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July 27, 2011 By AMK

OMB lists contract categories vulnerable to overspending

When the Office of Management and Budget on July 7 announced a new directive for agencies to cut spending on contract management services by 15 percent, officials mentioned 15 product service codes that were considered most at risk of overspending because they have a high proportion of time-and-materials contracts.

Since that briefing, OMB released a list of the codes, noting that they are the same as those that appeared last November in guidance on service inventories. The 15 codes affected by the management support services directive are:

Description of Function Product & Service Code
Professional & Management Services
Cost Benefit Analyses B505
Policy Review/Development Services R406
Program Evaluation Services R407
Program Management/Support Services R408
Program Review/Development Services R409
Specifications Development Service R413
Management Services/Contract & Procurement Support R707
Intelligence Services R423
Engineering and Technical Services R425
Systems Engineering Services R414
Personal Services Contracts R497
Information Technology Support Services
ADP Systems Development Services D302
Automated Information Systems Services D307
ADP System Acquisition Support Services D314
ADP Backup and Security Services D310

Focusing on these product codes, according to Stan Soloway, president and chief executive officer of the Professional Services Council, a contractor trade group, may have limited utility. Use of all but one or two already is going down, he said, “so why add this rule now?”

— by Charles S. Clark – GovExec.com – July 14, 2011 – at http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=48250&printerfriendlyvers=1 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: contract management services, information technology, IT, management support service, OMB, overspending

June 28, 2011 By AMK

GSA blames poor wording for STARS contract snafu

The General Services Administration is blaming “ambigous” language in an email to bidders on its $10 billion 8(a) contract for giving the mistake impression that it had made contract awards.

The email was intended to give notice that GSA was extending the selection process for the Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) II governmentwide acquisition contract, according to a statement made June 23 by Mary Davie, assistant Federal Acquisition Service commissioner for integrated technology service at GSA.

Davie said the agency intends to award its major governmentwide small-business IT contract by the end of July, although it may have caused some confusion about awards.

GSA asked for a monthlong extension to try to get better prices from the companies bidding on its five-year, $10 billion contract. But because of the language issues some companies believe they had a spot on the IT GWAC and then lost it, Davie said.

A first correspondence, sent June 1, intended to say that officials, who are reviewing bids for STARS II, were continuing their review of submissions. The second letter, sent June 21, gave companies an opportunity for written discussions and called for a final proposal and pricing revision, Davie wrote.

“The second letter did specifically rescind a portion of earlier communications, which appeared to indicate that offerors were considered to be ‘apparently successful.’ This phrasing was ambiguous and should not have been used in these communications,” Davie said.

That second e-mail message, sent to companies, states: “Any part of previous communications from GSA stating or implying that offerors were deemed apparently successful is hereby rescinded.”

GSA was giving the small businesses time to re-examine the prices they offered in their initial bid proposals and adjust the pricing to “amplify its potential to be favorably considered,” the second message also states. Officials included the median price and prices in the 25th percentile as a guide for companies to make their revisions.

GSA had to get the extension to get better prices, Davie said.

“It would not have been possible to ask for more competitive pricing without going back to offerors to ask for an extension, provide them with an opportunity for additional discussions, and then request a final proposal revision,” Davie said.

She added that GSA’s GWAC program office is responding to contractors’ questions as part of the written discussions.

Although GSA’s follow-up message may be awkward, Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, said it’s better than being criticized throughout the life of the contract because of high prices.

About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is acquisition editor for Federal Computer Week – June 24, 2011 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2011/06/24/gsa-stars-ii-gwac-davie-ambiguous.aspx?s=wtdaily_270611 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: GSA, GWAC, information technology, IT, small business, STARS

June 7, 2011 By AMK

Former federal contractor gets jail time for falsifying immigration records

A former contractor working as a records custodian at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been sentenced to five and a half years in jail for doctoring computer files to help illegal aliens obtain “legal” passports, Justice Department officials announced this week. The case reflects a larger problem the agency has experienced with personnel who have manipulated computer systems at various USCIS centers, according to internal documents and a former information technology manager. Federal investigators recently discovered that plans for an ongoing project to computerize the processing of immigration forms, which is supposed to enhance fraud detection, failed to address insider threats.

According to federal district court papers reviewed by Nextgov, Richard Abapo Quidilla, 39, of Pico Rivera, Calif., deleted the names, birth dates and other personal data of naturalized citizens in a secure database and substituted the corresponding information of illegal immigrants. He pleaded guilty in March to charges of computer fraud, procurement of citizenship unlawfully and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said.

During the time Quidilla perpetrated the crimes, between Dec. 31, 2009, and Oct. 28, 2010, he was under contract with Dell Perot Systems at the USCIS San Diego office, according to the plea agreement. The government assigned him a user identification code to access the system he admitted to tampering with. Quidilla then assigned the alien registration ID numbers of nearly 30 naturalized citizens to about 30 illegal immigrants in a way that would trick anyone searching the database using the immigrants’ personal information to believe they were naturalized.

At least two illegal immigrants used their false ID numbers and citizenship statuses to get passports, according to the plea. One of them paid Quidilla at least $1,300 for cribbing the information; the other gave him at least $4,100.

When asked whether Quidilla obtained the proper clearances and passed background checks to manage immigration records, Lori Haley, an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement spokeswoman, said she could not comment because the incident is under investigation at ICE.

Quidilla’s supervisors did not know he posed a risk, Dell officials said. “Dell had no knowledge of the former employee’s criminal behavior prior to his arrest,” company spokeswoman Caitlin Carroll said. “Dell holds its team members to the highest standards, and has a zero-tolerance policy for unethical behavior.”

This is not the first time USCIS employees have orchestrated citizenship scams — and auditors are warning that a troubled $2.4 billion project to automate immigration paperwork lacks controls to guard against future internal wrongdoers, according to a report released earlier this year by the Homeland Security Department Inspector General’s Office.

Frank Deffer, assistant IG for information technology audits, listed the initiative, called Transformation, and its susceptibility to insider threats as among the “most prevalent, high-impact areas of concern” in an assessment of steps the agency is taking to protect IT systems and data against unauthorized use by employees and contractors. “Insiders at USCIS have perpetrated fraud in the past,” his audit stated. “USCIS insiders are capable of granting legal residency or citizenship status to someone who poses a national security risk to the United States.”

Separately, a serious incident report obtained by Nextgov shows, in 2008, USCIS officials discovered that employees within the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate — hired to ensure dangerous individuals do not receive immigration rights — hooked up a nongovernment computer to an external Internet connection at a Vermont center that handles visas for victims of violence and human trafficking, allowing staff to potentially extract or import data to commit identity theft.

Spokesman Christopher Bentley said the overwhelming majority of USCIS staff perform their jobs honestly and with a deep commitment to public service.

“USCIS demands that our employees maintain the highest level of integrity and professionalism,” he said. “USCIS has zero tolerance for criminal activity and employee misconduct, and will take appropriate action to pursue illegal or unethical activity by every means at our disposal.”

– by Aliya Sternstein – NextGov – 06/02/11 – http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110602_9794.php?oref=rss?zone=NGtoday

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: citizenship, Homeland Security, ICE, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, information technology, misconduct

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