Vendors: FBO redo a bust

PSC recommends changes

      The problems with the transition of “FBO.gov” to the "beta.SAM.gov" website appear to go well beyond the loss of some functionality.

      Vendors have significant complaints with the replacement for the longstanding Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website that should be addressed, according to a Feb. 7 letter sent by the Professional Services Council to the General Services Administration. The letter summarizes a variety of concerns from its members and suggested improvements.

      “The new system has been judged by many of our member companies to be a far cry from its predecessor,” the PSC letter states. “Feedback from many of our small businesses was particular critical.”

      The PSC categorized the concerns into four areas: (1) Access Challenges; (2) Search Parameters; (3) Receive Capabilities; and (4) Display Difficulties.

      With the recent announcement that beta.SAM.gov also will house the Federal Procurement Data System database, it is vital to carry out improvements, the PSC wrote.

     Beta.SAM.gov problems include:

• Repeated requests for authentication and frequent timeouts on the site;
• Limited search functions; inability to search by place of performance, dates and times or NAICS code;
• Not mobile-friendly; and
• No copy-to-print function.

      GSA officials were not immediately available.

More information:
PSC Letter and Feedback to GSA: https://bit.ly/37XqBVx

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