The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that the Federal Business Opportunities website — commonly referred to as “FedBizOpps.gov” — will be decommissioned “starting on November 8, 2019” and that the website’s “critical functionality will be transitioned into beta.SAM.gov in the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year.”

This transition will impact virtually every federal government contractor, as FedBizOpps.gov currently serves as the single government-wide point of entry for federal government opportunities over $25,000. Indeed, by law, government buyers are required to publicize proposed contract actions over $25,000 by posting information about the actions directly on FedBizOpps.gov (see e.g., FAR 5.101(a)(1)).

According to a fact sheet issued by the GSA, “[o]nce the transition [from FedBizOpps.gov] is complete, beta.SAM.gov will have the same federal business opportunity capabilities that are found today in [FedBizOpps.gov.].” In addition, the GSA reports that there will be a number of improvements, including:

• The ability to search for opportunities by number, keyword, or location for more precise results (including easy-to-use search filters).
• Easy-to-read headers that will allow you to reference key information quickly.
• The option to access previous versions of opportunity notices with one click.
• The ability to set up notices, with a simple click, that will notify you when frequently used contract opportunities are updated.
• The ability to manage alerts easily through a new user workspace (frequency, turn on/off).
• A user-friendly design with logical navigation and industry best practices embedded.
• Shared login, search, workspace, data services, reports, and a design that will allow you to leverage other IAE system data easily.

Importantly, the GSA’s fact sheet states that, “[i]n order to transition roles from [FedBizOpps.gov] to beta.SAM.gov, you will need to create a new account in beta.SAM.gov.”