Geospatial Line of Business Vendor Day: “We expect substantial savings.”

FCW followed up on the Vendor Day for the Geospatial Line of Business Initiative SmartBuy Multi-vendor Blanket Purchase Agreement that occurred yesterday. We noted it last week, when it was announced via press release.

Responses to the RFI are due Oct 31 and respondents must already be on the GSA schedule: “4. Provide a statement of capabilities and other areas of coverage provided under your current GSA FSS IT Schedule 70 agreements and any other comments you may have related to this Draft SOW. Describe any special conditions that GSA should consider regarding the access to commercial GIS software and data.” The press release about the multi-vendor Blanket Purchase Agreement did not make that clear.

How much savings can we expect from the coordination of buying power through this contract?

“We expect substantial savings,” Ivan DeLoatch, managing partner of the geospatial line of business for the Interior Department’s Federal Geographic Data Committee.

There are no real details in the article regarding the process, but there is a great quote:

Matt Leopard, chair of the common services work group for the Environmental Protection Agency, called SmartBuy the “Super Bowl of acquisitions.”