Final Ascend BPA Draft Solicitation Pool 1

GSA’s Information Technology Category is moving forward with the next steps for the Ascend Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Pool 1. Ascend is a competitive, multiple-award, multi-agency BPA that addresses the governmentwide need for cloud solutions, including: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud solutions; Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud solutions; and, Cloud related IT professional services. Today, Oct 1, GSA is issuing the final draft soliciation.

Today, Oct 1, 2024, GSA posted the Final Draft Solicitation on GSA eBuy under RFQ1729153 and here on SAM.gov. The Final Draft Solicitation includes IaaS and PaaS requirements, and incorporates feedback GSA received after the release of the first Draft Solicitation in May 2024. The draft solication and associated documents can be found on eBuy under RFQ1729153. It remains GSA’s intent to award the Ascend BPA in a phased manner as a featured part of GSA's Cloud Marketplace.

We plan to make multiple awards in each pool, each with its own specific scope that will allow all federal agencies and other eligible entities to acquire and implement secure, integrated commercial IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS cloud solutions, including cloud-focused labor services.

We encourage all parties who are interested in participating in the Ascend BPA acquisition (formerly known as the GSA Governmentwide Cloud BPA) to review the RFQ1729153 posted on eBuy, which includes the final draft solicitation and other associated documents and provide questions, comments and recommended answer/solution rationale on the attached Table 1 - Ascend BPA Draft Solicitation Questions/Comments/Recommended Answer/Solution and Rationale Spreadsheet by 4 p.m. EST, Friday, October 18, 2024. Note: The Government will take all questions, comments, recommendation, solutions and rationale under advisement and consideration, however no direct answer or response will be provided.

Respondents are also advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Anticipated award dates are yet to be determined. More information is to follow. Please continue to monitor eBuy and SAM.gov for additional information. Please enter questions using the attached Questions and Answers spreadsheet, and send completed spreadsheets or other correspondence related to this procurement to cloudenterprisewide@gsa.gov.