The next few years may bring significant challenges for federal acquisition organizations. While most agencies will complete the fiscal year 2017 contracting cycle without facing major upheavals, fiscal year 2018 may bring the beginning of a sea change for acquisition and federal agencies at large.
As signaled by the Office of Management and Budget Memo 17-22, “Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government and Reducing the Federal Civilian Workforce,” OMB is calling for agencies to take a wholesale look at their performance, cut costs and prioritize programs. As agencies strive to minimize the impact to their mission, support functions will be under the microscope, especially acquisition.
Acquisition organizations will necessarily be on the front line of supporting this efficiency push. Lower budgets and shifting policy goals will mean mission delivery will be even more reliant on acquisition professionals’ abilities to get flexible and high-quality goods and services at the best cost. OMB M-17-22 specifically calls on agencies to consider governmentwide contracts for common goods and services and to avoid redundant contracting actions. Additionally, the memo calls on agencies to investigate external providers or outsource when the total cost would be lower.
Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2017/07/28/comment-acquisition.aspx
