Acquisition Policy

  • The National Defense Authorization Act this year includes some big reforms for acquisition at the Defense Department. It's the latest attempt to improve how the government gets the things it needs. Bob Lohfeld, CEO and general manager of Lohfeld Consulting Group, wrote about the challenging search for good procurement practices. He wrote that he sees little evidence of convergence on the best acquisition practices. In Depth with Francis Rose asked him if he sees a convergence of the worst acquisition practices instead.

    October 15, 2015
  • The Army's top acquisition official said government needs to work with industry to stop duplicative testing that is delaying the time it takes for troops to get products.

    October 14, 2015
  • OFPP Administrator Anne Rung and Tom Sharpe, the commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, say category management now is a cross-agency priority goal with a focus on saving money and reducing contracts.

    October 14, 2015
  • On this week’s edition of On DoD: An update on the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation. The NIE process for testing and integrating new technology into the Army’s inventory is several years old now, but it’s undergoing…

    October 14, 2015
  • Richard Lieberman, a consultant and retired attorney, offers advice to contractors about how to ensure they are protected when they win a request for quote.

    October 14, 2015
  • Federal News Radio executive editor Jason Miller joins host Mark Amtower for a wide ranging discussion of how to generate media coverage for your agency. October 12, 2015

    October 13, 2015
  • Mark White, Global Technology CTO for Deloitte Consulting LLP, joins host Roger Waldron to discuss the company's recent report: "Tech Trends 2015: The Fusion of business and IT: A public sector perspective." October 13, 2015

    October 12, 2015
  • A year in the making, the General Services Administration launched a consolidated professional services schedule contract on Oct. 1 to merge eight multiple award contracts into one.

    October 12, 2015
  • Bidding zero dollars might not seem like a winning business strategy, but if you think you want to try it the Government Accountability Office said you can give it a shot. Steve Koprince, managing partner at Koprince Law and host of the SmallGovCon blog, wrote about a contract award at HUD that doesn't seem to make business sense. He shared the story on In Depth with Francis Rose.

    October 08, 2015
  • Bob Lohfeld, Lisa Pafe, and Beth Wingate from Lohfeld Consulting join host Roger Waldron to discuss the keys to capture management and proposal preparation. October 6, 2015

    October 06, 2015
  • DoD is establishing centers of excellence to verify commercial item costs without requiring cost and pricing data from companies.

    October 06, 2015
  • The fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill includes major acquisition reforms. The bill would give military service chiefs more power over the defense acquisition processes. The authorization bill may be in trouble though. President Obama has threatened to veto it. Federal News Radio's reporter Scott Maucione tells In Depth with Francis Rose about what Congress is calling for at DoD

    October 06, 2015
  • Much of the focus on government acquisitions now is on source selection and acquisition strategy. Less attention goes to managing the contract on the back end. Steve Kelman is Professor of Public Management at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and former administrator of Federal Procurement Policy. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that focus may be getting it backwards.

    October 06, 2015
  • On March 4, the General Services Administration issued a proposed rule that would require contractors to report transactional data from orders placed against GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract vehicles as well as GSA’s governmentwide acquisition…

    October 06, 2015