“A loose confederation of warring factions” is how one of our colleagues once described the Department of Interior. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that a recent audit found over 100,000 software vulnerabilities. In addition, the department doesn’t even know how many computers or servers are running on its network. Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration also came under fire recently for allegedly lax network and security oversight. A DOT IG report criticized DOT’s lack of FAA IT Read more
One little secret in federal government business is that clients, especially prospective ones, can sometimes drive contractors up, and over, the wall. It’s hard not to take non-responses personally and, even when you do have a good basic relationship, the pace at which feds move can be challenging to those used to commercial market dynamics. Sometimes problems are Read more
The General Services Administration is set to implement a perhaps substantial reorganization to the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) to align it along Category Management (CM)-based business lines. Implementation, however, has hit a snag as at least one federal employee union is challenging the plan. The CM reorganization plan would align FAS offices along business lines such as professional services, IT hardware, office supplies, assisted acquisition services and Read more
The panel created to recommend regulatory, process, and statutory changes to the way the Department of Defense buys services and products wants to hear from you. Industry comments, either from specific companies, or associations, are actively sought. In addition to comments, the panel – known at least informally as the “Section 809 Panel” – hopes to be able to make use of volunteers to assist it with identifying problems and recommending ways to create a better acquisition system. There are currently six panel sub-groups, including one looking at DOD use of MAC and GWAC acquisition vehicles. There is also a commercial item acquisition sub-group and a group interested in hearing from companies that won’t do business with the agency because of current rules or regulations. The Section 809 panel has approximately 22 months left to do its work, so time is of the essence for both comments and other forms of help. To see the latest on panel actions and find out how you can get involved, visit the homepage here: http://www.dau.mil/sec809/default.aspx
The federal market is usually not the place for a company to make an “overnight” killing. Developing relationships and navigating the federal business cycle takes time. This time of year is a great window during which you can build relationships as many feds are out and about at conferences or other events. The connection you make now, though, won’t likely lead to business by Christmas. A patient approach with a few, specific targets is an established best practice among successful contractors. Yet, we still frequently see newer market entries insist Read more