Often times, customers have the same concerns and questions. Here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions we have received that may be yours as well.

Q. What does BPA really mean?
A. It stands for Blanket Purchase Agreement. The GSA has provided Federal Government purchasers a procurement contracting mechanism for acquiring IT products and services using GSA's Group 70 Federal Supply Schedule. Although no actual orders were initially placed against these agreements, these agreements contain pre-negotiated discounting and "spot" pricing from the company's GSA/FSS pricing, based on the volume of potential orders and the purchasing history of the agency.

Q. Why do I need to document my decision to buy IT products from Dell, Gateway, and Westwood if I use the NITES BPAs?
A. Multiple BPAs were awarded for hardware products.  Even though the awards were made using full and open competition, your servicing procurement office will need you to provide information that supports your decision to place an order for a specific brand-name product. The form you will need to complete is a downloadable PDF file. For a more detailed explanation, see GSA's webpage for a recent Federal Procurement Policy memo (04/11/2005) on use of brand name specifications.

Q. How does NITES work with DoC's COMMITS Program?
A. COMMITS is focused on small business awards. The COMMITS preferred source policy is not intended to adversely impact small, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses that are performing well for Commerce organizations under existing contracts. Accordingly, requirements that will be awarded under existing Blanket Purchase Agreements held by small businesses (i.e. NOAA NITES) are exempt. Commerce Acquisition Manual 1313.370-01 February 26, 2001, Section 2.3 Exempt Acquisitions.

Q. Can I use my Government purchase card to order products and services from the company?
A. Not only can you, you save the Government, the taxpayer and businesses time and money when you use electronic commerce. Dell, Gateway, Westwood, and SoftwareSpectrum, formerly Corporate Software, (Adobe, Microsoft) have "EC" websites where you can shop on-line. You can also telephone or fax in a purchase card order to any of the companies.

Q. If I use a purchase request (CD 435), what do I do?
A. That depends. With Dell, for example, you can still configure your system on-line and then email it to your inside sales representative who will email you back a quote-to-order. You would attach your quote-to-order to your CD 435. All of the company representatives can work with you on the telephone and email or fax you a quote. If you are a new customer, the best recommendation we have is to work with your sales representative and find out what options are available to you and use the one that suits you best.

Q. What about Section 508?
A. All of the companies have provided information to demonstrate to what extent they meet the standards set forth by the Access Board. We have links to these documents and you can review these responses and submit them with your CD-435 purchase request when you give your servicing procurement office an order to process.

Q. What about Property Clearance?
A. For products, you need to have a property specialist review your CD-435 purchase requests so that they can log that information into the NOAA property system.

Q. Where do I find the BPA numbers?
A. DOC/NOAA account ID numbers, company BPA numbers, GSA Schedule contract numbers, and the agreements are linked for your convenience and to assist you in understanding what you can buy and at what discounting.

Q. What are FEPPs?
A. FEPP stands for Federal Employee Purchase Program. Dell, Gateway, and Compaq offer to Federal Government employees an opportunity to purchase PCs for home/personal use at discounted pricing. If you are an employee, you are eligible to paticipate in the FEPP.

Q. I am a frequent purchaser/user of a software/hardware product or services. How can NOAA create a BPA for that requirement?
A. NOAA is interested in providing contracting vehicles that save your organization time and money. If you think that other NOAA/DoC employees would also benefit from a BPA for IT products or services that you currently purchase, please email NITESFeedback@noaa.gov or call Sandy Wine at (301) 713-9040 ext.127.

Q. How do I work with my Administrative Support Center (ASC) to use these BPAs?
A. For IT products, you will need to reference the BPA number on your CD-435 purchase request. The NITES website provides company contact information and Section 508 compliance urls for your convenience. Your contracting specialist can then process your order.

For IT services, you will also need to write a statement of work and provide a cost estimate. Your contract specialist can then send your requirement to one or more of the BPA holders in a particular category. You select the company that meets your needs with a "best value" award after evaluating the company proposals.