GSA lacks hard data on inter-agency competition

The General Services Administration has little evidence that its two main business lines compete with one another in an unhealthy way, GSA Administrator Stephen Perry told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy Thursday.

Perry said his agency has hired a private consultant to address widespread but seldom voiced complaints among private sector and government officials that the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology Service, GSA's two contracting shops, sell too many of the same companies' technology goods and services to other agencies through a network of governmentwide contracts. The study will suggest how GSA can eliminate any bureaucratic toe-stepping and make the agency run more smoothly, Perry said.

The General Accounting Office, which is also investigating whether or not the two agencies are encroaching on one another's territory, concurred with GSA. David Cooper, GAO's director of acquisition and sourcing management, told lawmakers that many companies that hold technology "schedule" contracts with FSS, are also contracted to sell through FTS. Agencies use contract schedules to make rapid technology purchases. While this creates an overlap, Cooper said it's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Overlap is not synonymous with duplication," Cooper told lawmakers who fear that intra-agency competition will hurt GSA's overall acquisition service mission.

Privately, numerous technology industry executives and GSA officials have speculated about whether the two agencies should be combined, thereby eliminating any possible redundancies and centralizing GSA's contracting operations. There was no indication after Thursday's testimony that GSA officials are prepared to take that step right away.

Perry said he's actively considering whether to appoint a new official to oversee the work of FTS and FSS to ensure they're not working at cross purposes.

Perry said he expects the private study, which is being conducted by technology consulting firm Accenture, to be completed by the end of this month.