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Summary: GAO reviewed the management of the program under which the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal data processing centers (FDPC) provide systems analyst and programmer (S&P) services to other Federal agencies. The review included an examination of pertinent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars, GSA regulations and procedures, studies, reports, correspondence, and contracts of various agencies relating to the acquisition of S&P services. OMB Circular A-76 states that the Government's policy toward obtaining commercially available services is to rely on the private enterprise system unless the national interest requires a Government agency to provide the services directly. In accordance with this, each Government agency is required to review its commercial activities at least once every 3 years to justify in-house performance. The GAO review showed that: (1) GSA has not performed studies of its S&P services as required by OMB Circular A-76, and (2) commercial S&P rates in various GSA-FDPC regions were for the most part lower than GSA-FDPC rates. GAO believes that the large number of commercial firms offering S&P services provides the Government with a competitive marketplace for these services and that, by providing such services, GSA is acting contrary to the policy set forth in OMB Circular A-76. GAO believes that GSA should make an evaluation, as required in the circular, to justify its continuing to provide in-house S&P services to agencies.
