GSA ANSWER

Contract: GS09K99BHD0010

The ANSWER contract is designed to provide a vehicle for Information Technology (IT) support services to federal agencies worldwide. ANSWER is homed in the General Services Administration's (GSA's) Enterprise GWAC Center. It is a Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), and is not a GSA Schedule.

The ANSWER contract was awarded December 1998 with two base years plus eight successive option years and a $25 billion ceiling. Recently, the contract was modified to extend performance an additional five years if tasks are awarded prior to June 2009. The SAIC ANSWER Program Management Office (PMO) enjoys a close working relationship with GSA, which aids in identifying and securing business opportunities that provide mutual benefits.

SAIC brings into this relationship its proven ability to develop business effectively within a diverse client base. This ability has been demonstrated historically by the significant task order volume and value managed throughout all GSA regions. The key to achieving our related goals and maximizing business development resides in our ANSWER PMO, which directs SAIC team performance and business development activities. The PMO also interacts with GSA technical and administrative management, keeping them involved with the SAIC team's activities.

ANSWER shares several key characteristics with other GSA contracts, such as the following:

• Ability to accept all types of federal funding
• Rapid task order turnaround
• Paperless task order processing and e-commerce on the GSA IT-Solutions Shop (ITSS), e-buy, or FEDSIM Task Order System (TOS) Web sites
• Managed competition to ensure that awardees receive "fair opportunity" for consideration in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
• Usable by all federal clients worldwide
• Supports Time & Materials (T&M) or Fixed Price (FP) tasking
• Offers a broad spectrum of established labor categories, with rates discountable to specific market conditions
• Not protestable per FAR 16.505(a)(8), except on the grounds that the order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract.
• Nominal GSA fees for use of the contract