The E-Gov Travel Service (ETS) contracts with vendors Northrop Grumman Information Systems, CW Government Travel and Electronic Data Systems (now HP Enterprise Services) will expire in 2013. U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is gearing up for the next E-Gov Travel Service contract called ETS2. GSA held its ETS2 Pre-Solicitation Conference on May 12, 2010 and accepted questions through May 26, 2010. On August 5, 2010, GSA issued the presolicitation notice for ETS2 on August 5 and posted the solicitation notice on August 23, 2010.
The contract will have a base period of three years with three optional four-year extensions. Potentially, the contract could last 15 years. The original solicitation deadline was October 6, but on September 9 the solicitation was modified to extend the deadline to 2:00 PM Eastern Time on October 27, 2010.
In December 2009 Management.travel spoke with Tim Burke, GSA Federal Acquisition Services Office of Travel and Transportation Services director, about ETS2. Mr. Burke said they may reduce the number of vendors from three to two or even down to one. By reducing the number of vendors they are hoping to achieve standardization, greater efficiency, reduction in cost, and be able to better focus on customer needs with enhanced service. Even though the industry appears to be interested in the consolidation, the government will need to access it from a risk perspective.
In the April 21, 2010 edition of Management.travel, GSA once again expressed a desire to consolidate to just one or two vendors. Frank Robinson, GSA FAS acting division director said ETS vendors even want there to be fewer vendors – some even think there should just be one vendor.
ETS2 vendors will be selected based upon their ability to achieve greater usability for travelers, to customize a matrix view of fares, to integrate mobile technologies and to incorporate more features from corporate travel booking systems and online travel agencies according to Robinson. This is because travelers want ETS2 to be more like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz.
The new ETS2 vendor(s) has their work cut out for them because unlike consumer booking sites, the ETS2 site has to be able to prepare travel authorizations, vouchers and local voucher, approve these documents, process miscellaneous travel expenses and comply with federal and agency travel policies.
By Dean Cox
“The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”