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The federal market is in flux. New companies are popping up, and established contractors, big and small, are altering the way they do business to take advantage of emerging technologies and the way that technology is delivered. As part of Federal News Radio's special report, A New Era in Technology, we examine the sea change that will force federal agencies and contractors to think differently as they learn how to master these new technologies together.
The Defense Information Systems Agency said it doesn't expect the demand to be as great as initially thought as it developed a contract worth $450 million.
Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), chairman of the subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, wrote a letter to DHS Chief Procurement Officer Nick Nayak earlier this week questioning the agency's entire solicitation process.
The association claims Trey Hodgkins, Pam Walker and Carol Henton breached their contract and disclosed proprietary information to ITI that would harm TechAmerica.
Four senior TechAmerica officials, Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president global public sector; Erica McCann, manager of procurement policy; Carol Henton, vice president of state and local government division; and Pam Walker, senior director for homeland security; took similar roles with ITI's new IT Alliance for Public Sector organization, which will focus on technology and acquisition issues.
A new interim rule implements a provision of the 2012 Defense Authorization Act requiring the Pentagon to tell vendors before pulling contractor positions back into the government.
New research and a survey of federal contracting employees and contractors found the use of lowest price, technically acceptable is here to stay. Vendors must figure out how to adjust to this new acquisition environment where innovation and value are not always an agency's top priority.
News and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed this week.
Federal employees are reporting back to work Thursday, and they will receive back pay from the shutdown in their next paycheck. But what about contractors? The situation is not so crystal clear.
Govini, a market analysis and research firm, found agencies amended slightly more acquisitions this year as compared to last year -- 2.6 percent compared to 2 percent. But the average delay in 2013 compared to 2012 was 11 days longer -- 15 days compared to four days.
Many small and large businesses are turning to cash reserves to pay bills, including employee salaries, as the government stops processing invoices. There could be a silver lining for some, as the government may be liable for the cost of a shutdown-related stop work order under specific types of contracts.
While furloughed federal employees can hang onto the hope Congress will authorize backpay once the shutdown ends, government contractors will likely face the reality of lost wages and revenue.
Nearly all of the Defense Department's civilians are now working, despite the government shutdown. Many members of Congress believe none of those civilians should have been furloughed to begin with. DoD remains unsure how to address contractors under the Pay Our Military Act.
Government contractors have not been immune from the effects of the shutdown. From a flurry of stop-work orders to a heightened — some say "cutthroat" — sense of competition in contracts that have, so far, been unaffected by the shutdown. Top experts from the procurement realm address some of the effects and challenges of the shutdown.