The General Services Administration (GSA) has released a new draft of its Polaris Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) on Dec. 31, 2020 and is seeking feedback from the small business IT community by the end of the month, according to an RFP posted on beta.SAM.gov.
The Polaris GWAC is a contract that would allow Federal agencies the ability to get customized IT solutions from approved small-businesses, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) businesses and Woman-Owned small businesses.
The contract does not have a ceiling listed, but it comes on the heels of GSA cancelling the $15 billion Alliant 2 Small Business GWAC that was awarded but successfully challenged in early 2019.
“Polaris is also known as “The Guiding Star” in the night sky. This GWAC represents another step forward for the next generation of IT services based solutions from GSA. Polaris will not only guide small businesses through the federal market, it will also help GSA customer agencies through the acquisition of IT service-based solutions, and give GSA a chance to improve our offerings and set the agency on a solid course for the future,” assistant commissioner to the GSA’s Office of IT Laura Stanton wrote in October 2020.
The Polaris GWAC would allow Federal agencies to procure contracts from the three small business pools for customized IT solutions for a variety of technologies as well as any emerging technology that arises over the course of the contract. The ordering period of the contract will be open for five years from the Notice-to-Proceed date, with an option to extend to 10 years.
