Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) are defined in Part 2 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as task order or delivery order contracts for information technology (IT) established by one agency for governmentwide use. Each GWAC is operated by an executive agent designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to section 5112(e) of the Clinger-Cohen Act. The Economy Act does not apply to orders under GWACs.

GSA has established three GWAC Centers to provide customers with a variety of GWAC vehicles from which to obtain high quality, state-of-the-art, total integrated solutions to their IT requirements.

ANSWER (Applications 'n Support for Widely-Diverse End User Requirements) provides the full spectrum of IT Support Services including communications, configuration management, supply chain management, knowledge management, test/hardware engineering, applied sciences and engineering, biometrics, environmental systems, customer relationship management (CRM)/call centers, health informatics, enterprise resource planning, business process reengineering, distance learning, information assurance, web development, homeland security, and modeling and simulation.

ACES (Access Certificates for Electronic Services) facilitates secure electronic access to government information and services through the use of public key infrastructure/digital signature technology.

ITOP II (Information Technology Omnibus Procurement II), transitioned to GSA from the Department of Transportation, provides IT technical services, hardware, and software solutions in the functional areas of information systems engineering, systems operations and management, and information systems security support.

Virtual Data Center Services provides a full range of data processing and support services, allowing agencies to outsource their data center operations and focus on their core missions.

Millennia fulfills the demand for large system integration and development projects by providing IT support contracts in the areas of software engineering, communications, and systems integration.

Note:  Alliant has been proposed as the next generation GWAC, to combine the best features of the current ANSWER and Millennia GWACs. Once OMB approval is received, GSA will begin the acquisition process of soliciting offers under this new contract vehicle.

Millennia Lite mirrors the four functional areas of the IT life cycle:  IT planning, studies, and assessments; high-end IT services; mission support services; and legacy systems migration and new enterprise systems development.

Smart Card provides common access ID, compliant with new interoperability standards. It promotes the growth of e-commerce and automation to streamline business functions, supports a wide range of services, and enhances security.

8(a) FAST (Federal Acquisition Services for Technology) provides a full range of IT solutions through small, disadvantaged 8(a) firms.

8(a) STARS (Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services) is the replacement vehicle for the current 8(a) FAST GWAC which expires October 31, 2004. 8(a) STARS will encompass IT services in such functional areas as customer computer programming; computer systems design; computer facilities management; data processing and hosting; Internet publishing and broadcasting; and wired telecommunications carriers.

HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) is the first GWAC to be set aside exclusively for HUBZone certified small business firms. HUBZone provides IT services in such functional areas as online information, data processing, customer computer programming, computer systems design, and computer facilities management.