The General Services Administration got some deservedly good ink last week over its deal with the Department of Homeland Security to implement new CDM solutions via its Alliant contract. This shows what the agency is capable of when it works as a trusted business advisor that can innovate and customize acquisitions for customers. Similarly, although some in industry groan, the IT Schedule is developing easy-to-find solutions for a host of priority IT issues. This should Read more
Public Sector IT leaders do want to take advantage of intelligent technologies to improve their agency’s operations, but feel hamstrung by an inability to hire talented people and the need to “feed the beast” of legacy systems, according to a recent report from Accenture. Federal IT leaders are particularly frustrated on personnel issues right now as the thaw continues from an earlier hiring freeze and the fact that many senior IT positions are still held by people in an Read more
Allen Federal has advised numerous companies over the years on federal contract compliance matters. Some of the topics can be nuanced, but some are simple. One of the simple things we frequently tell companies is “Don’t Fail to Pay Attention.” Yet, it’s our experience that most companies facing compliance challenges have done just that. To what? For Schedule contract holders it’s the necessity to provide accurate, current and complete information on non-federal sales (for non-TDR contracts) and to monitor discounts relative to their Most Favored Customer Read more
President Trump’s budget released last week does lay out his Administration’s spending priorities, as well as non-priorities. The current plan, though, will look little like the final version as Congress weighs in with its own ideas. Even Senate Armed Services chairman John McCain, a member of the President’s own party, said that the defense portion of the President’s budget is, “inadequate to the challenges we face, illegal under current law, and part of an overall budget Read more
Most individual federal offices will have their budget number for the rest of FY’17 by the end of next week. Buying activity should increase steadily through the summer. Contractors need to be ready to go, and not just with ideas and proposals. Chances are excellent that your federal customer already knows how they want to spend their money. Helping them shape their Read more