Acquisition

  • Government contractors are feeling pretty good about a recent U.S. Appeals Court decision. It says the government must act in good faith and deal fairly in all government contracts. Believe it or not, this was not always the case. In this week's Legal Loop, Procurement Attorney Joe Petrillo examined the ruling and its implications when he joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.

    June 12, 2014
  • The Homeland Security Department's approach to purchasing has never been great. Acquisition management programs have been on the Government Accountability Office's high risk list for years. But a bill that passed the House this week takes aim at the management of these faulty acquisition programs. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) says the bill forces DHS to improve its management. Cameron Leuthy, senior budget analyst for Bloomberg Government, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the bill's intended effects.

    June 12, 2014
  • The Veterans Affairs Department will try to address one major aspect of its patient scheduling scandal by looking to industry for help. VA is planning two major acquisitions in the coming months. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what VA is trying to do. Read Jason's related article.

    June 11, 2014
  • After six years, the Department of Homeland Security decided in April to abandon its strategy to upgrade biological weapon detection equipment in large U.S. cities. But there is no backup plan so far, and the current system won't last much longer. To date, DHS says it has actually expended only $61 million on Biowatch 3, and officials told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that they are moving quickly to come up with a new acquisition plan.

    June 11, 2014
  • The first solicitation will address near-term fixes for the current application. The second one will look to commercial technology for a wholesale replacement of the scheduling application. VA says it will build off the contest it ran in 2013 where it awarded $3 million to competitors to develop VISTA-friendly scheduling software.

    June 11, 2014
  • Tony Fuller, principal at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, joins host Roger Waldron for a wide ranging discussion of GSA schedule pricing. June 10, 2014

    June 10, 2014
  • Lawyers say GSA's analysis of the impact of OS3 on small businesses met the requirements under the Small Business Jobs Act.

    June 10, 2014
  • The General Services Administration has tapped Lockheed Martin to help update the Federal Acquisition Service's (FAS) business systems. The agency announced Monday it awarded Lockheed the Application Maintenance, Enhancement and Operations (CAMEO) task order, which will "streamline a highly integrated IT portfolio."

    June 10, 2014
  • Kevin Plexico, vice president of Research for Deltek and GovWin, joins host Mark Amtower to talk about what's ahead for the GovCon market the rest of this year and in 2015. June 9, 2014

    June 09, 2014
  • Jenny Mattingley hosts a roundtable discussion of legislation on Capitol Hill that impacts federal workers. June 6, 2014

    June 06, 2014
  • In this edition of Inside the Reporter's Notebook, Executive Editor Jason Miller shares news and buzz about the IT and acquisition communities.

    June 06, 2014
  • A new survey by TechAmerica and Grant Thornton found many agency chief information officers continue to spend too much on legacy systems and don't have money to develop or modernize new software or applications. But tools such as PortfolioStat are making a difference in helping senior IT managers understand and have a say in where money is spent in their agency.

    June 06, 2014
  • Eleven vendors submitted protests to GAO over GSA's desire to extend the OS2 contract another six months. The contractors say GSA's extension would violate the Small Business Jobs Act because they didn't do a contract consolidation impact assessment.

    June 05, 2014
  • Chief human capital officers say the inability to do targeted internship announcements is frustrating and reducing effectiveness of the program. The Office of Personnel Management says it's working with agencies to address these challenges, including initiatives to target specific skillsets.

    June 04, 2014