The General Services Administration is spending nearly all of its efforts towards the idea of customer experience. That's what Federal Acquisition Commissioner Tom Howder told the coalition for government procurement the other day What does that mean for contractors?
GAO says it seen some improvement and DOD is management of major acquisitions, but the cost and schedule growth are still big problems. And while every program is unique, one common theme is that DOD tends to commit itself to big systems before it has enough information about technology risks and cost estimates,
Moshe Schwartz, president of Etherton and Associates, joins host Roger Waldron on this week's Off the Shelf to discuss The Slow Destruction of the Defense Industrial Base, a report Schwartz co-authored with Michelle Johnson from the Naval Postgraduate School.
The General Services Administration expects to release the draft RFP in early 2023 with the final one coming by March 2023.
The Air Force is exploring multiple options to ensure the service gets the products it wants and helps industry where it is struggling along the way. The war in Ukraine, supply chain shortages, COVID and inflation are all throwing a wrench in pricing and contracting.
The Space Force organization is trying to avoid reinventing the wheel by buying technologies already developed by business.
The Defense Department is evaluating its own processes with an eye toward making it easier for small companies to provide innovative solutions.
In addition to providing a one-stop shop for contractors, VA is trying to build a culture of transparency on the IT side, in order to make it easier for vendors to integrate solutions.
Despite a lot of uncertainty in the broader economy, contractors have at least a somewhat optimistic view about the federal market. That’s thanks, in part, to a big influx of federal spending initiatives since the start of the pandemic. But vendors still see big challenges on the horizon, including increased competition and new demands to comply with federal regulatory requirements.
Mike Madsen, the deputy director of Defense Innovation Unit, said his organization in 2021 published 26 solicitations for commercial solutions for which it received 1,100 proposals. The solicitations on average received 43 proposals each.
When the government establishes a mandated source of supply, that means there's no way around it. That's what the Defense Logistics Agency found when it issued a solicitation for body armor parts.
GSA issued a deviation to the Federal Acquisition Regulations in March for Polaris and plans to issue a similar one for the Services MAC to remove the requirement to have maximum and minimum dollar thresholds.
The General Services Administration is still in the process of consolidating its Schedules program into a single procurement vehicle. And although it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest changes in the program’s history, there’s a lot else going on with the Schedules that vendors need to be paying attention to.
Shelby Oakley, a director with the Contracting and National Security Acquisitions Team in the Government Accountability Office, joined host Roger Waldron on this week's Off the Shelf for a wide ranging discussion highlighting GAO’s oversight role and its engagement with the executive branch.
Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller joined host Roger Waldron on this week's Off the Shelf, to discuss the spring’s key procurement developments and the implications for government-wide contracting.