Its seems today that contractors other than IBM are finding their ability to do business with the Federal Government a little more constrained. GSA announced that they will re-evaluate all 62 bids for the $50 billion Alliant vehicle (INPUT Opportunity # 11471). This cannot be good news for the 30 winners who have been waiting out protest and lawsuits since the initial award last June nor even the 8 protesters. It may mean new life for the 24 other companies who lost, however.

In the meantime, both buyers and vendors may be scratching their heads as to the best way to procure IT services. GSA's Millenia and ANSWER may still be viable, but obligations on these two vehicles dropped over 20% after reaching a high of $729MM in FY2005. Where is the spending going? We believe that agencies may continue pulling the spending back to their own vehicles. The chart below shows how this trend has been rising of late:

Source: FPDS, INPUT analysis

And, as Kevin Plexico posted here, FY07 spending on all task order vehicles was up 39% over FY06, with the vast majority going to non-GSA vehicles such as the Army's CR2 and the Navy's Seaport contracts. Further delays in GSA's Alliant award may hasten and increase this shift.

Some experts, however, say that the re-evaluation could be done by June. Assuming, of course, that nobody protests.