OASIS SB kicks off with training session

General Services Administration officials met with awardees of the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services Small Business contract vehicle on July 1 in a kick-off seminar aimed at providing initial training now that protests against the contracting vehicle have been resolved.

The get-together among winning vendors, GSA officials and representatives of the Air Force – dubbed the "anchor tenant" for OASIS -- was a precursor to the start of the federal ordering period for OASIS SB, according to the agency.

The meeting at a public reception hall in Fairfax, Va., was held only a few days after GSA gave the official go-ahead for OASIS SB. That June 24 announcement came a week after the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Government Accountability Office dismissed a set of protests against the contract vehicle, allowing it to move ahead.

According to a seminar schedule provided to FCW by GSA, topics included sustainability; GSA roles, expectations and relationship; an overview of OASIS back-end systems; and data reporting requirements.

In remarks provided to FCW, Deputy Commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service Bill Sisk thanked the Air Force for its continued support of OASIS in the face of industry protests.

"The Air Force also plans to use OASIS and OASIS Small Business in lieu of its own acquisition vehicles," Sisk said. "That says a whole lot about both the real need for OASIS out there in the market...but it also speaks to the confidence the Air Force and our other customers have in GSA."

The Air Force has embraced OASIS in the past year. Officials at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center said they wanted to use the dedicated OASIS SB contract instead of their own SMC Technical Support program. GSA estimated the value of the commitment, which encompasses virtually all systems engineering and technical assistance activities at Los Angeles Air Force Base, at $472 million over five years.

GSA awarded contracts to 123 small businesses in February for commercial, noncommercial, multidisciplinary and complex professional services under the massive multibillion-dollar, 10-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity government services vehicle. Each awardee was allowed to send four attendees to the July 1 meeting.