Federal Drive

DoD moves away from subjectivity in procurement evaluations

DoD's newest procurement system attempts to walk the line between best value and lowest-priced, technically acceptable.

Federal News Network Staff

July 26, 2016 12:33 pm

< a min read

Pentagon Solutions - July 25, 2016

Few ideas in procurement get contractors as steamed as lowest-priced, technically acceptable. To them, it’s just a fancy way of saying lowest price. Now DoD is trying an approach somewhere in between LPTA and traditional best value. It’s called VATEP, or value-adjusted total evaluated price. Attorney Sharon Larkin, a partner at Steptoe and Johnson, explained that mouthful on Pentagon Solutions.

Defense Department officials say they need more flexibility to hire, fire and pay employees in critical cybersecurity jobs. As Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports, DoD is a few weeks away from launching a new personnel system to help them accomplish just that.