On Friday, October 16, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a directive that limits how federal buyers purchase laptops and desktops. There are 3 key goals to the directive: 1) standardize laptop/desktop configurations for common requirements; 2) consolidate the acquisition strategy by limiting the contracts that can be used to purchase laptops and desktops; and 3) control demand management process.

OMB Approved Contracts for Desktop/Laptop Purchases

Effective immediately, all federal civilian agencies must use one of the three contracts below for desktop/laptop purchases:

1. General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70
2. NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP)
3. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health
   (NIH), NITAAC Chief lnformation Officer-Commodities and Solutions (CIO-CS)

Read More

• NextGov Article: OMB Tells Agencies: No New Contracts for Desktops, Laptops
• OMB Blog: Improving the Way the Government Buys IT
• OMB Memorandum: Category Management Policy 15-1: Improving the Acquisition and
  Management of Common Information Technology: Laptops and Desktops