The following questions and answers provide information on the average time taken to complete the various steps in the IT acquisition process, as well as on other related factors. The average time to award IT contracts increases as the size of the contract increases. Hardware, software, maintenance, and support services are the major types of IT resources being acquired. How Do Bid Protests Affect Contract Time? Protested contracts took longer to award than nonprotested contracts in every dollar strata. In addition to the time taken to resolve the protests, other factors, such as competition type and evaluation method, can also increase the contract award time. As shown in figures 3 and 7, full and open contracts take longer to award than sole source contracts and best value contracts take longer to award than lowest cost contracts. Furthermore, large dollar contracts are much more likely to be protested. Of the four major IT resources—hardware, software, maintenance, and support services—why does it take so much longer to acquire software in the $2.5 million to $25 million strata and hardware in the $25 million or more strata?
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal information technology (IT) acquisitions to determine how various factors affect the IT acquisition process.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) the average time taken to complete an IT acquisition varies according to the procurement type, dollar value, and whether a bid protest is filed; (2) hardware, software, maintenance, and support services are the major types of IT resources being acquired; (3) contracts under $250,000 take an average of 158 days to award, while contracts $25 million or more take 669 days to award; (4) most procurements are awarded either as sole source or full and open competition contracts; (5) the average time taken to award IT contracts increases as the contract value increases; (6) protested contracts take longer to award than nonprotested contracts in every dollar strata; (7) large dollar contracts are much more likely to be protested; and (8) other factors such as competition type and evaluation methods also increase contract award time.