Schwalb obtains $6.5M settlement over lottery deal
January 15, 2025
SBA Administrator Guzman Outlines New MySBA Digital Experience Transforming How Business Owners Interact with SBA
January 19, 2025
Washington — The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced today that Microsoft and IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO) have finalized an Agreement in Principle under the Governmentwide Microsoft Acquisition Strategy (GMAS). This agreement represents a significant milestone in the federal government’s effort to streamline IT acquisition processes and strengthen cybersecurity standards across federal government agencies.
The GMAS initiative, spearheaded by the GSA’s ITVMO, brings together the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies to discuss standard terms and conditions and cost reduction strategies available in government transactions for software or services. Microsoft’s commitment to this effort ensures a unified approach offering consistent benefits to agencies regardless of size or purchasing method.
“This agreement sets the foundation for an efficient, secure, and cost-effective federal IT ecosystem,” said Laura Stanton, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category at GSA. “The GMAS program exemplifies how collaboration with industry can drive innovation and deliver significant value to government and taxpayers alike.”
Key elements of the GMAS initiative include:
- Establish, improve, and better understand standardized terms and conditions through governmentwide engagement to best align with the government’s mission.
- Enhanced cybersecurity measures addressing critical risks in government IT systems.
- Commitments to develop enhanced governmentwide support and education capabilities.
To ensure that U.S. Government agencies achieve optimal value from their investments and can manage cloud services and associated costs more efficiently, Microsoft, in partnership with the ITVMO, is offering a series of government-wide workshops. These workshops will focus on cost management, governance, cross-tenant access, and conditional access controls, empowering agencies to enhance multi-agency collaboration capabilities while strengthening their security posture.
“Microsoft is proud to partner with GSA to identify key areas of efficiency in contracting and technology procurement to ensure federal agencies and taxpayers alike are getting maximum value from their industry partners,” said Candice Ling, Senior Vice President for Microsoft’s Federal business. “Microsoft has been a key technology partner to the U.S. government for more than 40 years and this landmark agreement is a testament to the relationship and trust our two organizations have established in that time.”
As part of the rollout, the ITVMO will provide additional resources to help agencies maximize the benefits of this agreement. In addition to upcoming guides and training sessions to ensure contracting officers and IT acquisition professionals are fully equipped to implement the new terms effectively, the ITVMO will offer hands-on support to Agencies through the Contract Review Service to support individual requests for acquisition implementation strategies.
Microsoft’s participation underscores the importance of a strategic partnership between the federal government and one of its largest technology providers. This alignment is a critical step toward greater efficiency and security.
General questions related to GMAS may be directed to ITVMO@gsa.gov.
