In its June 2016 decision in Tempus Nova, Inc., the GAO ruled that the Internal Revenue Service improperly used a blanket purchase agreement to make an out-of-scope acquisition. The GAO found that the agency acquired a cloud-based product under a standing agreement that did not permit the purchase of cloud-based products but was instead “limited to acquiring updated or replacement versions of the agency’s pre-existing software portfolio that is installed in the agency’s own computing environment.” The GAO ordered the IRS to either conduct a new tendering process or seek appropriate sole-source approvals for its cloud-based requirements.
