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Just what you’d guess: Federal discretionary spending is up

The government contracting industry is a complex marketplace. 

No other industry is as dependent on the successes and failures of federal policy, regulation, and Congressional leadership.

Our ecosystem lives or dies by it.  Elements of the sector ebb and flow depending not only on the needs wants, whims, and votes of American citizens but also the global stage, all of which command our ~$1 trillion competitive landscape pipelined through Federal discretionary spending.

Vendors enter into the fray with dollar signs in their eyes, and at a glance, they’re right to be excited about the potential.  But those of us in-the-know understand working with the federal Government isn’t an opportunity to print money, and what is considered a steady investment still has its ups and downs.

Here’s an examination the state of federal discretionary spending (procurements and grants) over the last ten (10) … yes 10 … years, as we close out the decade not with a whisper – but with a boom.

Keep reading this article at: https://thepulsegovcon.com/article/a-decade-in-federal-discretionary-spending/

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How will COVID-19 impact long term trends in contracting?

COVID-19 presents unique and enduring challenges to business operations and mission fulfillment.

While many “lessons learned” regarding best practices to confront natural disasters can be gleaned from such situations as Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, the unprecedented scope and impact of this pandemic raise troubling issues for legacy business models.  In terms of “big A” acquisition policy, we believe that the current crisis will fundamentally alter existing programmatic assumptions.  Identifying these trends is an important beginning in terms of what lies ahead.

Reading these “tea leaves” allow us to make impacts of recent events upon the broader framework of government IT acquisition. What can we foresee and predict?

From a macro perspective, we believe that the current unprecedented situation has the potential to fundamentally re-align the basic consensus regarding the much-touted benefits of globalization. In terms of government contractors, and IT specifically, we have been discussing the following trends and consequences.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/04/how-will-covid-19-impact-long-term-trends-in-contracting/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized.  Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

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Acquisition leans into automation

Automation is gaining traction in federal acquisition.

“When we met with senior leaders a few weeks ago, they had a list of processes they wanted automated by that week,” Lesley Field, deputy administrator for federal procurement policy at the Office of Management and Budget, said at a panel discussion at the 2019 Presidential Rank Awards Leadership Summit on Dec. 17.  She said the acquisition workforce is enthusiastic about developing robotics process automation tools within the government.

Soraya Correa, chief acquisition officer at the Department of Homeland Security, noted that automation technologies offer a number of advantages, including limiting problems that can stem from data bias.

“With automation, we can get to a fairer process,” he said. “Right now, we engage more data bias because we’re limited by what we can do as long as we’re telling industry what we’re willing to do and where we’re going to go look for this information.”

Keep reading this article at: https://gcn.com/articles/2019/12/24/acquisition-automation.aspx

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Federal contracting moves that will ripple beyond 2019

The past year has been long and significant in just about every respect, and government contracting is no exception.

The year was defined by one big, controversial procurement; the ongoing shift to buy more IT products and services through the General Services Administration; that agency’s consolidation of its major contracts on the Multiple Award Schedules; and a new cybersecurity standard that has the defense contracting community holding its breath.

Before 2019 comes to a close, Nextgov spoke with federal contracting experts Chris Cornillie, federal technology market analyst for Bloomberg Government, and analysts at The Pulse of GovCon, a market intelligence firm.

Top of mind for Cornillie was arguably the biggest contract — and upset — of the year.  The Defense Department’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract is projected to be worth up to $10 billion over up to 10 years, as a single provider builds a “war cloud” for use across the services.

The Defense Department started the JEDI contract two years ago, a process stretched out further by bid protests and lawsuits. Constant drama surrounded this contract—including a salacious dossier, a last-minute recusal from the secretary of defense and statements from the president—and the award announcement was no exception.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/12/federal-contracting-moves-will-ripple-beyond-2019/162025/

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5 trends that will shape federal contracting

Bloomberg Government has issued its 2018 Federal Contracting Outlook, which looks at the year ahead for the government contracting marketplace. 

This year, government contractors can expect the following trends:

  • Information technology modernization fund disbursements through the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act of 2017.
  • Expanded use of “Other Transaction Authority” to make purchases.
  • Increasing opportunities to provide audit services to federal agencies.
  • Growth in the use of “best-in-class” contracts.
  • Progress against procurement policy barriers that affect medium-sized companies (mid-tiers).

“This year government contractors have an opportunity to take advantage of key issues facing the federal government that will shape their priorities in 2018, including a focus on innovative acquisition methods, operational efficiencies, and IT modernization, ” said Donald Thomas, vice president and general manager, Government Contracting, at Bloomberg Government. “Federal government contractors should be optimistic with the uptick in spending that the federal government has experienced since 2012 and is expected to continue throughout 2018.”

A copy of the Federal Contracting Outlook is available for complimentary download at https://about.bgov.com/downloads/2018-outlook-five-trends-will-shape-federal-contracting-2018/.

More details available at: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bloomberg-governments-2018-federal-contracting-outlook-the-five-trends-that-will-shape-federal-contracting-300585995.html

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