• Information Technology Master Services Agreement (IT-MSA) — The current state of California IT-MSA allows for contracting of IT services in three tiers: Tier 1 up to $1.5 million, Tier 2 up to $5 million and Tier 3 up to $10 million. The current IT-MSA has 248 contractors that can provide services through the vehicle — the majority of which are Tier 1 contractors. Each Tier features the same 25 roles, or “classifications,” which have a combination of experience, degree and certification requirements.
• California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS) — This vehicle is revolving; its renewal is based upon an entity’s current expiration date. This is unlike the IT-MSA, which goes out for procurement every few years with optional renewal periods. The CMAS for IT services is based on the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70 contracts. A vendor uses their own Schedule 70 or chooses another vendor’s Schedule 70 that offers similar services as the base for their CMAS contract. Unlike the IT-MSA that has set classifications, the classifications on a Schedule 70 and subsequent CMAS are based upon vendor-defined classifications submitted upon application. The CMAS previously had a cap of $500,000, but it can now be amended with approval from the California Department of General Services (DGS).
• Software Licensing Program (SLP) — This vehicle is used to procure software and related services. A software manufacturer would need to apply for an SLP, and a vendor would need to recognize them as an authorized reseller of that software. Currently, 50 manufacturers hold SLP contracts with the state of California with varying numbers of resellers.
Two additional options that can be applied:
• Pre-Qualified Agile Vendor Pool — The Agile Vendor Pool was established in 2016 by the Office of Systems Integration with 11 vendors and was adopted and expanded in 2017 by the Department of Technology. The state of California is looking to adopt agile methodology for the delivery of large-scale IT projects. As such, this pool was developed for prequalified companies to perform agile methodology development services utilizing the CMAS as the base contracting vehicle and 13 classifications.
• Small Business/Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SB/DVBE) Option — California has made a commitment to encourage contracting SB (25 percent) and DVBE (3 percent) companies. Many procurements include incentives or mandatory percentages of a contract’s value to be subcontracted to a SB or DVBE. Additionally, the state allows for procurements to be put out through an SB/DVBE Option, where the public-sector entity reaches out only to SB/DVBE and receives responses from as few as two companies as to submit a response. The statutory maximum for an SB/DVBE Option is whatever the department’s delegated authority is, or a maximum of $249,999.99.
This story was originally published by Techwire.
