Obviously, CIO-CS officials have been watching the saga of the SEWP procurement, a highly visible and well-known commodity procurement that was released without OMB approval to go government-wide.  Consequently, NIH asked for and received an extension to the CIO-CS predecessor procurement, ECS III (Electronic Commodities Store) until November 2014, giving the agency plenty of time to conduct CIO-CS procurement after the budget head winds clear.  This strategy avoids the conflict of the GWAC versus “an agency only procurement” that has affected SEWP.

Effect of Budget Ceiling

With the recent budget ceiling agreement, the days of budget gridlock are over, at least for the next two years.  On political news programs such as Meet the Press, commentators not only discussed the resolution of budget gridlock, but the proposition that no government shut downs will occur next year, almost assuring that CIO-CS will see a clear day for release as a GWAC.

What To Do Right Now

Companies interested in CIO-CS should begin developing a bid strategy as the likelihood of its release will be the third government fiscal quarter, April to June 2014, perhaps earlier.  In pursuing a contract under the similar NASA SEWP program, I saw many bidders waiting until too late to prepare a winning proposal.  Those bidders who start work on this $10-billion, 10-year GWAC right now will have the greatest chance of winning a contract.