OMB memo promises contract consolidation at GSA with few details

OMB is out with M-25 -31, a memo on “Consolidating Federal Procurement Activities.” The memo provides an appendix that describes two workstreams:

• increased agency use of centralized contracts managed by GSA, especially for widely available commercial products and basic services,
• centralization in GSA of procurement functions currently decentralized across departments and agencies whenever such centralization promotes greater economy and efficiency.

There’s a “requirements centralization suitability continuum” for consolidation (see figure).

The memo’s appendix provides jargon related to each of the workstreams. Contract consolidation and reuse will be mandated as part of the FAR Part 8 rewrite, and GSA will apply “category management principles” to improve efficiency and value. Category managers will also provide a report on proposed category-contract consolidation strategies.

Meanwhile GSA will centralize procurement functions from across the government by focusing on capacity assessment, cost efficiency, risk management, performance monitoring, service-level agreements, and budget impacts.

Nothing to see here, folks.