Category Management and the Acquisition Gateway

1. Category Management and the Acquisition Gateway presented by: Andrea Azarcon Heller Director, Office of Stakeholder Management Division GSA FAS Office of Enterprise Strategy Management June 28, 2017

2. Category Management is a commercial best practice being adopted by the Federal Government Most Fortune 500 companies have adopted category management over the past 20-30 years. Implementation for the federal government involves: • Identifying core categories of products and services • Developing enterprise-wide buying strategies and vehicles, to leverage the negotiate the best price across government • Developing tools and agency-level expertise around specific categories so agencies can obtain what they need faster and buy smarter Category management enables us to eliminate redundancies, increase efficiency, and deliver more value and savings from the government’s acquisition programs.

3. The Vision: Agencies expend less energy buying common things so they can focus more on buying for their mission The $445 billion government purchasing landscape is very fragmented. Many agencies make similar purchases without a coordinating strategy. This landscape is characterized by costly redundancies in contract vehicles, buys, and efforts. Current State of Purchasing: Future State of Purchasing: • Buy like a business • Industry involvement in developing category strategies • Minimizing contract confusion and duplication saves time and money for business and government • One common management framework • Lack of coordination across agencies • Duplicated efforts / procurement structures • Many agencies; no leveraged buying power

4. Government-Wide Category Structuretotal FY 2016 spend $287.56B

5. Category Management Operating Model Develop Category Strategy • Build category teams • Analyze agency needs • Review current spending • Analyze market for goods Influence Category Outcomes • Vehicles, policies, and tools • Work with agencies and suppliers • Incentivize demands • Control costs • Establish benchmarks • Track performance • Adjust category strategy Continuous Improvement

6. Industry partners stand to gain a number of benefits from category management More constant and continuous collaboration between government and industry will help develop a continuous process of improvement in Federal procurement. Improved Relationships Standardizing best practices and sharing contract information across agencies will result in a more standardized interface with agencies for industry partners Reduced Complexity Understanding where and how to “fit into the model” will make it easier for industry partners to “plug in,” gauge and measure performance, and excel in the areas they regard as their core competencies Improved Performance Increased focus and expertise in the government buying community will make it easier to identify and adopt useful innovations, and easier for innovative small businesses to connect with interested government buyers Increased Innovation Reducing redundancy and fragmentation means that both large and small industry partners spend less time chasing after duplicative contracts that may or may not be well-utilized at an agency level Reduced Costs 5

7. Category Management Case Study Consolidation of the Professional Services Schedule (PSS) reduces duplication and simplifies life for industry partners In 2015, there were more than 4,400 professional services contracts across eight Schedules SCOPE Overlap Multiple contracts for services also presented challenges for the government’s industry partners, with many managing multiple Schedules contracts. • For both industry and government, the new, single PSS eliminates significant contract duplication and workload previously associated with negotiating, administering, and auditing multiple contracts. • By reducing the number of contracts supporting the Professional Services category of spend, the federal government will eliminate more than 700 contracts resulting in an estimated five-year savings of $3.95 million, and sustained savings of $1.29 million annually thereafter.

8. Creating good opportunities for small businesses to work with the Federal government has always been hard … Category Management can help Small Businesses Say... Category Management can help small innovative businesses by: “In today’s fragmented contract landscape, it’s hard for me to see where the real opportunities for my products/services lie and it’s impossible to chase them all.” “But fewer contracts could mean fewer suppliers and opportunities to do business” “It’s very hard to gain access to government decision-makers who have real business opportunities and need my services.” • Increasing market transparency and reducing contract duplication • Maximizing SB participation / utilization • Improving “match-making” mechanisms • Ensuring participating SBs are well-qualified Federal Customers Say... “Working with a small business can be risky unless I already know them or know that they are well-qualified to do the work.” “Many small businesses who come knocking are unprepared or have limited experience working with government, and that wastes my time”

9. Category Management and Small Business Partners • Small business success is a core metric of Category Management • Each of the 10 categories has built its own small business strategy • We are building tools and digital services specifically aimed at improving agencies’ ability to identify, qualify, and transact business with qualified small businesses • The Acquisition Gateway will increasingly serve as a hub of intelligence and communication for small businesses and small business advocates throughout the Federal community

10. The Gateway envisions driving smarter acquisition by simplifying, accelerating, and improving how the Federal government selects and buys products and services. Acquisition Gateway Overview The Acquisition Gateway is the onlineacquisition professional resource center thataims to improve and sustain Federal agency performance by empowering agency executives, managers, and employees with access to acquisition information, data, and tools. The Gateway enables good category management that supports the Federal acquisition community through every step of the acquisition lifecycle.

11. Acquisition Gateway Overview Acquisition Gateway Features and Content • Hallways - Contain information and tools specific to each category management category or sub-category • Project Center - A personal location in the Gateway where users can save statements of work, community posts, and other information relevant to their acquisitions • Solutions Finder - Search tool to allow Federal buyers to locate “best-fit” contract vehicles across Federal agencies • “My Community” - A series of forums on specific acquisition topics, allowing users to ask questions of experts and participate in discussions with cross-agency peers • Document Library - Users can share statements of work in a centralized location and have the ability to “upvote” their favorites What’s in it for me (WIIFM)? • A focused place just for acquisitions • A hallway of articles, solutions, links, and tools just for that category • A place for market research, pricing information, and requirements development • A growing searchable archive of examples • A place to connect with other acquisition professionals • A place to organize and save your acquisition 11

12. Access the Acquisition Gateway You will need your PIV card and an OMB Max account Click the Federal Employees Sign-in button Enter your PIN when prompted 2 Go to https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov 1 3

13. Access the Acquisition Gateway = 2 choices Federal Government employees with PIV/CAC cards and a PIV card reader. Non-PIV card holders, contractors, and the General Public Federal Government employees with PIV/CAC cards and a PIC card reader. No PIV card needed... open to everyone! You will need your PIV card and an OMB Max account Go to https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov 1 Go to https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov 1 Click the Non-Federal Employees and Public Sign-in button 2 Click the Federal Employees Sign-in button Enter your PIN when prompted 2 Key restrictions:1) No eBuy Open2) No Prices Paid Portal3) No Community4) Very limited access to all content (solutions, articles, tools,templates) 3 No restrictions:- Full access to all tools and data

14. Acquisition Gateway - hallways.cap.gsa.gov Solutions Finder, CALC Tool Project Center, Document Library

15. Government-wide Category Hallways

16. Learning from Category Subject Matter Experts: Government-wide Category Hallways

17. Learning from Category SMEs: Government-wide Category Hallways

18. Identifying Opportunities: Forecast of Contracting Opportunities

19. View Offerings from across Government: Solutions Finder

20. Best Practices, Templates: Document Library

21. Contact Information: Andrea Azarcon Heller andrea.heller@gsa.gov 703.336.3705