Executive Mosaic is honored to present Sonny Hashmi, commissioner of the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), as a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient for driving technology transformation, acquisitions and massive contract awards that support the administration’s key missions and the best interests of the U.S.
This marks Hashmi’s first Wash100 Award. Hashmi, former chief information officer of GSA, was appointed as the FAS commissioner in Jan. 2021. Hashmi joined the agency from Box, where he served as managing director of Global Government. With the company, he was responsible for marketing, brand and product strategy.
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“After distinguishing himself as both a CIO and Deputy CIO with the GSA, public servant and federally appointed Commissioner of Acquisition Services Sonny Hashmi has been clear about his focus on the intersection of GSA’s people and technology to maximize buying power and ensuring the operations safety during this period of adjustment and re-prioritization,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award.
Since his appointment, Hashmi has driven several modernization and technology advancements. Most notably, Hashmi announced that GSA will re-award its 2nd Generation Information Technology (2GIT) Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), which have an estimated value of $5.5 billion over five years.
GSA developed the 2GIT solution in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, and it will extend the benefits of a Best-in-Class (BIC) IT Products purchasing solution to the federal government.
The 2GIT solution will deliver a reliable, flexible, fast and efficient way to procure best-value solutions for complex IT hardware requirements. The BPAs will provide a streamlined process for purchasing IT hardware and software products and services through GSA Advantage!
In addition, 2GIT provides access to a comprehensive set of IT products and ancillary services from pre-vetted industry partners and includes supply chain risk management assurances, as well as on-site and virtual customer support and training.
“Increasing access for small businesses and under-served communities within federal acquisition is an important goal for GSA,” said Hashmi.
Of the 70 industry partners, more than 50 are small businesses. “Small and disadvantaged businesses form an important component of the federal contracting community, and GSA will continue to identify and elevate opportunities for them to bring their expertise and innovation to support the federal government,” Hashmi continued.
In March 2021, GSA announced that the agency will acquire a web interface for managing and improving the quality of data collected for GSA Advantage! customers in the spring. The pre-solicitation for the Common Catalog Platform (CCP) will seek information from the 12 contractors on the current Chief Information Officer Modernization and Enterprise Transformation (COMET) BPA, followed by a request for a quote.
CCP is part of the FAS’ effort to improve catalog management so customers can more easily search, compare and buy needed offerings on GSA‘s online purchasing service, called GSA Advantage!.
“We’re continuing to streamline and improve how we manage data associated with the more than 50 million products and services offered through the federal marketplace,” wrote Hashmi. CCP will also reduce the time it takes suppliers to manage their catalogs by replacing the Schedules Input Program for Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) contract holders.
Catalog management is one of the four pillars of FAS’s Federal Marketplace (FMP) Strategy, a framework for making continuous improvements to GSA’s buying and selling experience.
Hashmi also recently discussed the current administration’s four priorities and the future of ongoing programs. Hashmi said GSA will play a key role in the administration’s priorities of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing economic recovery, addressing the climate crisis and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
“And, as it turns out, FAS has an incredibly integral role to play in all four of them,” Hashmi said. “One of our key focus areas right now is to make sure that we’re maximizing the buying power of the federal government to bring to bear and moving the needle on all those priorities.”
He also shared his insights on the future of Technology Transformation Services (TTS), the transition from DUNS numbers to unique identity identifier, migration of procurement tools to the beta SAM website, the impact of the SolarWinds breach on the agency’s programs and federal acquisitions and status of e-commerce pilots.
Hashmi addressed the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and how it correlates with the Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.
“We are, for example, integrating CMMC requirements into all of our schedule and [governmentwide acquisition contract, or GWAC,] programs so that when agencies buy through GSA, they already have built in confidence that those technologies are going to be, the providers are actually going to be compliant and can meet that compliance. Similar kinds of efforts are going to be underway for FedRAMP, as well,” Hashmi said.
“There’s a lot of [changes] coming for FedRAMP; some are focused on making it more efficient and streamlined, others are focused on making sure it’s more well integrated into overall supply chain efforts,” he added.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Sonny Hashmi on his first Wash100 Award selection. Hashmi’s ambition for innovation in emerging technologies and markets will be a driving force for the GovCon sector in the years to come.
Join GovConWire Events’ upcoming Modernizing Federal Acquisition Forum on April 15th to hear notable industry and federal leaders discuss the new modernization priorities, innovative solutions and future plans for acquisition.
Featuring Sonny Hashmi, commissioner for the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), GovConWire’s Modernizing Federal Acquisition Forum will also address GSA’s mission and priorities, as well as how the industry can support and adapt to the new acquisition policies. Visit GovConWire Events main page to register for the forum now!
