Quite literally, having a GSA schedule enables Government agencies to buy DCL's services out of a catalogue. The GSA schedule system is a modern concept in Government in that it was initiated in order to speed up the process of contracting work for Government agencies. DCL President Mark Gross had this to say: "In the old days, the Government had to generate a long Request for Proposals ("RFP") for every job, then circulate it, and then wait for vendors to respond. After the vendors responded, there was a lengthy selection process which incorporated many levels of bureaucracy and the task of checking vendor references and other credentials. Before you knew it, a year had passed, and the job had not even been awarded."

This new approach does away with much of the bureaucracy. While getting the GSA schedule awarded is itself a lengthy process, once you've been approved, contracting with the Government becomes much more straightforward.

Reflecting on the significance of the award, Gross spoke of how much of the Government's typical conversion work ties right in to DCL's core competencies. "This company has always been best at converting complex technical documentation. Complex tables, mathematical expressions and special graphics requirements - our process is built to handle these kinds of issues, and to do so at high volumes. A significant portion of the Government's documentation is like that. The US Military, for example, has millions of pages of technical orders and technical manuals, and they're currently looking to convert to structured formats like SGML and XML. DCL is now in a position to assist them migrate the data."

DCL's GSA schedule number is GS-25F-0102M

ABOUT DCL - Data Conversion Laboratory is a leader in managing and implementing large scale, complex conversion projects. The company looks to be the first choice for organizations serious about mining, extracting and collecting data, and reorganizing and repurposing it for evolving new applications and technologies. Specializing in XML and SGML, the company supports all major electronic formats, and services a wide range of industries that include eCommerce providers, publishers, manufacturers, technical documentation developers, the US Military and the US Government.

DCL clients include: the Library of Congress, Lucent Technologies, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Gulfstream Aerospace, United Technologies, the Xerox Corporation, John Deere, the British Medical Association, New York Public Library and New York University.

The company is located at 61-18 190th St., 2nd Floor, in Fresh Meadows, N.Y. and is privately owned. For more information about Data Conversion Laboratory and its services, please visit the company website at www.dclab.com, or call 1-718-357-8700.

About the GSA - The US General Services Administration is a central management agency that sets Federal policy in such areas as Federal procurement, real property management, and information resources management. Founded in 1949, the agency is headquartered in Washington DC with regional offices in 11 US states.

Click here to read Fast Company Magazine's take on the new and improved GSA.