Earlier this summer, the General Services Administration issued an amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation that speeds up the technology acquisition process, just in time for end-of-year spending.

The amendment, issued by GSA in conjunction with the Department of Defense and NASA, allows agencies to buy goods and services from GWACs without the approval from an interagency acquisition determination, removing an essentially unnecessary step in the acquisition process.

This means that agencies can quickly find GSA IT category contracts and will be able to skip a step when buying through GSA’s IT Schedule 70 and GWACs. Additionally, the new update removes the requirement to justify the best procurement approach if the agency is using GSA for assisted acquisitions.

Having to go through one less step will allow agencies to more quickly identify and use GSA IT Category contracts. This will make purchasing IT products and services for big end-of-year GWACs like 8(a) STARS 2 and Alliant 2 much easier and quicker.