As part of an effort to reform the federal acquisition process for technology, US Federal CIO, Vivek Kundra, unveiled an ambitious 25-point plan for addressing many of the issues that plague the way the government purchases technology in hopes of delivering more value to the taxpayer. Part of the implementation plan was to counter theRead… Read more »
As part of an effort to reform the federal acquisition process for technology, US Federal CIO, Vivek Kundra, unveiled an ambitious 25-point plan for addressing many of the issues that plaque the way the government purchases technology in hopes of delivering more value to the taxpayer. Part of the implementation plan was to counter theRead… Read more »
Two opposing views have emerged this week regarding communications with industry. According to Sen McCaskill (D-MO), chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, the current relationship has apparently clouded the judgment of contracting officials to the point where objectivity has been compromised in contract award decisions. During a recentRead… Read more »
As 2010 is now officially in the books, one issue that we can expect to continue its trend in 2011 is contract protests. An interesting piece in the November-December 2011 Defense AT&L magazine discussed this issue, and illustrates the realities of the federal contracting environment. Mainly, budgets are tightening, competition for those shrinking dollars isRead… Read more »
As Government continues to leverage its buying power through continued fiscal pressures, one process that is not getting enough attention is the use of reverse auctions. Reverse auctions are an effective and efficient means of realizing large savings on purchases of not only commodities, but highly defined services as well. Although current initiatives exist suchRead… Read more »
As the lame duck session of the 111th Congress comes to a close, some in the acquisition community are left to wonder what lays ahead for the acquisition reform initiatives of the Obama Administration. According to many experts, the shift in political power may not make much difference for the IT and procurement communities. IRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner According to recent reporting by Federal Times on the state of federal information technology (IT) acquisition and program management, the Government is ill prepared to purchase and manage large scale IT programs due to poorly trained staff, and poor collaboration with industry. Certainly contributing factors, but the issues are much moreRead… Read more »
As government watchdog groups continue to focus on ways to reform the acquisition process and create greater transparency, the issue of requirements seems to be a common denominator for many examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal procurement. Dr. Steve Kelman wrote on his Federal Computer Week blog The Lectern about approaching the issueRead… Read more »
Great series of articles on how to deal with difficult bosses, success factors, and lessons learned to help cope and overcome what can sometimes be nothing short of abuse and bullying by supervisors and leaders. How to Deal With an Unfair Boss
In the federal government, change is a way of life for managers. At a minimum, change comes every four years with either a new administration, or with varying agendas from new political appointees and agency leaders if the incumbent administration has another bite at the apple. So has does real change take hold? For starters,Read… Read more »