Government spending has become a political football, and with budget cuts and sequestration, there is greater pressure to spend taxpayer dollars in the most cost effective way and to be able to prove that we are doing so. It seems like a daunting challenge, as more scrutiny has been placed on Federal programs that are …
Continue reading “Better Acquisition Decisions through Financial Analysis”
Does this sound familiar? Mission and business owners define their requirements, “throw them over the fence”, and then the contracting and contractor community conduct activities to obtain and deliver the contracted solutions. But what about rapid changes in technology, short development time frames, reduced budgets, or greater complexity? These risks in execution lead to schedule …
Continue reading “Use the “A” Team for Integrated Acquisition Planning”
Your team may have spent hours and hours considering the program management, risk management and quality assurance issues involved in letting a new government contract. But have you pulled the key information about how that contract will be managed into a single plan? A Contract Management Plan (CMP) is one of the primary tools the …
Continue reading “With A Great Contract Management Plan, The Sky is the Limit”
Congratulations! It’s your first day at your new job as a Program Manager (PM). The last few days have been a whirlwind. You got the call from your director that you had been selected to replace the PM for one of the smaller programs in the portfolio. The previous PM had been reassigned and you …
Continue reading “How an Integrated Master Schedule Can Avert Program Management Disaster”
In the current fiscal environment, there is an even stronger focus on being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. That is certainly commendable and definitely what is expected by John Q. Public. The recent trend to uphold that trust placed in the Government has been toward awarding contracts on a lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) …
Continue reading “Is Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) Always The Best Deal?”
This is sprinting season for any acquisition professional working on completing acquisition packages, negotiating offers and awarding the proposals. Contracting Officers (COs) should be proactive in doing all that needs to be done to ensure the requirements are awarded in a timely fashion. While each agency has its own internal policies and regulations, there are …
Continue reading “Ready, Set, Go… Cross the Acquisition Package Finish Line by Fiscal Year End”
In blackjack, there is a strategy known as doubling down, in which players double their bet to get one more card in addition to their two card hand. Doubling down increases players’ chances of winning, just like risk management increases the chances of success during a contract’s lifecycle. Risk is an inevitable part of any …
Continue reading “The Double Down Strategy of Contract Management Risk”
Do 1,883 pages of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), comprised of 53 different Parts, dozens of forms, and a correction page feel like something to be feared? Does it keep you from buying what you need to support your agency? Many government decision-makers look at the FAR as a significant obstacle to their acquisitions, but at …
Continue reading “Fear of the FAR – Is It Getting in the Way of Doing Business?”
After the excitement of a newly awarded contract, comes the implementation of the winning proposal. Part of that is building the team to execute the plan and satisfy the contract requirements. But what if the whole team isn’t available on Day One, or the team is new to the sector? A common risk to staffing …
Acquisition Reform – Industry experts have compared it to Groundhog Day and a complicated system of pendulums shifting between priorities. The descriptions may differ but one thing most agree on is that with federal acquisition becoming ever more complex, fixing it isn’t getting any easier. In fact, Frank Kendall, the Under Secretary of Defense for …
