Acquisition Policy
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Agencies spend more and more each year on professional services. Now the General Services Administration is hatching a plan to round up all of the professional services contractors and herd them into one big multiple award schedule. It'll be called the Professional Services Schedule. Miguel Garrido, a quantitative analyst with Bloomberg Government, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain the impetus for the move, how it will work, and who the new schedule will benefit.
November 26, 2014 -
Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Vice President Brad Medairy, will discuss how Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) can help your agency meet its cybersecurity challenges. November 25, 2014
November 25, 2014 -
The U.S. Digital Service team is working with VA and other agencies to hire and train employees to apply the agile development approach to projects. Mikey Dickerson, USDS director, said the goal is two-fold: to create lasting agile development capacity in agencies and to ensure agencies think about citizens' needs first and foremost.
November 25, 2014 -
The General Services Administration is tightening up its Integrated Technology Service, the organization that manages all of the agency's IT contracts. The news comes on the heels of GSA's plans to consolidate some of its largest professional services contracts, too. Larry Allen is president of Allen Federal Business Partners and author of the Week Ahead newsletter. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said all of this consolidation feels like déjà vu all over again.
November 20, 2014 -
Commissioner Norman Dong sees the Public Buildings Services' role as helping other agencies cut administrative costs and creating more collaborative places to work.
November 19, 2014 -
NASA SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek and Rob Coen, acting director the NIH's GWAC program will discuss a wide range of issues including interagency contracting and strategic sourcing. November 18, 2014
November 18, 2014 -
Top challenges for the Department of Health and Human Services are out from the HHS Office of Inspector General. Ten management and performance challenges are on the list, along with recommendations from the IG's office. Dan Levinson is the HHS Inspector General -- he joined Brian Miller of Navigant and former IG at the General Services Administration -- on In Depth with Francis Rose to break down the list.
November 18, 2014 -
Author Sean Callahan joins host Mark Amtower to talk about his book: "The Big Data-Driven Business". November 17, 2014
November 17, 2014 -
The Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation will change the way it provides public feeds of procurement data on Nov. 21. The General Services Administration, which runs FPDS-NG, said the public ATOM feeds will be updated by masking select data elements, specifically company's DUNS number.
November 17, 2014 -
The Obama administration has been trying to measure and benchmark the costs and best practices of back-office functions that all agencies do. The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration say it's the first step toward long-term and meaningful improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Their efforts are starting to impress even skeptical agency managers. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss how some agencies are doing an about face when it comes to understanding the value of this benchmarking initiative.
November 14, 2014 -
The administration is establishing cost and quality benchmarks for administrative operations, such as human resources, finance, acquisition, and IT. After initial doubts, agencies see benefits from understanding how much they are paying for specific functions and how much others are paying for comparable jobs.
November 14, 2014 -
Green investments to federal buildings are showing double-digit energy savings, according to the General Services Administration. They're looking at the effects of some energy upgrades. Ruth Cox is a senior sustainability official, and Walter Tersch is a program analyst at the General Services Administration. On In Depth with Francis Rose, they broke down the success of the green updates.
November 12, 2014 -
NextLOGiK CEO Kirk Couser and Director Chad Baker explain how their products can help federal agencies with data collection. November 11, 2014
November 11, 2014 -
Tom Sisti, chief legislative counsel at SAP will discuss procurement reform and the challenges facing the procurement system. November 11, 2014
November 11, 2014 -
Although many have retired, the later wave of Vietnam veterans are still active in the federal workforce, including John Grant, the Region Eight customer accounts and research director in the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration. At one time in special forces, Grant worked in the technology industry before joining the federal government. He's also active in the ACT-IAC group. Grant spoke with Tom Temin at the recent ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg.
November 11, 2014