GSA Signals Major Changes for IT Schedules Involving CIOSP4, SEWP
5/23/2025
Both internal federal buyers and federal contractors are going to need to be ready for some changes. The General Services Administration (GSA) is in the process of consolidating many standard commodities and services procurements into GSA schedules.
Currently GSA is formulating strategies to assume control over government-wide contracting mechanisms currently managed by NASA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This initiative represents part of GSA’s broader mission to centralize the procurement of commercial technology products and services across the entire federal government.
These consolidation activities are primarily targeting civilian departments, with GSA not yet examining defense-related procurements. GSA leadership has not reached a final determination as of yet, and these changes remain tentative pending approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The ceiling values of these procurements totals at least $110 billion. 
This initiative is not materializing out of nowhere. Industry professionals have long anticipated these more assertive consolidation measures from GSA regarding IT goods and services acquisition. It’s long been known that GSA was interested in taking the NASA SEWP vehicle under its wing, and it likely will be with this 6th iteration. SEWP VI is expected to have approximately 1,000 awardees, a big step up from the 147 on SEWP V.
Transferring these extensive, frequently-utilized IT government-wide acquisition contracts to GSA indicates continued growth of the agency’s procurement authority, which has already expanded substantially after executive directives in late March that consolidated numerous federal buying functions under the agency’s purview. Bringing these GWACs under GSA’s management may profoundly affect hundreds of federal contractors currently holding spots on these vehicles, though President Donald Trump’s March 20th executive directive hinted at such consolidation possibilities.”
There are both advantages and drawbacks to these developments. Among the benefits, numerous overlapping contracts currently exist in the system. An inherent risk is that consolidation can diminish vehicle competition and limit market access, and both elements provide genuine marketplace value. Another concern is potentially stifled innovation. When departments maintain procurement flexibility, contract administrators must devise novel approaches to attract agency customers.
From a benefits perspective, moving the CIO-SP contract to GSA is logical considering the persistent protest challenges that NIH’s IT Acquisition and Assessment Center has encountered while attempting to launch CIO-SP4. The troubled CIO-SP4 has faced continuous legal challenges, with NITAAC currently pursuing another corrective measure requiring U.S. Court of Federal Claims approval. It’s unlikely the contract vehicle would ever reach fruition otherwise. Currently there are at least 26 protests on the vehicle.
Overall, this is an immense change that is going to require substantial effort and manpower by GSA. Whether it saves the federal government any money will be highly dependent on GSA’s ability to find cost reductions achieved through streamlining pricing structures and specifications, removing inefficient procedures, enhanced technology utilization, and additional elements of strategic program and contract oversight.
Concurrently, GSA is also assuming a significant function in revising the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and has negotiated reduced software pricing for federal clients from Google, Adobe and Salesforce via its emerging OneGov initiative. They are going to be quite busy!
To learn more about the CIOSP and SEWP vehicles, as well as other schedules that are already under the prevue of GSA and their associated task orders and awardees, get full access with a 5-day trial to EZGovOpps.