The General Services Administration (GSA) announced on Jan. 16 that Microsoft and GSA’s IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO) have struck a preliminary agreement that the agency said will help streamline IT acquisition processes and bolster cybersecurity across Federal agencies.
The preliminary agreement was reached under the Governmentwide Microsoft Acquisition Strategy (GMAS), which was launched by GSA’s ITVMO in 2023. The initiative helps standardize government contract terms and pricing for Microsoft products and services by bringing together the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies to determine cost reduction strategies and conditions in government transactions.
“This agreement sets the foundation for an efficient, secure, and cost-effective federal IT ecosystem,” Laura Stanton, the assistant commissioner for GSA’s Office of Information Technology Category, said in a statement. “The GMAS program exemplifies how collaboration with industry can drive innovation and deliver significant value to government and taxpayers alike.”
Additional elements of GMAS cover increased cybersecurity measures in government IT systems, and developing improved governmentwide support and education capabilities.
As part of the education effort, GSA said that Microsoft and ITVMO will offer a series of workshops across the government, which will focus on cost management, governance, cross-tenant access, conditional access controls, and empowering agencies to increase multi-agency collaboration while strengthening cybersecurity.
ITVMO will provide training sessions and guides for contracting officers and IT acquisition professionals and provide assistance to agencies through the Contract Review Service for individual requests for acquisition implementation strategies, GSA said.
“Microsoft is proud to partner with GSA to identify key areas of efficiency in contracting and technology procurement to ensure federal agencies and taxpayers alike are getting maximum value from their industry partners,” Candice Ling, senior vice president for Microsoft’s Federal business, said in a statement.
“Microsoft’s participation underscores the importance of a strategic partnership between the federal government and one of its largest technology providers,” said GSA in its announcement. “This alignment is a critical step toward greater efficiency and security.”
