The first quarter of the fiscal year may not be the busiest in terms of federal sales, but here are three areas contractors can focus on right now.
1. Department of Defense: Money allotted for research and readiness in the original Defense Authorization Act is being trimmed to meet objections raised by the President. Smart contractors may want to help service branch chiefs in managing their new reality by proposing studies that result in actionable advice on how to get the most out of money that is available. DOD leaders want both readiness and research. How can you help?
2. Department of Veterans Affairs: This agency needs help with benefits delivery, small business use, and has a new CIO who wants to move out quickly in several key areas. While opportunities at the VA come with high public profiles, the agency is a target rich environment for contractors.
3. General Services Administration: Looking for new contract channels to reach your customers? Already on the street is GSA’s massive EIS contract for telecom services. Next up are new contracts for cyber and cloud. Also on deck is the Alliant II RFP for IT solutions. You can’t reach your customers if you don’t have reliable vehicles with popular features. Having the right options helps your business today and tomorrow.
Many federal agencies received poor grades on their initial Federal Information Technology Reform Act (FITARA) “report card” last week and may be re-thinking IT spending priorities as a result. Congressional overseers, for example, do not believe that agencies have made enough effort to consolidate data centers and will be grading them on this, and other FITARA priorities. Don’t think this is worth your time? Read more
Line level federal managers report that they are still being asked for bold and innovative ideas on how to improve the federal acquisition system, despite the fact that the current Administration has only about a year left to effectively implement any of them. Apparently, the drive to streamline acquisition processes remains. It is notable that today’s federal acquisition environment is increasingly seen as a Read more
Some say that Veterans Day is an “inconvenient” holiday, falling as it does on November 11th each year and not on a moveable Monday. The tendency is to work right through it. Our veterans, however, incurred more than “inconvenience” in defending our freedoms and those of people in many other places. On Wednesday this week let’s take some time to stand down and give thanks for their service and sacrifice. Whether it’s the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, or some other time that day, there is nothing inconvenient about thanking those who make our way of life possible.
Congress passed a new budget deal last week that, while it does not actually appropriate more money yet, does solve many other problems. Here are three reasons you should care:
1. More Money: The budget deal provides $32 billion more in discretionary spending than was available in FY’15. Specific opportunities include over $400M for Social Security IT and consulting opportunities at the Department of Energy.
2. No Sequestration – For Now: The budget deal removes sequestration spending caps for FY’16 and ’17. This means agencies and their contractors will be able to do some planning and have a reasonable business cycle, just as soon as Congress passes appropriations measures in December.
3. No Debt Ceiling Hassle: Congress also increased the federal debt ceiling as part of the budget deal. This means that your customer won’t be in a state of uncertainty coming into November, meaning more business can get done. Companies that need to borrow money will also see better rates than if the debt ceiling hadn’t been raised. All of this is positive, but keep in mind that the government is still operating under a CR until December 11th. Congress must appropriate money before that time to avoid a shut-down. It wouldn’t be Halloween without something scary!