Multiple Award Schedule Contracts (MAS) are master contracts that allow the companies which receive an award of such a contract to compete for task orders over the term of the contract. Most MAS contracts pertain to information technology (IT) products and services although there are a few exceptions. When we say "compete," we use that phrase loosely because competition is very limited at best. Even government officials will concede that MAS contracts limit competition. Bureaucrats espouse that MAS contracts provide an efficient and effective way to buy products and services from qualified vendors - a position that we don't dispute. But the view of MAS contracts varies depending on whose ox is being gored. Large system integrators love them. Small to medium-sized businesses hate MAS contracts unless they are one of the fortunate few awarded a contract under the small business set-aside component of a MAS contract.

The "eagle" has landed once again for large prime contractors, so to speak. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the awards for the large business component of their Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge (Eagle) Solutions MAS contact. Guess who won? You guessed it - the same prime contractors that hold most of the existing MAS IT contracts. And the winners were:

• Accenture Ltd.
• AT&T Government Solutions
• BAE Systems North America Inc.
• BearingPoint Inc.
• Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
• CACI International Inc.
• Computer Sciences Corp.
• Dynamics Research Corp.
• EDS Corp.
• General Dynamics Corp.
• IBM Corp.
• Keane Federal Systems
• Lockheed Martin Corp.
• McDonald Bradley
• Northrop Grumman Corp.
• Nortel PEC Solutions
• Perot Systems
• Pinkerton Computer Consultants
• Pragmatics
• QSS Group Inc.
• Raytheon Science Application International Corp.
• Science Applications International Inc.
• SRA International Inc.
• Unisys Corp.

The Eagle contract, which is estimated at $45 billion over the next five years, could make up approximately ten percent (10%) of the annual federal IT budget (provided all allocated dollars are spent). The rich get richer and the federal government continues to profess that it buys products and services using full and open competitive procedures. Although the federal government does hold full and open competition on a limited basis, it doesn't happen very often.

What does a small to medium-sized information technology company do to be part if the federal IT action?

• Try to win a MAS contract with a set-aside small business set-aside component (for example, the GSA Alliant Small Business procurement scheduled for release this fall). The problem with this goal is that only 60 or so small businesses with annual sales between $10 and 20 million have a realistic chance of winning.
• Obtain a GSA Schedule IT 70 contract and use it to close your relationship-based sales.
• Subcontract with the rich, the large prime contractors.

No one ever said life is fair.