Integrity

Successful Task Order Management – Start Early!

Employing best practices in Task Order Solicitation Management processes can help Government respond to constant challenges throughout the acquisition life cycle, particularly the acquisition planning phase.  The primary reason for using a coordinated effort to apply best practices among Government Program Managers, Contracting Officers, program officials, and industry stakeholders is to increase the probability of …

5 Ways to Improve Your Federal CPIC Process

Recently, the Integrity Matters blog asked the question, “Are You Making the Business Case for Federal Cybersecurity?” in an article about why and how to develop a business case through the Capital Planning Investment Control (CPIC) process in order to justify return on investment in cybersecurity programs. Now we ask the question, “Are You Making …

Procurement: Meeting the PALT in Four Simple Steps

Imagine working in a high stress environment where contract support for a mission critical program may expire at the end of the month and there is no backup plan. Your organization had plans to re-compete the contract earlier in the fiscal year, but the procurement package or requisition was not developed on time. Several documents …

Milestone Decisions: Checkpoints for Acquisition Success

Integrity just completed relocation to an expanded new headquarters this week, custom-built to meet the needs and goals of the business in 2015 and beyond. Like any major project, it involved complex planning, thousands of individual decisions, and frequent deadlines that had to be met to move on to the next phase, and ultimately project …

Seven Ways to Smooth Contract Transition

Change can be good when it brings innovative ideas and fresh enthusiasm, including in government contracting. But if not handled correctly, change can lead to bumps in the road or unexpected slowdowns. There are ways to smooth the path, however, during a handover of responsibilities. They involve focusing on both the transition of the contract …

2015 Trend Forecast – Acquisition and Program Management

What emerging or continuing trends will dominate the next 12 months or more in federal acquisition and program management? Our Integrity experts each forecast one top trend for 2015 – cybersecurity, workforce development, requirements development, contracts standardization & IT acquisition innovation. Let’s begin with an issue once again in the news this week – how to …

Acquisition and Program Management Tools for 2015

It’s the time of year when many of us take stock of the last 12 months and vow to improve next year. We will be smarter, more organized, perhaps even try something new. The numerous Integrity Matters articles written by our on-the-ground experts in 2014 provide a leg up for the New Year. They contain …

3 Tools Worth Reading to Spur Innovative Federal IT Acquisition

In this time of tight budgets and potential loss of global technological superiority, the need for innovation is greater than ever.   As Frank Kendall, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics shared with an audience of defense industry leaders recently, “We have to focus more on innovation, and we have to get better capability …

AGILE ACQUISITION SUPPORT: REAL-WORLD CONSIDERATIONS

Since 2001, software developers have used the Agile methodology, employing short sprints and cross-team collaboration, to bring products to market faster with earlier customer input. Others have begun to apply the tenets of Agile beyond IT to the general field of acquisition. Why?  To speed results, lower risk, and benefit from lessons learned throughout the …

Better Acquisition Decisions through Financial Analysis – Part 2

No matter how products and services are being acquired, financial analysis can help in decision making to acquire the requirements in the best and most cost effective ways. Federal Government acquisition uses frameworks and processes that leverage several financial tools to maximize the value procured from the solution while decreasing the risk of wasted resources. …