Introduction to NITAAC GWACs

To help you navigate key terms in this module/course, we have created a glossary of some major terms you'll encounter.

BIC: ‘Best in Class’ is a government-wide designation for acquisition solutions that can be used by multiple agencies and that satisfy key criteria defined by OMB (GSA, n.d.).

CIO-SP3: Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 3. This is a NITAAC GWAC.

CIO-SP3 Small Business: CIO-SP3 Small Business: Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 3 Small Business. This is a NITAAC GWAC.

CIO-SP4: Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 4. This is a NITAAC GWAC that will be available in 2025.

CIO-CS: Chief Information Officer – Commodities and Solutions. This is a NITAAC GWAC.

Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) of 1996 is a federal law that aims to improve the federal government’s acquisition, use, and disposal of information technology (IT). It also establishes Chief Information Officers in government agencies and outlines their roles and responsibilities. The CCA is also known as the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA) and the Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA) (CIO.gov, n.d.).

CO: Contracting Officer. This term is often used in this course with acquisition professionals/officers because some employees who work on federal IT acquisitions may not have the formal title of Contracting Officers but nevertheless may be assigned to work on acquisition projects. 

COTS refers to commercial off-the-shelf products. 

e-GOS: The Electronic Government Ordering System is NITAAC’s web-based application for placing task and delivery orders. It provides a mechanism to meet the GWAC fair opportunity requirements of FAR 16.505.

FAR: The Federal Acquisition Regulation is the primary regulation for use by all executive agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds.

Federal Supply Schedules: The Federal Supply Schedule program is also known as the GSA Schedules Program or the Multiple Award Schedule Program. The Federal Supply Schedule program is directed and managed by GSA and provides Federal agencies (see FAR 8.004) with a simplified process for obtaining commercial supplies and commercial services at prices associated with volume buying. Indefinite delivery contracts are awarded to provide supplies and services at stated prices for given periods of time (GSA, 2024, September 30).

GWAC: Government-Wide Acquisition Contract. This term is elaborated on in this course. 

HHS: The United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government.

IDIQ contract: Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity contract refers to a type of contract vehicle that provides for an indefinite quantity of services or supplies during a fixed period of time and for the issuance of orders for the performance of tasks or for the delivery of supplies during the period of the contract. 

Micro-purchase Threshold: Micro-purchase means an acquisition of supplies or services using simplified acquisition procedures, the aggregate amount of which does not exceed the micro-purchase threshold. See FAR 2.101 Definitions for details on the micro-purchase threshold dollar amounts.

Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) means contracts awarded by GSA or the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for similar or comparable supplies, or services, established with more than one supplier, at varying prices. The primary statutory authorities for the MAS program are 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies (GSA, 2024, September 30).

NIH: National Institutes of Health, the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research.

NITAAC: NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center, an Office within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

OMB: The Office of Management and Budget serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his or her vision across the Executive Branch (The White House, n.d.).

Optional Period: In the context of federal contracting, optional period refers to a period of time that follows the initial contract terms, during which the government has the option, but not the obligation, to continue the contract under its existing terms and conditions. 

Precompeted contracts: Contract holders that provide products and services for NITAAC GWACs have already been vetted and selected through a competitive process, ensuring they meet the high standards of performance and capability. 

SUM: Spend Under Management is the percentage of an organization's spend actively managed according to category management principles. OMB uses a tiered rating scale to evaluate agency spend: 

• Tier 3, Best-in-Class Solutions – Dollars obligated on Best-in-Class contracts.
• Tier 2, Multi-Agency Solutions – Dollars obligated on multi-agency contracts that satisfy rigorous standards set for leadership, strategy, data, tools, and metrics.
• Tier 2, Small Business - Dollars obligated to 8(a) and other small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses.
• Tier 1, Mandatory-Use Agency-Wide Solutions – Dollars obligated on agency-wide contracts with mandatory-use or mandatory-consideration policies, along with standards of data-sharing and other criteria.
• Tier 1, Agency Small Business Strategic – Dollars obligated aligned to a comprehensive, documented small business strategy approved by the agency, after consultation with OMB.
• Tier 0, Spend NOT Aligned to Category Management Principles – Dollars obligated on contracts that do not fit into one of the three tiers above. Agencies should analyze Tier 0 spend to find opportunities for shifting to higher-tiered acquisition solutions (GSA, n.d.).

Technology Refreshment Process: This refers to the “periodic replacement of commercial off-the-shelf IT commodities to avoid obsolescence and loss of OEM support” (NITAAC, 2023). This process ensures that the latest technology and solutions are available to federal agencies through the CIO-CS GWAC. This term can be found in Article H.13 Technology Refreshment in the CIO-CS Contract (2023).

References

CIO.gov. (n.d.). 2.2 Clinger Cohen Act (1996) [Information Technology Laws]. An official website of the Federal Government.

GSA. (n.d.). Spend under management (SUM) & Best-in-Class (BIC). Acquisition.gov | An official website of the General Services Administration. 

GSA. (2024, September 30). FAR 8.402 General. Acquisition.gov | An official website of the General Services Administration.

National Institutes of Health Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC). (2023, June). Chief Information Officer – Commodities and Solutions (CIO-CS) Contract, Conformed. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH. 

The White House. (n.d.). Office of Management and Budget. Wh.gov.