GSA-DOD SIGN UPDATED MOA

Increased spend analysis and incorporation of all relevant DFAR’s clauses are just two parts of a recently signed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between GSA and the Department of Defense.  DOD is the largest user of GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules program and has long wanted spend-related information, such as that referenced above, as well as Wide-Area-Workflow, Electronic Document Access, and other specialized DOD terms.  GSA, in turn, is expected to flow down the increased data collection requirements to Schedule contract holders.  The new MOA is broader than its predecessor that focused primarily on DOD’s use of GSA’s assisted acquisition services, and is indicative of regular on-going meetings between the two agencies.  Although GSA pledges certain actions, DOD is unlikely to rescind previous guidance to DOD contracting officers directing them to take additional steps to assure price reasonableness when using Schedule contracts.  The two agencies, however, do agree to pursue a FAR case or other action to allow cost-based contracting through the Schedules program.  While the MOA may mean additional compliance steps for Schedule contractors any company selling solutions to DOD would likely be bound by the same terms though, significantly, those terms may not be as obvious as they will be via the Schedules.