Government Contracting News | The Contracting Education Academy

January 15, 2021 By cs

DoD bringing companies into the fold for sensitive info

After a years long pilot, the Defense Department is establishing a permanent program that will let some trusted companies in on critical military information to help build needed systems.

“As the world sees a return to great power competition, DoD must strengthen its engagement with the defense industrial base in order to respond to the national security challenges facing the United States in a more responsive and cost efficient manner,” a Dec. 15 memo signed by Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord states.

The memo goes on to state that, increasingly, technologies and information are squirreled away in special access programs.

Those are programs that exceed regular classified information and entail highly sensitive operations and black projects.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2021/01/dod-stands-up-permanent-program-to-give-vendors-access-to-top-tier-secrets/

Download the Dec. 15, 2020 DoD memo on the subject of “Special Access Program Contractor Portfolio Program Establishment” at: https://fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/sap-contractor.pdf

January 14, 2021 By cs

COFC confirms ‘rule of two’ analysis applies before agency decides to utilize a multiple-award vehicle

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) issued a decision on Nov. 30, 2020 that supported the Small Business Administration’s position regarding the Rule of Two analysis requirements for government acquisitions.

The central question surrounding the case was whether the U.S. Army could cancel a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8 service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) set-aside procurement under the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) and move the requirement to a multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (MAIDIQ) contract vehicle that the plaintiff, The Tolliver Group, Inc. (Tolliver), did not hold.

In its protest, Tolliver argued, in part, that the Army’s actions violated the Rule of Two because the agency was required to determine whether two or more small businesses were capable of performing the requirement prior to choosing to put the procurement on the MAIDIQ contract.

The COFC’s decision confirms that the Rule of Two analysis applies before an agency elects to procure a requirement from a multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle under FAR Part 16.5.

The Rule of Two requires contracting officers to set aside any acquisition over the simplified acquisition threshold for small business participation when there is a reasonable expectation that (1) offers will be obtained from at least two responsible small business concerns and (2) the award will be made at fair market prices.

In Tolliver, the Army argued that a Rule of Two analysis was not required because—according the Small Business Jobs Act, as implemented in 15 U.S.C. § 644(r)—federal agencies have the discretion to issue MACs without first conducting a Rule of Two analysis to determine whether it should be set aside for small businesses.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/cofc-confirms-rule-of-two-analysis-83418/

January 13, 2021 By cs

Don’t rely on automatic email response, GAO decision warns

Agencies commonly ask offerors to designate a point of contact for communications about the proposal. But what happens if the person the offeror identifies is unavailable when the agency reaches out?

A recent GAO bid protest decision is a cautionary tale and suggests some best practices for offerors.

The GAO’s decision in Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., B-418946 (Oct. 23, 2020) involved a Navy RFQ seeking two clinical chemistry/immunoassay laboratory analyzer systems and one laboratory automation system, to provide laboratory testing of patient specimens at the Naval hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

In December 2019, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. submitted a quotation. In its quotation, Ortho-Clinical identified its Contract Manager as the company’s sole point of contact for any communications regarding the quotation.

The Navy received initial quotations from five companies, including Ortho-Clinical. After reviewing initial quotations, the Navy found that none of them, including Ortho-Clinical’s, were technically acceptable. The Navy elected to open discussions with all five companies to allow them to address the shortcomings in their initial quotations.

Keep reading this article at: https://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/proposal-points-of-contact-dont-rely-on-automatic-email-response-gao-decision-warns/

January 12, 2021 By cs

Majority of FY20 protests find some success at GAO

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released its Annual Report to Congress summarizing bid protest activity for Fiscal Year 2020.

The report shows that, in a unique year where COVID-19 altered procurement practices and priorities, protest activity at GAO was remarkably stable. Of note, GAO’s “effectiveness rate” this year topped 50 percent, meaning most protests resulted in some form of relief. The number of task order protests continues to increase, despite a modest dip in overall protests. Unsurprisingly, again there were very few hearings.

The chart below summarizes the GAO protest statistics from FY 2015 to FY 2020.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2020/12/29/majority-of-fy-2020-protests-find-some-success-at-gao/

See the GAO’s full report here: https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-21-281SP

January 11, 2021 By cs

Army aims to be less dependent on contractors for software

The command of the military branch in charge of looking ahead is soliciting prototypes for a major knowledge-transfer initiative.

By March, Army Futures Command plans to award an offeror with an agreement to establish a program that would start with coding workshops and beginner training and, after five years, end with a scalable government-only software development facility.

The Army’s first soldier-led software factory “shall be staffed, built, and run from zero existing infrastructure or policy precedent, to ultimately transition to Army self-sustaining operation as a fully-uniformed agile software development unit without a heavy reliance on contracted presence,” reads a solicitation posted to beta.sam on Dec. 28th. “The future operating environment will include contested communications and the Army can no longer singularly rely on industry to provide software solutions given the infeasibility of contractors on the battlefield in a high-intensity conflict with a near-peer adversary.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2020/12/army-aims-be-less-dependent-contractors-software/171098/

After a years long pilot, the Defense Department is establishing a permanent program that will let some trusted companies in on critical military information to help build needed systems.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) issued a decision on Nov. 30, 2020 that supported the Small Business Administration’s position regarding the Rule of Two analysis requirements for government acquisitions.

Agencies commonly ask offerors to designate a point of contact for communications about the proposal. But what happens if the person the offeror identifies is unavailable when the agency reaches out?

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released its Annual Report to Congress summarizing bid protest activity for Fiscal Year 2020.

The command of the military branch in charge of looking ahead is soliciting prototypes for a major knowledge-transfer initiative.

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