implementation of a multi-phased approach to standardize key components of select Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Value Added Reseller (VAR) agreements. The ITVMO does this with the intent to ensure all federal customers experience the same contractual benefits.

Strategic Approach

Achieving government wide contract solutions for select OEMs will take time, resources, and WILLINGNESS by the agencies. The ITVMO in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Procurement Policy will use a phased approach to scale the solution to gain buy-in and adoption.

Goal - Greater value from agency spend, improved cybersecurity posture, increased efficiencies, & more favorable Terms and Conditions for specified OEMs.

1. Collect Agency Data

   Gather CIO/CAO Agency OEM contract artifacts including pricing.

2. Integrated Project Team (IPT)

   Identify 5-6 stakeholder agencies to identify the best terms, conditions, and pricing strategies.

3. OEM Negotiation

   Engage with the OEM Senior Level Leadership to negotiate an overall pricing discount and finalize terms and conditions.

4. Contract Modifications

   Amend all contracts to incorporate new pricing strategy and terms and conditions.

Results - Establish more favorable, standardized terms and conditions including those supporting cybersecurity risk management, and a new governmentwide baseline price discount.

Governmentwide Acquisition Strategies, Data, and Tools

Coming soon.......

For more information about the ITVMO’s Governmentwide Acquisition Strategy efforts Contact Us, or email us at ITVMO@gsa.gov

Overview

The ITVMO works across acquisition and data partners to unify information from a variety of sources (obligations, transactions, etc.) to create an integrated, enhanced view of federal spend to inform agency acquisition planning. This capability assesses federal spend and contracting in the IT space to determine drivers of trends and changes over time

Approach

The analysis covers major spend features as listed below in the approach overview

Acquisition Intelligence Reporting is a FREE service being offered to federal agencies.
Contact Us to request an IT spend and landscape report for your respective agency.