Alexandria, Va., May 11, 2009 – MeriTalk (www.meritalk.com), the government IT network, today announced the results of its “Federal IT King of the Contracts” study, the first report of Federal IT buyers’ perceptions of government-wide IT product and service contract vehicles. Based on a study of 160 Federal IT professionals and contracting officers, the report crowns NASA SEWP IV as the number-one contract – 93 percent of respondents say the contract provides strong value. GSA 8(a) STARS, Army ITES-2H, and GSA Answer came in second, third, and fourth with 86, 85, and 81 percent approval ratings, respectively. 

 

Dominated by GSA vehicles, the Top 10 in the King of the Contracts report include:

1.      NASA SEWP IV – 93 percent approval rating

2.      GSA 8(a) STARS – 86 percent approval rating

3.      Army ITES-2H – 85 percent approval rating

4.      GSA Answer – 81 percent approval rating

5.      GSA Connections – 79 percent approval rating

6.      VETS – 79 percent approval rating

7.      GSA SmartBuy – 78 percent approval rating

8.      DISA Encore Information Technology Solution – 77 percent approval rating

9.      GSA Millennia Lite – 77 percent approval rating

10.  NIH CIO-SP2i – 77 percent approval rating

 

Beyond the contract ratings, the report provides fresh insight on how agencies can improve their performance ratings. The two top recommendations were 1) increase the number of procurement professionals to accelerate delivery and 2) provide transparency on solution providers’ past performance. The study reveals a paradox between buyers’ wants and behaviors. Just 21 percent of respondents say they report past-performance information on their experience, but 80 percent want access to past-performance metrics. DoD leads in this area, reporting past performance twice as often as its civilian agency counterparts.

 

Looking one layer deeper, many Feds question the number of government-wide IT product and service purchasing vehicles – 50 percent of defense and 39 percent of civilian respondents say there are too many.  That said, Fed IT buyers appreciate GWACs – 57 percent note that GWACs offer quicker access to new technology than GSA Schedule 70. In addition, they note that GWACs help foster healthy competition and provide a broader variety of products to the government. While GSA Schedule 70 ranked just below the top 10 contracts, a majority of Federal IT buyers (73 percent) who use Schedule 70 say it provides strong value in helping them procure leading-edge products and services. Survey respondents reported that Schedule 70 is easy to use, flexible, and simplifies the approval process, as agencies assume pricing is best buy. 

            MeriTalk invites Federal IT professionals to go to the MeriTalk Good, Bad, and Ugly (GBU) IT Contracts Past Performance Exchange (www.meritalk.com/gbuexchange) to post their experiences working with contracts as well as specific suppliers on those contracts. The goal is to provide one-stop shopping for positive and negative customer experiences across the Federal IT market.

 

The MeriTalk “Federal IT King of the Contracts” study is based on an online survey of 160 Federal IT and procurement professionals. The survey has a margin of error of ±7.72 percent with a confidence level of 95 percent. The full study is available for download at www.meritalk.com/kingofthecontracts.  MeriTalk will host a Webinar focused on the survey on June 24, 2009. Steve O’Keeffe, founder of MeriTalk, will moderate the Webinar. For more information or to register, go to www.meritalk.com/kingofthecontracts-webinar.

 

IT is enabling significant changes in our government.  The implications for average Americans are profound.  The voice of tomorrow’s government today, MeriTalk is an online community at the crossroads of IT and public policy.  Designed to mix new faces, new voices, and fresh perspectives from government IT, workforce, and policy leaders, MeriTalk enables new cross-cutting debate.

 

Developed as a partnership among the Federal Business Council; Federal Employee Defense Services; Federal Managers Association; GovLoop; National Treasury Employees Union; New Ideas for Government; United Service Organizations; and WTOP/WFED radio, MeriTalk is a community site.  For more information, visit: www.meritalk.com.