The recent Coalition for Government Procurement Spring Conference provided good information on the federal procurement landscape.   One unmistakable take away is that contractors must be proactive in engaging not only their customers, but acquisition policy makers.  The following three issues are just some reasons why.

1.  Policy Makers Clearly Don’t Understand the Value of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF):  The Department of Defense will spend nearly $728M in FY’25 maintaining two dozen legacy systems that “can and should” be retired.  That’s a huge waste of money, especially in a time of relatively flat overall budgets.  Congress, however, just cut funding for the TMF program, one of the easier ways agencies can seek funds to get rid of outdated IT.  Contractors should not be shy about letting their Congressional representatives know that not funding the TMF is essentially a vote for maintaining a Packard when the rest of the world is driving current technology.

2.  Policy Makers Are, or Will Be New, and Are Ripe for Educating:  One of the more startling facts to come out of the Spring Conference is that at least 33% of the next Congress will have two years or less experience.  That’s a significant number and points to a real need for industry to educate members on their government business and how it drives local economies.  It also shows that priorities will definitely change, as will attitudes about the role of acquisition in government operations.  Contractors cannot assume that the new officials know why specific programs are important or that real harm can be done by failing to follow through on current initiatives.  Companies need to make sure that their stories are told.

3. “Face to Face Matters”:  This is a direct quote from a speaker on day two of the Coalition conference.  It emphasizes the need for both companies and government officials to get out of their offices, home or otherwise, and get together.  Speaker after speaker from the Department of Veterans Affairs discussed how much better they believe their mission success is when they communicate effectively and often with industry. Online meetings have their place, but nothing beats in-person contact.