General Services Administration
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The Obama administration has been trying to measure and benchmark the costs and best practices of back-office functions that all agencies do. The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration say it's the first step toward long-term and meaningful improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Their efforts are starting to impress even skeptical agency managers. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss how some agencies are doing an about face when it comes to understanding the value of this benchmarking initiative.
November 14, 2014 -
The administration is establishing cost and quality benchmarks for administrative operations, such as human resources, finance, acquisition, and IT. After initial doubts, agencies see benefits from understanding how much they are paying for specific functions and how much others are paying for comparable jobs.
November 14, 2014 -
The Obama administration's effort to benchmark costs and best practices of agency back-office functions is overcoming its initial skeptics. The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration say this is the first step toward long-term and meaningful efficiency and effectiveness improvements. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller tells In Depth with Francis Rose how some agencies are doing an about face when it comes to understanding the value of this benchmarking initiative.
November 13, 2014 -
Green investments to federal buildings are showing double-digit energy savings, according to the General Services Administration. They're looking at the effects of some energy upgrades. Ruth Cox is a senior sustainability official, and Walter Tersch is a program analyst at the General Services Administration. On In Depth with Francis Rose, they broke down the success of the green updates.
November 12, 2014 -
Although many have retired, the later wave of Vietnam veterans are still active in the federal workforce, including John Grant, the Region Eight customer accounts and research director in the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration. At one time in special forces, Grant worked in the technology industry before joining the federal government. He's also active in the ACT-IAC group. Grant spoke with Tom Temin at the recent ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg.
November 11, 2014 -
The General Services Administration released an RFI seeking industry input on how best to improve the "management and operations functions that include ordering, billing, inventory and service level agreements management" and "pricing concepts."
November 07, 2014 -
The General Services Administration has set aside 1.5 percent of its personnel budget for training and reinvestment in skills for the next fiscal year. GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini says the focus will be on customer relations and evolving with technology. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller caught up with Tangherlini at the National Contract Management Association's annual government symposium. Tangherlini described his relationship with the Office of Management and Budget's Deputy Director for Management Beth Cobert and some of the things they're working on together on the Federal Drive.
November 05, 2014 -
The government wants to go green and it's soliciting employee suggestions to help do it. It's a top-to-bottom effort though, as federal agencies also released their annual sustainability plans and the President announced a new GreenGov Symposium.
November 04, 2014 -
The General Services Administration recently hired another contractor to try to integrate 10 disparate acquisition databases. The first time around, the agency struggled both with its contractor and the plan to improve the Integrated Acquisition Environment. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller spoke with Tom Temin on the Federal Drive about GSA's latest attempt to straighten it all out
November 04, 2014 -
Bob Laclede, vice president of Channels for the immixGroup, joins host Mark Amtower to discuss how his organization is helping channel participants do more business with the government. November 3, 2014
November 03, 2014 -
Kevin Youel Page is named the new deputy commissioner of FAS, replacing Bill Sisk, who shifted to an assistant commissioner position. GSA also publicly unveils the first three hallways under category management.
November 03, 2014 -
The General Services Administration is using new data to enhance its customer service. At the National Contract Management Association's 33rd annual Government Contract Management Symposium, GSA Senior Procurement Executive Jeff Koses spoke with Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller about the agency's recent survey results and the improved vendor interactions the data is pointing them toward.
November 03, 2014 -
Rumors have been circulating over the last few months about a possible reconsideration of the identity management technologies agencies are implementing under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12).
November 03, 2014 -
GSA awarded Booz Allen a $64.5 million contract over the next five years to develop a cloud service broker model using open source and cloud technologies to modernize the 10 databases that make up IAE.
November 03, 2014 -
Better information will lead to better buying. That's the premise behind new efforts from the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration. Tom Sharpe (the head of FAS) and other GSA leaders detailed those efforts at the Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg this week. Mary Davie is Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Integrated Technology Services at the Federal Acquisition Service. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she detailed the information you can get, and how it will help with buying decisions.
October 30, 2014