Federal Contracting: Effort to Consolidate Governmentwide Acquisition Data Systems Should Be Reassessed

The federal acquisition process involves a number of steps that are common to all government agencies such as solicitation, evaluation, and contract award. Agencies are increasingly leveraging electronic data systems to streamline acquisitions and reduce costs. According to GSA officials, as these systems gained greater use within the government, some agencies developed their own unique data systems to support acquisition activities.