GAO Says Strategic Sourcing Benefits Realized, Wants Expansion

Last month, GAO issued a report on strategic sourcing that addresses how successful the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) program has been to date. While the report found that, from FY2011-15, agencies reported spending almost $2 billion through the FSSI and claimed $470 million in savings, the report also found that “agencies’ low use of the FSSIs … diminished the potential savings that could have been achieved” – an underutilization that GAO attributed partially to the Strategic Sourcing Leadership Council agencies directing only “10 percent of their collective spending to the FSSIs[,]” with GAO calling for more aggressive targets to be set.