Acquisition

STARCOM 21 Resurfaces

Deltek Analyst Joanna Salini reports. The state of Illinois’ STARCOM 21 project that roared with controversy earlier this year has resurfaced once again. A lot of backlash resulted from STARCOM 21’s $114 million soul-source contract to Motorola, awarded in May, but that hasn’t stopped the project from expanding. Illinois recently decided to contract out radioRead… Read more »

Watery Labor Dept. Rule Leaves Question: Why?

The Labor Department likely wasn’t thinking of information technology contractors in issuing its new rule, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts.” But the IT community will feel its effects. The rule sets into regulation an Obama administration order from 2009 seeking to prevent line workers on a services contract from losing their jobs whenRead… Read more »

Wartime Contracting Can Be Improved With Simple Steps

The big theme emerging from the final report to Congress from the Commission on Wartime Contracting is how to stop the loss of billions and billions of contracting dollars. Are there simple steps to improving wartime contracting? FedInsider examines the report and its recommendations about how the problem can be solved. -> Read More http://www.fedinsider.com/2011/09/15/110906-3/

Proposed OGE rules would hit lobbyists and more political law links

WILEY REIN’S ELECTION LAW NEWS. This month’s Election Law News has interesting items on proposed rules from the Office of Government Ethics and Hawaii guidance on gifts, among other topics. MORE ON OGE PROPOSAL. The Hill. “A new regulation proposed this week by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) would prohibit all government employees fromRead… Read more »

Post Award Blues

There is a terrible misconception that once a vendor obtains a government contract money will somehow come rolling in… FALSE. The time consuming process of obtaining the contract is not the hard the work, it is the post award process. To generate revenue for your business you need to have a strategy prior to obtainingRead… Read more »

The Importance of Executive Sponsorship – Mini Case Study

Currently I am working with a client who is in the process of developing an RFP for a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) solution. The draft RFP was completed in early June and reviewed by project team members, including the steering committee, very quickly. The draft was considered final by mid-June. During this review process, theRead… Read more »

Portland looks at broadband plan

After a series of fits and starts, the Portland City Council will hear a proposal for the city’s broadband plan today. The highly anticipated plan comes after the city backed away from an earlier version that would’ve cost nearly a half billion dollars. City officials want to create a high-speed, city administered broadband network toRead… Read more »

Four Lessons Learned From Implementing Forest Service’s Lauded eMNEPA Program

USFS Program Selected by Presidents Council on Environmental Quality as a Pilot Program to Help Modernize and Reinvigorate NEPA The President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced August 31st that the Electronic Management of NEPA (eMNEPA) program at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has been selected for the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Pilot Program,Read… Read more »

Beautiful, Beautiful Cost Efficiency Factor

The cost efficiency factor gives a lot of flexibility to a negotiator. Let’s be honest: the profit percentage that Weighted Guidelines DD 1547 gives you are very low. In fact, I can’t think of many commercial businesses that would accept a profit of 3% on a contract, especially after all the effort a contractor putsRead… Read more »