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OFPP issues memo addressing procurement administrative lead time (PALT)

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) recently issued guidance on the subject of measuring the timeliness of federal procurements.
This graphic illustrates a typical agency’s PALT goals.

In government acquisition circles, this measurement is typically referred to as PALT or procurement administrative lead time.

Simply put, PALT is the time between the date on which an initial solicitation for a contract or order is issued by a federal department or agency and the date of the award of the contract or order.

Now, OFPP has issued a guidance memorandum that provides:

  • a common definition of PALT, and
  • the steps agencies can take to incorporate modern business practices that shorten the time between identification and delivery and reduce PALT in acquisition activities.

Acquisition officials can view the OFPP memo on the Acquisition Gateway at: https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov.   The memo is also viewable at in the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/21/2020-00783/procurement-administrative-lead-time-palt.

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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/

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On-line classes announced for 1st quarter of 2021

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has announced four courses to be presented virtually during the first three months of 2021.

The courses to be presented are:

  • A Contracting Overview of the FAR (CON 090-1) – Jan. 19 – 22, 2021
  • FAR Fundamentals (FCN 190) – Feb. 1 – 12, 2021
  • Contract Planning in the FAR (CON 090-2) – Feb. 22 – 26, 2021
  • Contract Formation in the FAR (CON 090-3) – Mar. 8 – 12, 2021

Here’s a brief recap of each course, along with a link to price, registration and other details for each course:

A Contracting Overview of the FAR (CON 090-1) – Jan. 19 – 22, 2021 – Covers the identification of the basic principles of federal government contracting, including the structure and content of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and agency supplements.  Students learn how to locate, cite, and interpret regulations.  More details here: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-1-contracting-overview-far

FAR Fundamentals (FCN 190) – Feb. 1 – 12, 2021 – Designed for both GS-1102 contracting personnel as well as aspiring government contractors, this 10-day course conveys basic knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), including how to apply the rules in order to make appropriate decisions at each step of the contracting process.   More details here: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-2-contract-planning-far

Contract Planning in the FAR (CON 090-2) – Feb. 22 – 26, 2021 – Covers acquisition planning, market research, describing agency needs, the preference for commercial and non-developmental items, contract types, special contracting techniques, socioeconomic programs, special terms and conditions, contractor qualifications, and advertising requirements.  More details here: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-2-contract-planning-far

Contract Formation in the FAR (CON 090-3) – Mar. 8 – 12, 2021 – Covers policies and procedures for simplified acquisitions, sealed bidding as well as negotiated acquisitions, cost accounting standards, special contracting methods and emergency acquisitions, and the filing and handling of protests.  More details here: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-3-contract-formation-far

A schedule of other courses coming up in 2021 can be found at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/training/

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GAO issues definitive list of most important federal IT acquisitions

The Government Accountability Office scored more than 100 federal IT projects and offered detailed breakdowns of the most “essential mission-critical IT acquisitions.”
Click on image above to download GAO report.

With technology now at the center of every aspect of American life, the Government Accountability Office took a look at the state of federal IT acquisitions and came up with a list of the 16 most important technology buys going on right now.

Every federal agency and program office has at least one major IT project in the works, with many juggling several simultaneously. But a report released on Sept. 8 puts a spotlight on major ongoing IT acquisitions that will have the biggest impact on some of the most critical government services like paying taxes, managing biometrics databases, making sure planes don’t crash and maintaining the health of soldiers and veterans.

“Our specific objective was to identify essential mission-critical IT acquisitions across the federal government and determine their key attributes,” GAO auditors wrote.

To find the most important IT acquisitions in government, GAO began by issuing a questionnaire to the 24 agencies covered under the CFO Act.  All but one agency — the Defense Department — responded with their five most critical programs, giving auditors a starting list of 98 acquisitions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/09/gao-reviews-16-most-critical-it-programs-government/168347/

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Comments on government supply chain rule push for better definitions and more time

Industry groups and other comments highlight the difficulty of complying with a provision of last year’s defense authorization act that requires the removal of products from companies including Huawei and ZTE. 

The broad, ambiguous language of Congressionally-mandated rule for government contractors to remove products and services from companies that pose threats to national security is complicating implementation, according to public comments.

The comment period for the interim Federal Acquisition Rule implementing Part B of Section 889 — a provision of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act — closed last week, and the more than 30 comments submitted raise questions related to fundamental compliance issues.

While in general, commenters agree with the rule’s intent, groups representing industry, including the National Defense Industrial Association, BSA | The Software Alliance, the Coalition for Government Procurement and the Internet Association submitted detailed letters to Regulations.gov outlining compliance challenges.  Nearly all asked for extended timelines for implementation and better definitions for key terms and phrases used in the regulation.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2020/09/comments-government-supply-chain-rule-push-better-definitions-and-more-time/168460/

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