Report: States, Locals Buying Off IT Schedule GSA’s IT Schedule 70 appears to be gaining traction with state and local government buyers. Schedule 70 orders by state and local governments jumped by 45% in fiscal 2007, to more than $361 million, according to the market research firm Input. Nearly $250 million went for IT equipment, software and services, and an additional $87 million for wireless services. “Vendors that are marketing GSA Schedule 70 to state and local buyers are experiencing increasing success as the government market becomes more willing to consider cooperative purchasing vehicles,” Input said. The analysis found 502 companies recorded sales to state and local customers through the schedule last year, but the majority of the dollars went to 10 large vendors. Overall sales through Schedule 70 have declined for three straight years, according to GSA, as federal agencies shifted their IT spending to enterprise-wide contracts such as the Navy’s Seaport-e and Homeland Security’s Eagle and First Source. Congress opened the IT schedule to state and local buyers in 2002, but some states have their own equivalent contract vehicles. Many states and localities favor vendors within their own boundaries. Input projects that state and local purchasing off this schedule will enjoy a compound annual growth rate of nearly 25%, surpassing $1 billion by 2012. “The groundswell of green purchasing at the state and local level presents a real opportunity for GSA and scheduled vendors to offer green products, with the added administrative savings of cooperative purchasing vehicles,” said Input analyst Jason Sajko. “The quicker these products are available on the schedule, the more likely that they will drive Schedule 70 usage in the current and next fiscal year.”