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FBO no mo’

Today, beta.SAM.gov became the official source for federal business opportunities, replacing FBO.gov. 
This is the message visitors now see at FBO.gov.

FBO, which stood for Federal Business Opportunities (or the shortened term FedBizOpps), contained a list of virtually every federal contract valued at more than $25,000.  These contracts can now be found in the “Contract Opportunities” section of beta.SAM.gov.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is in charge of beta.SAM.gov.  GSA’s vision for the merged databases is “a ‘family tree’ that organizes federal government users and establishes relationships between each department/independent agency’s sub-tiers and its offices.”

Visitors who attempt to go to FBO.gov are automatically rerouted to fbohome.sam.gov which provides notice that FBO has moved.

In visiting the new site today, we encountered long delays in connecting to beta.SAM.gov as well as to its Contract Opportunities page at beta.sam.gov/help/contract-opportunities.  Users encountered similar delays when GSA last month moved the FARSite operated since 1996 by Hill Air Force Base to GSA-managed Acquisition.gov.   Because of high traffic, GSA had to delay the transition from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21.

Links on beta.SAM.gov appear to be working, but users will experience delays in moving from one page to another and in downloading documents.  Notably, we had to make multiple attempts to open the “FBO Transition Guide for Federal Administrators.”   The Guide provides instructions to federal officials on how to post contract opportunities and related information to beta.SAM.gov.  We encountered similar delays when trying to open various “Quick Start” guides.

The shift of FBO.gov to beta.SAM.gov is part of a larger merger of many legacy systems into one database.  Previously, “Wage Determinations Online” and the “Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance” were shifted into beta.SAM.gov.

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Make plans now for your professional development in 2020

By attending Georgia Tech’s hands-on, practical training, you will gain new expertise you can apply the day you return from class.

Staying up-to-date in the field of government acquisition is a challenge.  You can make a positive impact on your career by planning to attend courses now scheduled at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s world-class Global Learning Center in the coming year.  Course registration for 2020 is now open.

Featured courses include:

(Click on course titles for dates and registration details.)

  • Students attending Georgia Tech’s classes work in teams to tackle real-life contracting problems.

    FCN 190: FAR Fundamentals – 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.  Curriculum supports the latest revisions to the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Program.

  • CON 090-1: Contracting Overview of the FAR – 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.
  • CON 090-2: Contract Planning in the FAR – 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.
  • Our instructors are experienced acquisition professionals who share practical advice.

    CON 090-3: Contract Formation in the FAR – 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.

  • CON 090-4: Contract Administration in the FAR – Covers the fundamental concepts of contract administration including the handling of untimely or non-compliant performance, interpretation of clauses, contract modifications, payments, contract disputes and appeals, and complete or partial contract terminations.
  • CON 170: Fundamentals of Cost & Price Analysis – Conveys fundamental quantitative pricing skills, including seller pricing strategies, the Truth in Negotiations Act and how it mitigates government risk, application of Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) rules to negotiated contracts and subcontracts, and contract cost principles and procedures.  Covers cost-volume-profit analysis, contribution margin estimates, and cost estimating relationships.
  • Our students tell us our courses go far beyond check-the-box requirements.

    CON 243: Architect-Engineer Contracting – Focuses on contracting for architectural-engineering services, including acquisition planning, source selection, proposal analysis, contract award and work, and contract management. Specific topics and practical exercises convey knowledge of the Selection of Architects and Engineers statue, SF-330, the slate and selection process, the review of government estimates, liability, Title II services, modifications, and contracting officer’s technical representative responsibilities. 

  • CON 244: Construction Contracting – Focuses on contracting issues unique to construction, including acquisition planning, contract performance management, funding, environmental concerns, construction contract language, construction contracting in a commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute, design/build methodology, basic schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, acceleration, construction contract quality management, and more.
  • Government contracting officials and business executives sit side-by-side to learn acquisition practices.

    COR 206/222: Contracting Officer Representative and the Contingency Contracting Environment – Covers the role and responsibilities of the COR in contract administration, including contract planning support, contract awards, contract changes and modifications, monitoring performance, expenditures and schedules, and ethical situations and cultural differences a COR may experience while deployed in a contingency operation. 

Explanation of Certification Programs

Each Academy course title that contains the designation “CON” or “COR” is DAU-equivalent and satisfies both the FAC-C and DAWIA certification programs.  Coursework with the “FCN” designation is approved by the Federal Acquisition Institute and satisfies the latest FAC-C certification requirements. In addition, continuing education units (CEUs) are granted for these courses by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Courses Available at Your Location

All Academy courses and workshops are available for instructor-led on-site engagements at your location. To discuss arrangements for your group, please email us at info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu.  We’ll be happy to provide you with details.

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DAU reports on shutdown of Hill AFB’s FARSite

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) has issued a status report on the migration of FAR search features from Hill Air Force Base’s FARSite to GSA’s Acquisition.gov site.

According to DAU, here is the latest summary of recent and planned activities to shut down the FARSite on Oct. 28, 2019:

  • Oct. 1 – The General Services Administration (GSA) deployed the new Acquisition.gov site.  The new site adds all agency FAR supplements. The added content and user load caused the site to become unresponsive, so the plan to redirect FARSite traffic to the GSA site was put on hold.
  • Oct. 2-3 – GSA’s IT organization added computing resources to the Acquisition.gov site to better handle the increased traffic.  The site proved to be responsive but still would not support the FARSite’s user base.
  • Oct. 10-11 – GSA made plans to put the Acquisition.gov site under the management of Akamai Technologies, an Internet content publishing service, to better handle the increased traffic.  (The Defense Information Systems Agency contracts with Akamai to host public DoD web sites.  FARSite currently uses Akamai, and 83% of FARSite’s current traffic is handled by Akamai.)
  • Oct. 17 – A go/no go decision will likely be made at the weekly FARSite transition meeting.  (Representatives from GSA, DAU, and the Air Force’s offices of Acquisition, Materiel Command, and Life Cycle Management/Business Systems Sustainment attend these meetings.)
  • Oct. 18 – With a go decision, Akamai will receive a request to redirect FARSite traffic to Acquisition.gov.  Redirect rules will send users to the specific FAR part on the Acquisition.gov site which they were trying to access on FARSite.
  • Oct. 21 – The redirect will prevent access to FARSite so that it may be turned off and decommissioned.
  • Oct. 28 – Hill AFB is expected to turn off FARSite in support of an upcoming Command Cyber Readiness Inspection.

The Defense Pricing and Contracting office has advised against inserting DoD Class Deviation links within the relevant FAR sections at the Acquisition.gov site.   An alternate plan to link to Class Deviations from the GSA site is being considered.

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‘Unprecedented’ government spending spree picks up speed

The federal government is primed to spend as much as $300 billion in the final quarter of fiscal 2018 as agencies rush to obligate money appropriated by Congress before Sept. 30 or return it to the Treasury Department.

The spending spree is the product of the omnibus budget agreement signed six months late in March coupled with funding increases of $80 billion for defense and $63 billion for civilian agencies. The shortened time frame left procurement officials scrambling to find ways to spend the money.

Through August, defense and civilian agencies obligated some $300 billion in contracts. But to spend all the money appropriated to them by Congress, they may have to obligate well over $200 billion more in the final quarter of fiscal 2018, which ends in two weeks.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/09/unprecedented-government-spending-spree-picks-speed/151347/

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The 2018 NDAA in detail

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the fiscal year 2018 (FY18) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law (Pub. L. 115-91).

An annual defense policy bill, the NDAA is a critical piece of legislation for the contracting community because it provides the funding authority for programs and activities of the Department of Defense (DoD), the largest procurer of goods and services within the US government.

In addition, the NDAA is a vehicle for encouraging in some cases, and requiring in others, changes to both DoD and government-wide procurement practices. As the NDAA moved through the legislative process, Dentons and other commentators analyzed proposed provisions, some of which were adopted as written or in a revised form, and many of which were not included in the final bill.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/658624

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