Under the RFP released Jan. 19, DGS will expand the number of eligible job classifications to 25 (previously there have been just seven), allow vendors to adjust their pricing based on California's Consumer Price Index in some circumstances, and allow purchase orders completed before the end of the MSA term contract to continue as needed beyond the MSA expiration date, among other changes.
New proposers are invited to apply, and existing MSA contractors must submit new proposals to rejoin the list.
"As successful as that [IT MSA] contract has been, we knew there were some features we needed to improve," DGS deputy director and state Chief Procurement Officer Jim Butler said in September.
The final date to submit proposals is Feb. 23, and the award could occur by the end of March. Key action dates are subject to change.
Source: DGS
More than 165 contractors are currently qualified to provide services under the MSA for IT consulting services. It most recently was put out to bid in 2013. The existing IT Consulting Services MSA is scheduled to expire in March 2018 for a majority of contractors; some contracts, though, will be over in 2017.
Firms qualified under the MSA list are able to charge prenegotiated hourly rates to state customers for contract staff. Delegated purchasing authority for a single order is capped at three tiers: $1.5 million, $5 million and $10 million. Those three tiers won't change under the new procurement.
DGS explains in documentation on its website that "the services under the [current] IT Consulting MSA include, but are not limited to IV&V, Project Management, Cloud Assessment and Migration Services. IT Consulting Services does not include staff augmentation, commercial software or hardware."
State agencies and departments typically are required to go through a Request for Offer process when procuring services through the MSA.
