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November 3, 2016 By AMK

IG finds GSA’s 18F disregarded policies, planned poorly

The long-rumored scathing report on the General Services Administration’s 18F organization didn’t materialize as some hoped. But what auditors did find is an office that is acting like a private sector startup by spending money it doesn’t have and hiring at a rate that is only seen from emerging tech companies.

What Is 18F.The agency’s inspector general also found 18F chose not to listen to advice of GSA’s chief financial officer and the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service about following the law to pay back its initial funding, and did so with a smug attitude that many in and out of government have said is emblematic of the digital services movement across government.

“18F’s cumulative net loss from its launch in fiscal 2014 through the third quarter of fiscal 2016 is $31.66 million. We found that 18F’s plan to achieve full cost recovery has been unsuccessful because of inaccurate financial projections, increased staffing levels and the amount of staff time spent on non-billable activities,” the IG stated in its report issued Oct. 24. “18F managers have repeatedly overestimated revenue and, with the support of the administrator’s office, hired more staff than revenue could support. In addition, 18F staff spent over half of their time on non-billable projects. 18F managers have recently revised their projected breakeven date from 2019 to 2020.”

One example is staff time totaling 727 hours on a logo change. The old logo was a blue square with 18F in the lower-right-hand corner.
One criticism brought by the IG’s office was the amount of staff time — 727 hours — devoted to a logo change. The old logo was a blue square with 18F in the lower-right-hand corner. The new logo is a black square with 18F centered and in a different font.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/agency-oversight/2016/10/ig-finds-gsas-18f-disregarded-policies-planned-poorly/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 18F, budget, cost overrun, FAS, GAO, GSA, IG, innovation

October 26, 2016 By AMK

Relying on bid protests is ‘absurd’

Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra is not a fan of the contracting community’s increasing reliance on bid protests as a means to delay new contracts and capture taxpayer dollars as long as possible.

bad-behavior“This protest thing really ticks me off; it is so pathetic,” Chopra said Oct. 6 on a panel hosted by Nextgov and Government Executive.  “It’s absolutely absurd how the culture of PhD procurement physics works in this town. Ninety percent of them don’t actually go anywhere but they delay everything.”

Chopra made the remarks on a panel assessing President Barack Obama’s IT legacy. In an increasingly competitive market amid government shutdowns and dwindling budgets, bid protests in the federal government have increased 60 percent since fiscal 2008. But their success rate—how often the Government Accountability Office sustains them—has declined from 21 percent in fiscal 2008 to 13 percent in fiscal 2015, according to Deltek data.

GAO said contractors filed 1,652 protests in fiscal 2008; they filed 2,639 in fiscal 2015. Those numbers led top contracting officials at the General Services Administration to suggest in August that agencies should build protest periods into their contracting schedules.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2016/10/aneesh-chopra-relying-bid-protests-absurd/132433

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 18F, award protest, bid protest, GAO. protest, GSA, IT, OASIS, protest, technology

October 20, 2016 By AMK

Cutting through the red tape to faster, smarter acquisition

The fundamental mismatch between the speed of acquisition and the speed of government is an endless topic of conversation among government and industry alike. But while most officials tend to blame the rules, some leaders believe hide-bound people and processes are a bigger problem. 

reverse-industry-day“Culturally, we have not necessarily come to that awareness that it takes a team,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. William Bender, the service’s chief information officer, before launching into an examination of a typical Air Forces systems development program during the Oct. 4 Synergy Forum in Washington, D.C.  That typical program, he said, begins with a two-year process “to determine if a materiel or non-materiel solution is required,” continues with a year to define the requirements, “two more years to get it into the budget, and four years to deliver it.”

The status quo is not working, he said.

Bender’s solution is a new acquisition framework he’s developing and hoping to sell to Air Force leadership. Others are trying their own solutions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govtechworks.com/cutting-through-the-red-tape-to-faster-smarter-acquisition/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 18F, acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, Air Force, Army, DHS, DoD, GSA, innovation, IT, procurement reform, R&D, reverse industry day, TechFAR Handbook, technology

September 19, 2016 By AMK

18F expects to break even in 2019, looks to show value

18F, the Obama administration’s tech-consulting team that came under scrutiny in early summer after a Government Accountability Office report revealed it was burning through more cash than it collected, is on pace to break even by 2019.

18F at GSADave Shive, acting commissioner of the Technology Transformation Service, which houses 18F within the General Services Administration, told an audience Tuesday 18F “expects to be cost recoverable” by 2019, in line with GAO’s best-case projections.

Shive lamented “no startup is profitable on day one,” and GSA’s cadre of tech talent—many of whom come from Silicon Valley and other tech hubs—is barely two years old, yet he admitted it’s been challenging to measure 18F’s value beyond the taxpayer dollars and cents Congress worries about.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2016/09/18f-expects-break-even-2019-looks-show-value/131502

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 18F, acquisition reform, fee for service, GAO, GSA, IG, innovation, OIG, procurement reform, technology, Technology Transformation Service, TTS

August 30, 2016 By AMK

Why agile is still so hard for the government

Getting more of the federal government to buy agile technology services will be anything but quick, analysts say.

Transition to AgileIn the past couple years, pockets of the federal government have tried to promote agile software development, a process in which customers and coders work closely on small chunks of larger tech projects, rapidly spinning out and testing prototypes.

One example is the General Services Administration’s tech consultancy team, 18F, which debuted a pre-approved list of vendors who specialize in this methodology; other groups, including the Homeland Security Department, are following suit. Many private-sector tech recruits, including members of 18F, have made it their mission to eliminate the waterfall approach, in which a product’s requirements are decided upfront and then revisited, often years later, after launch.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2016/08/government-has-way-go-agile/131034

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 18F, agile, BPA, DHS, EPA, GAO, GSA, IT, technology

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