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Acquisition
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The General Services Administration will add a special cloud category to its IT Schedule 70 contracting vehicle. GSA wants to consolidate the contract's cloud options under a specific special item number. Right now the agency lists the cloud options under a variety of different numbers, so agencies browsing the system can't find them all in one place. GSA says the new approach will help small agencies in particular. The cloud-specific number will have its own subcategories of cloud-specific services, too. GSA wants industry recommendations on how to do it: a request for information is out on how best to differentiate the types of cloud services Schedule 70 includes. The deadline for the cloud industry to respond to GSA's request for information is August 6th. You can find the RFI on Fed Biz Opps.
July 24, 2014 -
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You've heard the expression, spend it or lose it. The approaching end of the fiscal year tends to stir federal agencies to use whatever acquisition money they have left. That causes a definite uptick in spending. Vendors don't want to miss out. They're already getting ready for what Bloomberg Government calls the end of year scramble. Quantitative Analyst Duncan Amos joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss when the activity picks up.
July 24, 2014 -
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The Justice Department joined the whistleblower lawsuit against Symantec Corporation on Tuesday. The department accuses the technology contractor of providing inaccurate prices to the General Services Administration, violating the False Claims Act.
July 23, 2014 -
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The Defense and Homeland Security departments are pushing project managers to test technology or weapons systems earlier in the acquisition lifecycle to understand and solve potential roadblocks sooner. DoD submitted recommendations to Senate leaders for how to better integrate testing and evaluation into the acquisition lifecycle.
July 23, 2014 -
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Testing and evaluating federal programs might be an old idea, but it's getting a new lease on life. Agencies are using testing and evaluation earlier in the process, and that's gaining support as a potential fix for longstanding problems. For instance, the Defense and Homeland Security departments are pushing project managers to test weapons and other new technology early in the acquisition lifecycle. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss this emerging trend. Read Jason's related article.
July 23, 2014 -
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U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine haven't yet impacted the flow of critical rocket engines to the U.S. space program, but that could change at any time. The military's top space official says another reason to get going on an American-made alternative is to sustain a deteriorating portion of the defense industrial base.
July 23, 2014 -
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Jeff Koses, senior procurement executive for the General Services Administration, will discuss his acquisition priorities for the agency. July 22, 2014
July 22, 2014 -
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Time is ticking on the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The typical summer rush is about to start: You have a chance over the next several months to nail down some new business and lay the groundwork for next year. Larry Allen is President of Allen Federal Business Partners and author of the Week Ahead newsletter. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said lots of buying decisions will come soon.
July 22, 2014 -
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The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies include more data in its 2016 budget requests for this fall. OMB wants benchmarks and timelines of financial investments so it can organize its cross-agency priority goals. Beth McGrath is director of Deloitte's Federal Practice. She's also former deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department. In a Federal News Radio op-ed and on In Depth with Francis Rose, McGrath said agencies should be making even more business decisions based on data.
July 22, 2014 -
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Agencies should be archiving all business communication to avoid mayhem such as at the IRS. While the agency shifts blame from e-mail to instant messenger, Nancy Flynn, founder of ePolicy, told Federal News Radio that agencies need to better manage the many communication options.
July 22, 2014 -
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Now is not the time to play 'small ball.' As budgets shrink, agencies should be bold as they look to improve mission effectiveness and modernize operations, says Beth McGrath, former deputy chief management officer at the Pentagon.
July 22, 2014 -
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Keith Trippie, a former DHS IT executive, offers a unique approach to funding technology programs that borrows partly from the intelligence community and partly the start-up culture on the West coast.
July 21, 2014 -
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Defenders of the General Schedule are hard to find, if you can find them at all. All the stakeholders agree the GS setup doesn't work for the federal government in the 21st century. On In Depth with Francis Rose, Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey said even the names of the slots on the schedule don't really work right any more.
July 21, 2014 -
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Federal agencies that want cheap web design and app developer contracts face a potentially large roadblock called the the Federal Acquisition Regulation. One reason is a part of the FAR that can limit how numerous (and how cheap) an agency's IT options are. Steve Kelman is professor of public management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He said those requirements are scaring smaller companies away from competing for those types of IT contracts on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 21, 2014
