Monthly Archives: May 2018

THREE THINGS CONTRACTORS NEED TO FOCUS ON NOW

There are four months left in the FY’18 Fiscal Year.  Plenty of time to identify, pursue, and close business.  These three steps can help position you for maximum success:  1.  Cast a Wide Net:  Now is the time to fill your pipeline with verifiable, actionable opportunities.  Later on your company may need to become more narrowly focused on projects you have a clear shot at Read more

MAC/GWAC SPENDING INCREASES

Multiple Award Contract spending now accounts for nearly 25% of all federal dollars spent on acquisition, according to a new report from Bloomberg Government released last week.  Total spending hit $125 billion in FY’17, an increase of $12 billion, or a 10% jump in a market that did Read more

AGENCY FITARA GRADES DROP AGAIN – IS IT STILL RELEVANT?

No federal agency received an “A” on the FITARA report cards issued last week rating agencies on their adherence to certain Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) requirements.This is the sixth straight year that FITARA grades have dropped.  At the same time, however, there is new money for IT infrastructure spending and for DOD, overall.  This confluence begs the question, “Is FITARA relevant anymore?”,  While agency CIO’s do discuss Read more

IS SOMETHING HAPPEN’IN HERE THAT AIN’T EXACTLY CLEAR?

The Philosopher King Keanu Reeves once said, “A simple act of paying attention can take you a long, long way”.  Government contractors caught in a matrix of government rules should take note.  Most companies don’t get in trouble because they’re out to rip off the government.  You can still pay millions in fines – and potentially earn a date with a suspension and debarment official – if you don’t pay attention to the terms and conditions of your government contract.  Allen Federal can help.  We’ve helped many companies create or update contract compliance programs.  This expense is literally “the ounce of prevention”.  Contact us before “Agent Smith” comes to see you:  info@allenfederal.com

GSA OFFERS A GLIMPSE ON THE FUTURE OF SCHEDULE CONTRACTS

GSA will actively seek to add suppliers to the Schedules program that are an important part of their customer’s supplier base while, at the same time likely trimming the total number of contractors as agencies move to a shared services platform.  These were just two of the many comments made by GSA officials at yesterday’s Coalition for Government Procurement Spring Conference.  While these two approaches may seem divergent, the real message from GSA may be that they want to have contractors on Schedule that customers actually buy from or want to buy from.  This may mean that companies with few, or no, Schedule sales will be continue to be targets for contract cancellation.  For those that do remain, Schedule solicitations may get a lot thinner as the project that began in Region 10 to streamline voluminous Schedule documents spreads to all parts of the program.  Additionally, the agency may act to adopt non-priced Schedules, further streamlining the process and adding focus to a company’s technical capabilities. While there is no word on whether GSA may work on lowering the Schedules .75% IFF, the program is certainly not standing still. GSA leaders report that their customers want acquisition methods that are fast and easy to use.  Expect Schedule changes to meet those demands.