Does this sound familiar? You’re developing a solicitation document and vaguely recall an agency or departmental policy memo or directive that might impact your solicitation. Where is that document? Was it issued last month, maybe last year? Is it still in effect? What did it say? Or worse, you aren’t even aware that a policy …
Continue reading “How an E-Library Can Help Keep You Compliant”
With the arrival of sequestration and slashed budgets, agencies have been facing many tough decisions on where to cut spending and save money. Acquisition teams have been given the difficult task of doing the same or even more with less. The pressure to maintain current levels of support with less funding may seem to put …
Continue reading “Why Partnering Matters in a Tight Budget Environment”
There are many important concepts in the 53 Parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). I would submit that none is more important and has greater potential impact on positive outcomes than the Guiding Principles found in FAR subpart 1.102. The Guiding Principles provide a framework to set up successful acquisition team interactions, thereby leading …
Continue reading “Why FAR Guiding Principles are Vital to CO/PM Effectiveness”
Sound familiar? A complex professional service contract is awarded using the LPTA approach…..it costs millions more than expected. A recurring supply of widgets or routine services is obtained using a Best Value approach. The delivery is delayed months and when combined with the final price of the contract…..results in avoidable costs of millions. The lesson: …
Continue reading “Best Value or LPTA? One Size Does Not Fit All in Acquisition”
As fiscal pressures rise, senior leaders across the federal government place additional emphasis on Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contracts. A prime example is the Department of Defense “Better Buying Power” memoranda. FFP contracting is an important method to add simplicity and cost efficiency, but with respect to services, FFP contracting is not always appropriate. When bound …
Continue reading “The Hidden Costs of Firm-Fixed Price Contracts”
Our Integrity experts each forecast one top trend for 2013. What emerging trends will dominate the next 12 months or more in acquisition and program management? And what should you know right now? Trending Up: Back to the Basics — Choosing the Right Contract Type Last November Mr. Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense …
Continue reading “2013’s Top Trends in Acquisition and Program Management”
You’ve heard of strategic sourcing. You’re being advised to use it. But when does it work best and what’s the key to getting started? Integrity Fellow Tom Kuhn sits down with Chris Dorobek of the Dorobek Insider program for a wide-ranging discussion about how to make strategic sourcing work in federal agencies. Read the transcript, …
Two years into the “Myth-Busters” campaign by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), there is still a long way to go to improve information exchange between government and industry. How quickly can the federal government change its traditional ways of engaging, and what can we learn from popular social media platforms such as Facebook …
Continue reading “What Social Media Can Teach Us about Government/Industry Exchange”
For a better part of twelve years the federal budget has been pretty ample and programs were free to operate in a much more flexible environment. “Supplemental” allotments of funding were in large supply at the Department of Defense (DoD). Then the faucet began to close as the wars have begun to wind down and …
Welcome to our new Integrity Matters blog. We want this to be a forum to share best practices and the latest thinking on acquisition and program management. We hope you will join in the conversation. Look for blog posts from our team of experienced Fellows and company leaders on everything from austerity to oversight to …
