Capture Federal IT spending by September 30th

Federal spending peaks July 1st through September 30th.

Date of Article: July 14, 2021

As the fiscal year quickly comes to a close, agencies within the Federal Government find themselves in a familiar position. Unable to spend the entirety of its “use it or lose it” budget and running the risk of facing budget cuts next year.

For this fiscal year, the U.S. federal government has budgeted $92.17B for federal IT spending. Civilian agencies accounted for $54.36B of the total, with the Department of Defense being the single biggest funding at $38.8B. With FY21 ending September 30^th, government agencies including the Department of Defense, Federal Law Enforcement Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security are actively looking for small business prime and sub-contractors to fill their needs. But what federal initiatives can small businesses play a role in?

The Fed continues to fortify IT

Last year as COVID-19 quickly escalated to full-scale pandemic, both public and private sectors had to quickly adapt spending to fit to boost their network IT infrastructure as populations migrated online and avoided public interaction. These emergency spends have now shifted to opportunities that support the new norm. IT spending across the board now looks to fortify:

• Cybersecurity
• Cloud computing
• Citizen experience
• Network infrastructure modernization
• Broadband connectivity
• Process automation

As the largest procurer of IT hardware, the Federal Government is seeking upgrades in existing network and storage infrastructure across all agencies.

The Federal Government plans to spend more than $90 billion on information technology this fiscal year. The Government Accountability Office claims that this monetary response acts as a way to improve federal interaction with citizens online, mitigate risk associated with outdated IT, and improve cybersecurity. GSA Schedule Contracts have been essential in fulfilling various agency needs.

What are GSA schedules?

General Services Administration (GSA) Contracts are long-term federal contracts with commercial firms to supply government agencies with a wide variety of products at discount pricing. These GSA Schedule contracts are pre-priced, pre-negotiated, and can be awarded within six months dependent on the complexity of your proposal.

The GSA offers contracts for a wide variety of products including information systems software, IT hardware, office supplies, and even consultants. A full list of all products on the GSA Schedule can be found here.

Getting a GSA Schedule for your business isn’t as easy as filling out a form or signing up online. There are a variety of steps that need to be completed prior to accepting bids. These steps include providing proof of your company’s prior experience, financial records, and company practices. Also, an additional prerequisite to contracting with the Federal Government is ensuring your products are TAA compliant.

Proline’s commitment to helping you find a solution

As the world’s largest independent manufacturer of optical transceivers and high-speed cabling, Proline offers both legacy and cutting-edge TAA compliant products designed to scale existing federal networks. We provide a broad range of in-stock, high quality 100% OEM compatible solutions.

Why Choose Proline?

• Over 20 years of experience supplying connectivity products for schools, hospitals, and federal infrastructure projects.
• Proline offers TAA compliant solutions that are immediately ready to be supplied to any federal agency.
• We offer competitive pricing, resulting in up to 70% cost savings compared to the leading OEM.
• Proline remains at the forefront of the latest fiber optic technologies, providing our customers with cutting-edge technology to support any initiative.
• While Proline offers the latest and greatest, we also offer legacy products as well. Federal government agencies may not have the need to operate like a hyperscale data centers, hence being able to support legacy form factors such as Zenpak, GBIC, and X2 become critical. Proline also offers discontinued OEM lines from Marconi, Nortel, Tellabs, and more. View our full catalog.

Contact us today to fulfill any Federal GSA schedule contract.