Category Archives: Business

PUTTING FEDERAL CONTRACT SPENDING INTO PERSPECTIVE CAN BE A SOBERING EXPERIENCE

Government contractors spend quite a bit of time analyzing federal spending (see article below) and deciphering whether total contract spending will grow and, if so, where.  Taking a broader view of total government spending, though, puts contract spending in a whole new perspective.  Numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that nearly three-quarters of federal spending is for such “mandatory” programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest payments on the federal debt.  That’s up from about a dozen years ago Read more

TRACKING FEDERAL SPENDING CAN TAKE SOME SLEUTHING

Federal contractors often rely on spending numbers to detect trends in government acquisition and allocate business development resources accordingly.  Sometimes, however, what government customers say they want is not reflected well in actual spending numbers.  This is particularly true of emerging spend areas, which right now includes AI & Machine Learning and Customer Experience, or “CX”, spending.  A quick look at Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) data shows that spending identified as being for AI & Machine Learning Read more

IS YOUR TEAM READY FOR BUSY SEASON?

The pace of federal business is about to accelerate now that Congress has finally passed all appropriations bills.  This means that your contracts, market research, teams, and other systems must be tuned up and ready to meet the challenge.  Not sure if they are?  Allen Federal can help.  We’ve recently put together market research plans for several companies and are fine-tuned to do the same for you.  As always, we’re happy to review contracts and BPA’s to make sure there are no unwelcome surprises.  We can also guide your team on potential partnerships and compliance matters.  Drop us an email at info@allenfederal.com to see what we can do for you!

THREE BEST PRACTICES THAT SOUND OBVIOUS BUT AREN’T

Allen Federal sees enough odd things happen in government contracting to remind us of the old American Express Traveler’s Cheque commercials (look it up if you’re under 50).  Just like those commercials’ tag line “Don’t let this happen to you”:

1. Be Prepared:  Few things can be as frustrating as preparing for a meeting only to have the people you’re meeting with unprepared.  Not only do you leave a bad impression, making it tough to get business or even a second meeting, you waste the other peoples’ time.  Although Read more

ITS TIME FOR AN HONEST DISCUSSION ON PRICE VS. EXPECTATION

A recent Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) report on the shortcomings of Microsoft’s security standards is a great opportunity to start a serious discussion between government and industry on the price the government is willing to pay for a solution vs. the cost of providing what it actually wants.  The Microsoft story is just the latest example of where the government expects a lot more than it’s willing to pay for.  The CSRB report said, among other things, that “…security culture was inadequate…” at Microsoft.  Inadequate in that it didn’t meet the government’s expectations.  Ask just about any commercial item contractor, though, and you’ll hear the same story.  It is essentially this: “we’re happy to create the systems that the government needs if only they will pay for us to create and support it.”  FedRAMP is another great example.  Many DOD agencies insist that they need FedRAMP high, or better, even if the specific solution doesn’t seem to call for it.  Contractors with FedRAMP moderate are happy to build out systems that meet higher standards if their DOD customers will pay for it.  Most won’t, limiting competition to those few contractors that have no choice but to make the investment.  Not only does the reduced competition increase acquisition costs, but it also locks the government into paying for and maintaining systems with a higher level of security than may be needed.  Although there are many areas where similar scenarios regularly play out, the one getting the most attention today is cyber.  We’ve written extensively on the government’s cavalcade of cyber rules.  Cyber is a valid goal, but industry needs to do a better job in making it clear that what the government says it wants will come at a cost, a cost higher than comparable commercial systems that don’t require the same security levels.  It’s time for some open and honest discussions on this front. “What we have here is a failure to communicate” is no way to run government acquisition.