Men On A GSA Mission

Richard Carter and Ed Rivera ventured to the expo for information, specifically how their business and technology consultancy, CR Tech Solutions, could obtain a GSA Schedule 70 and the MOBIS--which stands for Management, Organization and Business Improvement Schedule. The two, who have been friends for more than 20 years, co-founded CR Tech Solutions last summer, which spun off of a firm Carter created in January 2003 called Carter and Partners. CR Tech Solutions is equally owned by Carter and Partners and Rivera.

"Ed was working for another consultancy, and he decided to leave and join forces with me. My strength is commercial services [private sector] and his strength is the public sector. So, it's a good balance," Carter says.

"Our goal is to obtain a GSA Schedule 70 for technology and the MOBIS for management consulting. We were trying to determine the best way of doing it," Carter says, referring to their visit to the GSA Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) informational session at FOSE.

The dilemma of hooking government business is a common one for a small company like CR Tech Solutions, which employs nine people, including Carter and Rivera. The barriers to entry to government are many, including an archaic application process that creates a mountain of paperwork, and difficulty in being accepted into the government fold, especially for small firms (see "Getting Your Foot In the Door," GovernmentVAR, Aug. 4, 2003, page 21.) The GSA Schedule is the key that can open the door for VARs and solution providers because the schedules determine who is qualified to sell products or services to government agencies.

Schedule 70 is the designator for contracts covering the purchase of IT and telecommunications equipment, software and services, according to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The MOBIS Schedule is a GSA contract that offers services, such as studies, training, facilitation and surveys, to help companies improve management and organizational effectiveness.

Obtaining government certifications like those can be daunting and time-consuming. With applications that run for 200 pages, Carter and Rivera consider it a full-time job filling them out.

"Do we take time to fill them out? This effort takes time away from our primary objective of business development. It's a very difficult balancing act," Carter says. "The requirements are redundant. Almost all these certifying agencies ask for the same information over and over."

There are even businesses that cater to this specific need.

"We talked to consultants willing to help us, and they wanted as much as $25,000 to [fill out the applications]," Carter reveals. "The GSA Schedule 70 is very onerous. It's almost like an inherent conflict,because after successfully completing the application, it makes it easier to do business with the federal government agencies, but the process takes time away from your business efforts."

To help them cope, Carter and Rivera say they use the services of a company administrator, who devotes the majority of her time filling out such applications for them.

CR Tech Solutions is a New Jersey-certified, minority-owned small-business enterprise that serves four industries, Carter says. Those include the public sector (federal, state and local), financial services, pharmaceuticals/health care and academia. As a management consultant company, CR Tech Solutions' role is multifaceted, including providing clients with information, diagnosing their situations and helping them redefine problems in the process, and improving organizational effectiveness, among others.

"Ed and I have, combined, over 40 years' experience in the business-technology and professional-services industries with offices in Washington, D.C., Jersey and Freeport, N.Y.," Carter notes.

At FOSE, the two wanted to get as much information about government certification as possible, Carter says.

Once a company has those certifications, it's easier to get work with the government because it doesn't do as many background and credit checks, Carter explains. "What it does is gives you credibility," he says. Predefined contracts are just one avenue. Schedule 70 is another.

"You will charge the government in advance," Carter says. "Say I want to build a Web site for the Department of Defense. We would need contractors and to determine how much to charge."

But as helpful as GSA certification is, it doesn't automatically get you business.

"There's no guarantee of anything," Rivera says. "What it does is gives you rates that are acceptable to the government."

There's also the time factor to consider.

"We have an application in to become an 8(a) company, but it can take up to a year to a year-and-half. And a year for Schedule 70. We have applications in for New Jersey, for Virginia, for New York. Every agency is a separate certification," Carter explains. "Ultimately, if you can't do the job, no one wants you. But you have the double-whammy that you're a small business."

For a small company, CR Tech has linked up with some impressive names, but it still has to work harder to be recognized.

"Right now, we have channel partnerships with American Management Systems and Headstrong," Carter says. "And we have a second-tier relationship with IBM. We also have relationships with Unisys and a number of others. Right now, the majority of our business is government. That's because the public sector is spending money on technology-related services," he says.

"Ed and I have to work much more diligently than if we can wave a red flag and say, 'We got our 8(a).' You don't have to show as many references," Carter adds. "With a small business, there's always a credibility gap. They want to make sure you're going to be there to finish the job."

While in waiting mode for their various certifications, the two businessmen are lining up some ambitious projects, including an e-government initiative in Nassau County, N.Y., and another for the Department of Homeless Services.

"We're about to put in a proposal to the Nassau County Information Technology department. We're going after an e-gov application," Carter says. Nassau County is looking to build an online lookup and payment system for traffic tickets. CR Tech Solutions is being sponsored by the Nassau County Office of Minority Affairs and Nassau County Legislator Roger H. Corbin, who serves as the Deputy Presiding Officer of the Majority.

"We will build out a Web-based application that interfaces with the existing systems. The technology infrastructure in the county is mainly an IBM architecture, the interactive voice-recognition component," Carter explains. In addition, a Microsoft Windows SQL Server database and software development WebLogic J2EE are all part of the county's requirement.

Another opportunity CR Tech Solutions is pursuing involves a project for which there was an RFP recently released by the Department of Homeless Services to develop and implement a homeless-management information system mandated by HUD.

"We're looking for a company to team with that has the proprietary software," Carter says. "We are not sure. It depends on if we can find the right partner who has the best solution we think would be a winning solution. It may not be the right opportunity for us," Carter says.

Then, again, maybe it is.