It can be confusing to navigate the sea of acronyms required to even get started in government business.  Experienced contractors, too, have recently been caught up in the changes GSA has made as it carried out the Congressionally-mandated transition to Unique Entity ID’s (UEI’s) and away from DUN’s numbers.  In addition, several contractors have found out the hard way that a lapsed SAM.gov registration means that they can’t be awarded a contract for which they otherwise qualify.  With help from GSA, here is a handy guide to deciphering the acronym maze and how to find help if you get caught in the matrix.

• govis the system that users go to conduct business with the federal government
• gov (the Federal Service Desk)is the helpdesk for SAM.gov and the other IAE systems.  Although these systems are related, they are NOT the same and companies should NOT try to execute SAM requirements on FDS.
• Obtaining a UEI is not the same as full SAM registration. A full entity registration allows your organization the opportunity to receive a contract or assistance directly from the federal government, not from another contractor or awardee.
• What if my organization’s SAM.gov registration lapsed and no current employee is familiar with it? The knowledge article “How can I become the administrator for my non-federal entity registration?” outlines the necessary steps to ensure that an individual is able to access their entity record.
• Where can companies go to find more information? gov is the repository for all SAM information and is accessible from the footer of all SAM.gov pages. Additionally, GSA maintains a blog to which users can subscribe in order to stay abreast of all upcoming training events and system changes.

This guidance should help contractors avoid pitfalls and registration delays.  Think of this as a GPS for government contracting.