What GSA MAS Simplified Acquisition Procedures Are

Getting FISMA-compliant hosting under contract quickly depends on two things working together: an underlying GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, and the streamlined purchasing rules in FAR Part 13 known as Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). SAP let contracting officers acquire supplies and services with less paperwork for any acquisition at or below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) — which increased from $250,000 to $350,000 effective October 1, 2025, under the FAR's statutory inflation adjustment. That wider threshold is what makes a fuller, multi-year hosting buy possible under this path.

SAP alone doesn't remove the requirement for competition — it simplifies how that competition is documented. The GSA MAS is what supplies the competition itself: because GSA has already competed and awarded the underlying Schedule contract, orders placed against it are considered awarded on a fully and openly competed basis. That's what lets a CO request quotes informally — often from as few as three qualified Schedule holders — compare price and capability directly, and award without the formal proposal evaluation, negotiation record, and source-selection documentation a full FAR Part 15 procurement would require. Acquisitions up to the $350,000 SAT are also generally set aside for small business, which keeps the door open for firms like GovDataHosting.

Layer GovDataHosting's own GSA MAS Schedule GS-35F-099BA on top of that, and the process moves even faster. Orders placed against it fall under FAR 8.404(a), and combined with the simplified ordering procedures in FAR 8.405, a hosting order can move from request to award in a matter of weeks.

Benefits of Leveraging the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

• Speed. Weeks instead of the better part of a fiscal year — no lengthy source-selection process, no extended review chain.
• Reduced administrative burden. No formal evaluation board, no negotiated agreement record, minimal documentation to close out the file.
• Price reasonableness, already established. Because GovDataHosting's GSA MAS rates have already been negotiated and determined fair and reasonable, the CO isn't required to build that case independently.
• Room to prove it out. A SAP-level order lets a program stand up a FISMA compliant hosting environment with GovDataHosting and generate real cost and performance data before committing to a larger, longer procurement.
• Still fully compliant. Streamlined doesn't mean undocumented — SAP orders are still properly recorded and auditable, just without the overhead of a full and open competition.

How It's Done

1. Identify the requirement. The agency defines the FISMA compliant hosting need — environment scope, compliance level, term length.
2. Request quotes against the Schedule. The CO requests a quote directly, or posts through GSA eBuy, citing GovDataHosting's GSA MAS contract GS-35F-099BA.
3. Receive a priced quote. GovDataHosting (IT-CNP) returns a quote built on established GSA Schedule rates — pricing that's already been determined fair and reasonable.
4. Compare and award. The CO compares quotes from at least three sources where practicable and issues the order directly under FAR 8.405 simplified ordering procedures — no new justification and approval, no synopsis requirement.
5. Stand up the environment. GovDataHosting provisions the FISMA compliant hosting environment and the system goes live.

The $116K Economics: Why a Full 3-Year Term Fits

The build-out number matters here. GovDataHosting's average build-out for an IT-CNP FISMA-compliant system runs approximately $116,000 per year. Multiply that across a standard 3-year period of performance, and the math works in the agency's favor:

That means an agency doesn't have to break a hosting requirement into annual increments or wait on a larger competitive award to get multi-year coverage. A full 3-year contract can be procured in a single order — placed against GovDataHosting's GSA MAS Schedule, under simplified ordering procedures — without exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT).

One order, three years of coverage, and none of the overhead of a full and open competition.

Bottom Line

If your program needs FISMA/FedRAMP compliant cloud hosting and wants to lock in a multi-year term without a lengthy procurement cycle, it's worth checking the math against the $350,000 GSA MAS Simplified Acquisition Threshold. For a system built around GovDataHosting's average $116K annual cost, a full 3-year term fits comfortably inside that threshold — and against GovDataHosting's GSA MAS Schedule, it can be in place in days.