An article published this week on Federal Computer Week highlights the woeful state of the project management capability that currently exists in the federal government, and how attention needs to be paid to this critical government management function. In the article, Healthcare.gov is once again the punching bag for the model program of what a federalRead… Read more »
One of the most difficult challenges project managers have in creating the preliminary project package is the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE). First, what is an IGCE? According to the Defense Acquisition University: The IGCE is the Government’s estimate of the resources and projected cost of the resources a contractor will incur in the performanceRead… Read more »
Recent contracting missteps, as reported by the Washington Business Journal (WBJ) and Microtech by the Washington Post, seem to have endangered the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) programs for certifying firms as either Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) or Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB). Although the current certification process is challenging enough, this recent issueRead… Read more »
Photo by ActiveRain After weeks of reports about the debacle known as healthcare.gov (here and here), the latest news and actions around preventing the next IT boondoggle are now headed in the direction of reforming IT acquisition. Although President Obama got in on the action, I do not expect any significant reforms to take place,Read… Read more »
The July 2013 edition of Contract Management magazine, published by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), included an encouraging article on how communications between government and industry not only can improve outcomes and business relationships, but also show positive results to improve requirements and the opportunities for better outcomes overall. The article, “MythBusting – CommunicationsRead… Read more »
Last week, the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) conducted their inaugural 2013 Mythbusting Awards to three Federal agencies for their work in improving vendor communications in the acquisition process. The program also contained a forum on Mythbusting, in addition to breakout sessions on various MythBusters issues related to the previous memosRead… Read more »
2013-2014 Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM) Exam Prep Study Materials NCMA Tysons is proud to announce that the most comprehensive Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM) course offered anywhere in the NCMA is all new, and available for purchase! Don’t accept imitations or substitutes. Can’t get into a CFCM Study group? NCMA Prep Courses? No problem.Read… Read more »
According to recent guidance from Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, the initial round of Better Buying Power did not go well due to acquisition workforce personnel “creating” mandates from guidance on improving performance. One of the biggest areas of “confusion” from the original guidance was the preference for more fixed-priceRead… Read more »
Our recent blog post about accountability had some good discussions on the GS-1102 LinkedIn group (closed group) about who actually is responsible for accountability. Should it rest squarely on government? What responsibility does the contractor have when the government is asleep at the switch? A recent issue seems to have blurred that line, prompting theRead… Read more »
As the meat grinder of sequestration continues to move forward, the initiatives to improve and develop the acquisition workforce will more than likely come to a grinding halt, and move capabilities backwards at a time where forward movement is badly needed. At this past week’s 2013 Acquisition Excellence Conference, The American Council for Technology-Industry AdvisoryRead… Read more »