GSA Removes Access to List of Contracting Office IDs

Lack of Understanding or Protection of National Interest?

When Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) reporting migrated into the Integrated Award Environment (IAE); into beta.SAM's Data Bank; GSA removed access to the List of Contracting Offices, an Excel spreadsheet. If this was made public, I missed it. If the decision was not publicly made, well, I'll keep that opinion to myself.

These contracting office ID's are crazy important for government contractors. The first six characters in most solicitation numbers are the contracting office ID. Can you back into this information? Sure. But this list of approximately 7,000 contracting offices, by installation, city, and state, helps facilitate information / data / intelligence collection on a wide number of fronts.

To reiterate, this list is important to government contractors (and definitely my team).

The Federal Service Desk said on February 8, 2021, "?????? ?????????????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???? ???? ???????????? ???????????????? ????????????????????. ???? ?????? ???????? ?????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???????????? ???? ???????????????? ???? ?????? ????????????. ???????????? ???????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????? ???????? ??????????????????????????."

To say I'm surprised is an understatement. It's a key field in USASpending.gov and beta.SAM's Data Bank for advanced adhoc reporting. Yes, if you're an expert in using beta.SAM's Data Bank you will be able to back-into this data. But having the list makes many things easier...not to mention it's the data map for a key field in these publicly accessible government systems.

It's possible the government doesn't realize how important this data is. But, they would not have removed it without a specific reason (okay, I'm sure to get grief on that statement). It was sandwiched between six or seven other downloads in FPDS. I'm wondering if someone said, "with a continued focus on security protocols, maybe we shouldn't have this available." This is possible, but you can still get all this data by simply downloading everything in beta.SAM (which all the big bid-matching companies do) and if it's state sponsored espionage, they'll be able to easily create a contracting office ID list. But... most U.S. government contractors, who need the list, won't have the ability to do the same. I'm just guessing here.

So, first, if you work for GSA and have any insight into why this list was taken away from the industrial base, please let us know why. I've written about this before - there's supposed to be a strong partnership between government and industry. This partnership has been eroding for years. Did no one think to talk with Industry about the value we place on this list?

Last, I put this out there for GSA or perhaps some of my connections that have relationships with GSA, why don't you put it behind the SAM firewall? Not beta.SAM, because anyone, including bad actors, can create beta.SAM accounts. Put it behind the SAM firewall. You have to have a DUNS and SAM account, validated with IRS TIN, to log into your SAM account. Why not upload it there if you're concerned about bad actors.

Now the Good News

Contracting offices and their IDs don't change that often. Sure, when an office moves or a new office stands up, there are changes. But the current list of around 7,000 offices, worldwide, will likely be good for another several yeas.

Also, I have the list. I feel like a spy in a movie. Jason Bourne has nothing on me...

For our clients and Federal Access members, it's on the Federal Access platform along with the 1.5 hour training video on beta.SAM's Data Bank and instruction on pivot tables. Since we now have over 1,000 companies using Federal Access, that's the easiest way to get it. Just login and then click this link to go straight to it - https://federal-access.com/sales-webinar-beta-sam-deep-dive-who-buys-what-you-sell/. If you don't yet use Federal Access, you can learn more about it here https://federal-access.com/standtogether/.

Anyone Have An Update?

If you have comments, thoughts, or have additional visibility on this, please note it below so we can all share the knowledge.

Something to think about.

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Joshua Frank is an award-winning business coach, professional speaker, and bestselling author. He is a nationally recognized authority on government sales and business acceleration. With 30 years in the government market, he speaks nationally on bridging government sales strategy with business strategy. Managing Partner at RSM Federal, Mr. Frank is author of the #1 bestseller An Insider's Guide To Winning Government Contracts and #1 bestseller Game Changers for Government Contractors. Mr. Frank serves as Chairman of the Board for the Midwest Veterans Advocacy Foundation (VAF). Mr. Frank also supports the SBA's Emerging Leaders Program and is a judge for Arch Grants providing startup funding for entrepreneurs. RSM Federal works with small and large businesses to accelerate revenue in the federal market with clients and members winning more than $2.8 billion in government contracts and more than $30 billion in Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC). Josh holds a degree in English, an MA is Management Information Systems (MIS), and an MBA.

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