By Jeff Erlichman

The current FTS2001 contracts expire in May and June 2010, with a continuity of service clause providing an additional year of service to May and June 2011.

GSA has been working collaboratively with Agency Transition Working Group and Transition Managers since 2004 to plan and resolve issues toward meeting the contract expiration dates. 

In a recent conversation Karl Krumbholz, director of Network Services, told 1105 Government Information Group Custom Media that to assist Agencies with the transition, GSA has provided:

*Funding for reimbursing agencies for certain transition costs; agencies must meet transition milestones to qualify for reimbursement.

*Comprehensive inventory of services on FTS2001 with continual updates from FTS2001 contractors and from agencies on services added and disconnected.

*A complete Transition Plan that describes all the required steps and where to find templates, checklists, and GSA assistance to ensure nothing is missed.

*A web-based system for tracking all activities critical to transition, including agency ordering officials, contractor selections, orders in progress, and all measures of transition status, both government-wide and agency-specific.

*Specific and detailed training for nearly 150 transition managers, in small groups at GSA locations, conferences, and agency offices.

Complete The Task

GSA continues emphasize the importance of completing the transition on time.  The Assistant Commissioner for Integrated Technology Services (ITS) has raised the level of awareness by communicating directly with agency’s CIOs to request their personal support of their agency’s transition said Krumbholz. 

Another facet of GSA’s communications campaign has been to publish bulletins to provide transition status and valuable information to help agencies make progress and avoid pitfalls.  Last year, GSA met individually with Transition Managers to gather information on the agencies’ transition plans, allowing GSA to refine measures of progress, assess risks to the schedule, and improve projections of the work remaining.

While there is much more to do, agencies are working hard to complete the transition. 

“Across the Government to date, Agencies have disconnected over 20% of FTS2001 services and completed 53,000 transition orders on the Networx contracts,” said Krumbholz. “Over half of the contractor selections have been made, along with more than 30% of statements of work completed and another 45% are in progress. 

Of the 22 largest agencies, comprising 95% of the services on FTS2001 contracts, two agencies (SSA and DOE) are more than 50% transitioned.  Another 7 have transitioned more than 20% of their services; they are DHS, DOD, DOI, FBI, GSA, Dept of Education, and NASA.” 

Move Quickly

Current projections indicate that a large number of orders are planned for submission by agencies between 4Q09 and 1Q10 and that transition will be complete in the third quarter of fiscal year 2011 said Krumbholz. 

“While this projection is positive, much can happen to cause the schedule to slide,” Krumbholz warned urging agencies to move as quickly as possible to avoid this planned surge of orders that may result in aAgency and contractor resource limitations and delays to the schedule. 

“Continued delays will also cause additional lost savings by agencies not realizing lower prices on the new Networx contracts,” he added. “Networx contract prices average 10-20% lower than those on FTS2001 and some services are 40% less expensive.  If orders are delayed, agencies may also become ineligible for reimbursement of transition costs.”

By providing additional transition assistance directly to agencies and by making the status of the transition more transparent, GSA is doing everything possible to encourage agencies to accelerate transition. 

GSA has continued monthly Transition Working Group meetings with greater focus on transition progress and transition lessons learned that can benefit the transition progress of all agencies.  Other initiatives include suspending FTS2001 contract modifications, reducing modification cycle time, and implementing a plan to proactively transition small agencies.  

“GSA’s transition team is experienced, dedicated, and pursuing every opportunity to make transition a success,” Krumbholz asserted.