Arlington, Va. (Feb. 11, 2020) The Professional Services Council (PSC) called on the General Services Administration (GSA) to clarify problems and address challenges in the transition of the former “FedBizOpps” website (FBO.gov) into the single portal known as beta.SAM.gov. In a letter sent to GSA on Feb. 7, PSC provided GSA with feedback and specific recommendations from some of its 400 members on the portal transition. PSC’s goal is to improve the industry’s ability to identify, track, and assess potential contract opportunities.

“PSC members have long relied on GSA to house and update contract information in an accessible and timely way. However, our members have reported numerous problems with the portal transition of FBO.gov,” said PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel Alan Chvotkin. “The dissolution of FBO.gov and transition to Beta.SAM.gov has led to many reports of bidders who are potentially missing out on contract opportunities, thus reducing valuable competition.”

PSC compiled industry feedback on the portal transition in four key areas of concern: (1) Access Challenges; (2) Search Parameters; (3) Receive Capabilities; and (4) Display Difficulties. Key challenges included problems with saving user authentication, the inability to set up and save automatic searches, receiving non-relevant email updates, periodic absences of a NAICS code search option, issues with mobile display functionality, and concerns about overall site design and user experience.


“GSA reports efforts to address many of these issues since the initial launch of beta.SAM.gov, but contractor companies of all sizes have been hit by the ramifications of this migration. Small businesses in particular spoke of their challenges and their limited resources to compensate for missing or troublesome functionality,” Chvotkin continued. “The upcoming migration milestones provide an important opportunity for GSA to review this feedback, improve the user experience, and improve competition.”

“We look forward to working with GSA to clarify and document issues and concerns and to find ways to improve the portal transition. PSC stands ready to help in every way we can,” Chvotkin said.