Federal agencies that used the General Services Administration’s Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative blanket purchase agreements to acquire wireless services experienced an average savings of 27 percent valued at over $10 million in fiscal year 2015.
Mary Davie, assistant commissioner of the integrated technology service office at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in a blog post published Friday that the use of the agency’s FSSI BPAs to purchase wireless services increased by 500 percent in FY 2015 compared with FY 2014.
GSA awarded positions on a wireless services BPA in 2013 to four telecommunications companies in an effort to centralize plans for agencies under a single purchasing vehicle.
According to Davie, the increase in savings was driven by the agencies’ work to manage workloads through the integration of mobile platforms with their information technology networks.
GSA also found that 85 percent of civilian and defense agencies at the cabinet level utilized FSSI Wireless BPAs in FY 2015 to consolidate task orders as they work to manage their wireless and mobile assets.
Davie also noted that the use of government-wide contracts for wireless services has helped agencies reduce overage costs through minutes and data pooling options and discounted pricing for wireless plans offered to agencies.
GSA also plans to launch this year the Mobility 2.0 initiative in an effort to help agencies acquire and manage mobile and wireless programs, Davie added.