Federal Contracting Acronym
GWAC
Governmentwide Acquisition Contract
Plain-English definition
Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) are established by an executive agent agency to provide IT solutions across the federal government. Agencies place orders against GWACs instead of running standalone procurements for every buy. GWACs use IDIQ-style ordering with stated minimums and maximums. Contractors pursue GWAC on-ramps for access to a broad customer base; ordering contracting officers choose among GWAC holders based on fair opportunity procedures defined in the contract.
Why it matters
GWAC access shapes long-term pipeline for IT integrators; missing an on-ramp can lock a firm out of a major channel for years.
Where you will see it
GSA and agency GWAC program pages, task-order competitions, and RFPCapture federal contract vehicle directory entries.
Example in context
An agency issues a fair-opportunity task order against a GWAC for cloud migration labor categories with CLIN-level pricing.