The Office of Strategic Sourcing (OSS) has cracked the code to making IT procurement not just efficient, but innovative. We help our VA customers find and align the right product that meets their technical requirements while delivering the most value to VA and to the Veterans we serve. Some of our work includes managing IT contract and acquisition solutions, collaborating with requirements owners, and interfacing with VA’s contracting office.
After we’ve helped our customers onboard the right product for them, we host Community of Practice sessions monthly with over 400 OIT Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) to ensure VA is getting the most for each dollar spent. We help our CORs successfully oversee contractor performance and we’re their first stop for help with resolving a host of challenges. Together, we’re not just meeting standards, we’re setting them.
With such a vast, lucrative marketplace for vendors, we rely heavily on contracting vehicles to satisfy business needs and accomplish OIT’s mission. We’re proud to utilize an approach such as competitively awarding a small project to a promising contractor to see how well they deliver. Through this approach, we show that we simply believe in providing opportunities and are confident that the vendor can deliver high quality solutions in support of our Veterans in a way that aligns with OIT’s focus on the customer and user experience.
Navigating the Future with FITARA
In the dynamic landscape of IT, we’re the guardians of compliance with the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). With FITARA, we have more control over the technologies that VA decides to deploy, while also giving us accountability to ensure that we’re getting the most value for every dollar we spend. Here in OSS, we follow OIT’s Acquisition Review Module, which helps deploy a new system that allows universal awareness and oversight into contracts being executed and products being purchased.
Empowering Small Businesses
We brief industry partners every year to showcase the work we’re doing to improve the Veteran experience and solicit the best solutions from industry ethos.
OSS regularly attends events like the Advance Planning Briefing to Industry (APBI) and the National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSBE). At an impressive 56%, over half of VA’s contracted awards proudly support Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small businesses.
OSS also collaborates with the Department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) to ensure that they empower and maximize the participation of Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses in federal contracting. There’s no better partner for vendors to connect directly with and shape the future of business with VA.
