CONNECTIONS is much like any other Delivery/Task Order-based contract. However, it has some key innovations.
Ordering Officials under CONNECTIONS are called Designated Agency Officials (DAOs). As stated in section G.2.3 of the contract:
"[For Self Service], appointment of the DAO will be from the customer agency contracting office or other designated entity and will be subject to the rules, regulations, and conditions promulgated and enforced by that customer agency."
"[For Assisted Service], the [Procuring Contracting Officer] hereby delegates DAO authority to all warranted FTS contracting officers."
This means that it isn't necessary to receive approval from GSA to issue an order against CONNECTIONS as long as the Ordering Official:
Is a warranted contracting officer within GSA's Federal Technology Service.
Has been delegated to place orders by the ordering authority within their agency or organization.
However, there are still many responsibilities that accompany this role. These include:
Assessing the requirements (e.g. technical, logistical, etc.)
Developing a statement of work (to include which category the order was determined to fall under).
Managing the order (e.g. delivery, modifications, payment, reporting)
Fortunately, CONNECTIONS was built with the flexibility to allow the customer to decide how to fulfill these responsibilities.
Assisted Service - GSA assumes the role of the DAO and takes on all of the associated responsibilities on behalf of an agency. This allows an agency to avoid going through an acquisition process themselves and focus on more mission critical tasks.
Self Service - Customers interact directly with the CONNECTIONS Awardees. In this scenario, the agency is responsible for all aspects of the acquisition where GSA only provides the contract vehicle.
A 1% associated government fee is included within all orders. Additional assisted service fees are negotiable within a range of 2 - 4% for category 1 and 3 - 5% for categories 2 and 3, depending upon the level of assistance requested.
GSA's Regional Offices are always available to assist in the acquisition process. To find the nearest representative, click on the link titled "CONNECTIONS Customer Representatives" above under Contacts.
It is highly recommended that all CONNECTIONS Ordering Officials Register. Registered DAO can:
Stay abreast of the latest news and guidance on contract interpretation and use as they become available.
Access a central electronic repository of order status reports.
Better monitor the progress of service delivery by providing an efficient way to manage orders.
