The place to start is GSA’s own web pages. You need some basic information before you start into trying to determine market size. First you need to learn which GSA Schedule contract you are interested in pursuing. Start your research at the GSA E-Library www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov. There is a link there on the right to the GSA Schedules listing. This is a list of all of the GSA schedules and what they cover. Or you can enter a search term representing the products or services you wish to research and let the search engine suggest schedules.

After selecting the GSA Schedule you need to determine the GSA Special Item Number or SIN that covers the specific products or services. For example, if I wanted to check the market for access control systems that are on entryways, I would find that they are Schedule 84, SIN 246 35 1 or 246 35 2 depending on whether they were proximity or other type systems. If I wanted to find out who already had those types of contracts, I could click on the SIN links and see the list of contract holders. I could also click on any of those contract holders and see what they offered and at what prices.

With this information the next step is to go to the GSA Schedule Sales Query (SSQ) tool to begin the market size research – https://ssq.gsa.gov/. Select “Create Report” and proceed to the report selection page. The SSQ report generator allows you to quickly select a preformatted report of the GSA Schedule sales. GSA offers eleven report formats. Some of the reports will instruct you to select a Schedule number, a Fiscal Year, a Contract number, or a Company name that you found from your search of the E-Library. The report formats are:

Selecting a report sample helps determine if that report will provide the information you require.

SSQ presents sales figures as reported to GSA by contractors. The reports are generated as quarterly reports for the current year and the past five fiscal years. The sales data reported are updated as contractors’ reports are received 30 days after the end of the quarter, but the data may not be up to date as it relies on the self-reporting of the contractors. The data is also only provided at the schedule, contractor and /or SIN level. This does not give you information about the market for a specific product, only a product type. However, GSA does provide the most accurate information available as to the GSA Schedule contract marketplace and it’s free. Happy hunting!

Things to Do Now:

• Research the GSA Schedule marketplace for your products or services.
• Determine if the market is sufficient for the investment into a GSA Schedule contract.
• Subscribe to GovContracts to receive notices of federal opportunities (http://search.govcontractsmagazine.com/contracts/fbosearch.cfm)
• To expand the government’s ability to access your products without worrying about the market size you can get your items on a GSA Schedule contract.
• Locate partners now such as Technical Communities who will act for you in the market.
• Make sure they have full access to the products or services that are in demand for the government markets.

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The SAT is the threshold under which the government can use less formal procedures to purchase their goods and services. Typically these purchases are done by issuing a Request for Quotation or RFQ. For those requirements under $25,000, no FedBizOps announcement is required. Agencies can use a local business list. Terms and conditions, evaluations and award are simplified and can even be done orally.

Small business set asides are mandatory for acquisitions under $150,000 (excluding those under $3,000 or on a GSA schedule). Agencies must set these aside unless there are no small businesses that can provide the requirement or perform the service. Agencies in your area will most likely use the small business in their area to fulfill their requirements.

SAT procedures can be used to acquire open market items when the total requirement is under $150, 000. These are items that are not on GSA contract because of trade agreement act restrictions, new items, or pricing issues. When this is the case, again small businesses get preference for providing those items. When the SAT procedures are competed, an agency can include those items on their GSA contract order.

Things to Do Now:

• Make sure you are on the local bidders lists for any federal agency or installation in your area.

• Make sure your business size and NAIC codes are correct in your CCR and ORCA websites (https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/default.aspx; https://orca.bpn.gov)

• Subscribe to GovContracts to receive notices of federal opportunities (http://search.govcontractsmagazine.com/contracts/fbosearch.cfm)

• To expand the government’s ability to access your products without worrying about the new thresholds you can get your items on a GSA Schedule contract.
  - Locate partners now such as Technical Communities who will act for you in the market.
  - Make sure they have full access to the products or services that are in demand for the government markets.

July 29 (Bloomberg) — Oracle Corp., the world’s second- biggest software maker, was sued today by the U.S. Justice Department, which claimed the company overcharged the government on a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Oracle defrauded the government on a software contract with the General Services Administration between 1998 and 2006, according to the complaint. The company failed to give the government the same discounts it offered its most favored commercial customers, the Justice Department claims.

“Oracle’s false statements and fraudulent conduct in the negotiation and performance of the contract led to the submission of false claims for payment to the United States,” according to the complaint, filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The U.S. lawsuit follows its intervention in a case filed in 2007 by Paul Frascella, a former Oracle employee who made similar claims. The False Claims Act lets private citizens sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The Justice Department says it is cracking down on procurement fraud.

“We take seriously allegations that a government contractor has dealt dishonestly with the United States,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, said in a statement. “When contractors misrepresent their business practices to the government, taxpayers suffer.”

Deborah Hellinger, a spokeswoman for Redwood City, California-based Oracle, didn’t return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.

A Justice Department statement said the contract was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while the complaint said Oracle reported $1.08 billion in sales for software licenses and maintenance under the contract.

The complaint doesn’t specify an amount of damages, saying it would be determined at trial. Frascella’s complaint, which was unsealed April 2 when the government joined his case, said Oracle overcharged the government by tens of millions of dollars. The government’s complaint offers more detail on the contract.

It claims that 21 different executive agencies made purchases, including the Treasury, Defense and State departments.

The GSA negotiated so-called Multiple Award Schedule pacts with Oracle, according to the complaint. Once companies secure such contracts, government agencies may order products on GSA schedules without going through elaborate procurement programs.

In return, the government is supposed to get discounts equal to or greater than the discount given to that firm’s most favored customer, and contractors are supposed to report such discounts, according to the complaint.

The complaint claims that starting in 1997, Oracle falsely told the GSA that it was getting the best prices when it was not.

In October 2006, Oracle paid $98.5 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit over GSA Multiple Award Schedule pricing disclosures at PeopleSoft Inc., a software maker. Oracle bought PeopleSoft in January 2005 for $10.3 billion.

The complaint, filed in 2003 by whistleblower James Hicks, was joined in 2006 by the Justice Department.

Oracle fell 58 cents to $23.70 today in Nasdaq stock market trading.

The case is U.S. v. Oracle Corp., 1:07-cv-00529, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

Full article By Justin Blum and David Voreacos, Bloomberg Businessweek