Federal agencies still play favorites with brand names in bid requests

Management

Federal agencies still play favorites with brand names in bid requests

Federal agencies tend to favor brands they know, Washington Business Journal reports. FAR is supposed to eliminate brand preference, but that doesn’t always...

Federal News Network Staff

November 12, 2010 2:59 pm

< a min read

Federal agencies tend to favor brands they know, Washington Business Journal reports.

FAR is supposed to eliminate brand preference, but that doesn’t always happens, one industry expert said in the article.

“I think concern about ambiguity is one factor, but so too may be unawareness of alternatives,” said Larry Allen, former president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, in the article. “It’s frustrating for companies that don’t have the brand [recognition] that their competitors do but still have good solutions.

Even big-name companies are not immune to the alleged preference. Google is taking the Interior Department to court for releasing a bid that only Microsoft products.

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