Polaris

A GSA governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) reserved for firms certified in SBA's 8(a) Business Development Program. It covers IT services and IT-based solutions such as cybersecurity, data management, software development, and IT operations. It has a $50 billion ceiling and lets agencies award task orders to 8(a) firms, including sole-source orders within 8(a) limits, without running a full open competition. GSA exercised the option period in 2026 for only a fraction of the original holders, so the active pool is much smaller than the original award list.

Alliant is GSA's governmentwide, multiple-award IDIQ contract vehicle for large-scale IT services and solutions, open to any federal agency. Now in its third generation (Alliant 3), it lets agencies skip a full open competition and issue task orders directly to a pre-vetted pool of contractors for systems engineering, cloud, cybersecurity, and other IT work.

A Basic Ordering Agreement is a written understanding between an agency and a contractor that pre-negotiates terms, pricing methods, and clauses for future orders, but is not itself a contract and obligates no funds. It's used when the government expects recurring needs for supplies or services but can't yet pin down exact items, quantities, or delivery dates.

A Blanket Purchase Agreement is a simplified 'charge account' arrangement, often set up against a GSA Schedule contract, that lets an agency place repeated orders with a pre-qualified vendor without renegotiating terms each time. Like a BOA, it isn't a contract and creates no obligation until an actual order is placed against it.

The planned $50 billion successor to NIH's CIO-SP3 IT services GWAC. CIO-SP4 spent years tied up in bid protests and was never awarded. In early 2026 NITAAC cancelled the solicitation, citing the governmentwide push to consolidate IT contracts under GSA. Companies that had been positioning for CIO-SP4 have largely turned to GSA vehicles such as Alliant, Polaris, OASIS+, and the Multiple Award Schedule instead.