Over on Federal Computer Week, Dr. Steve Kelman has written several blog posts on The Lectern in a series of issues related to improving federal acquisitions and communications, specifically information technology projects. Although I have commented on the specific blog posts, I wanted to have a more in depth discussion here. Improving Federal IT AcquisitionsRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner As reported by the Washington Post, there seems to be a culture of corruption and massive waste, fraud, and abuse according to several Inspector General reports investigating operations of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Upon reading this article and other IG reports, the waste, fraud, and abuse that seems to beRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner As reported by Federal News Radio, The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) is pursuing several short-term initiatives to reign in the proliferation of multiple award contracts (MACs). “Progress has been made in improving some aspects of interagency acquisition,” said Jeff Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and BudgetRead… Read more »
We have all been there at some point in our careers; dealing with bad managers and poor leaders. Here are some signs and traits of poor leaders, so you can see around the conference table that it is just not you. 1. Incompetence – Most good leaders understand that listening to the experts who knowRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner With the end of the fiscal year comes the right of passage for government contracting personnel and contractors alike; the end-of year budget dump or as I like to call it, the end of fiscal year feeding frenzy. This time of year is characterized by the worst practices in federal contracting:Read… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner Under guidance from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), expected later this summer, agencies will need to develop a business case before launching a multi-agency contract (MAC). According to the preliminary guidance, the business cases will require agencies to address the government’s ability to leverage its buying power with theRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner The insourcing debate seems to have heated up this month, as competing forces are all at play and all are trying to be satisfied. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) continues to provide guidance on inherently governmental functions, public comments continue on the proposed rules, and groups to help smallRead… Read more »
Why has it been so difficult to execute performance-based contracting? Certainly the complexities of modern-day service contracting play a part, but as Steve Kelman, former administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy points out, it has been a frustrating and slow moving initiative making little headway in proper execution of these methods. …There isRead… Read more »
Originally posted on BetterBlog, this official blog of the Better Buy Project. Let me first apologize to Andy Krzmarzick, as I have been promising a post on performance-based contracting and how it relates to the Better Buy Project and the Acquisition 2.0 initiative. I actually started that post, but put in on hold a bitRead… Read more »
From The Acquisition Corner Recent testimony by Steve Schooner, co-director of The George Washington University’s Government Procurement Law Program, and others before the House Armed Services Committee’s Defense Acquisition Reform Panel, helped paint the picture and made valid points about how the media portrays the federal acquisition environment and the current state it is in.Read… Read more »