“By spending fewer resources buying, managing, and maintaining a diverse hardware portfolio, agencies will be able to save costs and reduce duplication.” The post notes that the price paid by US agencies for a similarly configured laptop can range from about $450 to over $1300. “Most Federal employees need just basic computing capability to get our jobs done, but we often have hundreds of options - or configurations - to choose from, which further fragments our position in the market,” the White House blog post read. In addition, OMB has tasked NASA with setting up standard desktop configurations for government workers, which will be refreshed every six months to “evaluate emerging technologies, such as use of tablets and virtual infrastructure.”
The move is designed to save taxpayers’ money and will be phased in between next year and 2018. The post says the new restrictions are “a critical step in the implementation of Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act,” or FITARA. “There is no need for thousands of contracts to purchase common laptops and desktops,” read a blog post on the White House’s website announcing the directive. The Office of Management and Budget has sent out a clear directive to civilian government agencies: Stop issuing new contracts for desktops and laptops.įederal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott and Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung released a memorandum Friday saying that any civilian agency looking to procure new desktops or laptops must go through one of three governmentwide acquisition contracts: NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP), the General Services Administration’s Schedule 70, and the Department of Health and Human Services Chief Information Officer-Commodities and Solutions (CIO-CS) vehicles.
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