IT | The Contracting Education Academy

September 23, 2020 By cs

18F says 6 core concepts can reduce risk in federal tech projects

The new ‘De-risking Government Technology Field Guide’ looks to educate officials on how to merge modern software design with traditional government bureaucracy.

**Click on image above to download the Field Guide.**

Teams of technology, process and procurement experts with the Technology Transformation Service have published a 128-page guidebook outlining best practices for technology projects—federal, state or local—in an attempt to “de-risk” one of the most failure-prone areas of government.

Last week, 18F — the internal tech consultancy housed in the General Services Administration’s TTS — in conjunction with their colleagues at 10x, released the “De-risking Government Technology Field Guide” with specific advice on how agencies can use human-centered design, agile development and modular contracting to significantly lower the risk of producing a substandard or unusable product.

“Only 13% of large government software projects are successful,” the guide states, citing statistics from The Standish Group analyzing projects in the U.S. and Europe valued at more than $6 million. “Modern software development practices reduce that risk by delivering working code every few weeks and getting feedback from end users to ensure that the product meets their needs.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/09/18f-says-6-core-concepts-can-reduce-risk-federal-tech-projects/168490/

September 2, 2020 By cs

Pentagon plans single-award $11 billion IT contract

The Defense Enclave Services contract could go out for bid as soon as late September.

Despite significant delays to two large, single-award contracts, the Defense Department plans to bid out the next major multibillion IT contract next month.

According to procurement documents, the Defense Enclave Services contract will be a single-award contract valued at up to $11.7 billion over 10 years, with a four-year base period and three two-year options. Through it, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Defense Department’s IT arm, seeks to acquire “common use IT systems,” including infrastructure, network operations and cybersecurity support services while it integrates and consolidates the Pentagon’s “fourth estate” agencies.

“As threats within the cyberspace domain become increasingly sophisticated, DoD is looking for solutions to eliminate unnecessary complexity within the IT space,” according to slides shared with vendors last month during a virtual industry day.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2020/08/pentagon-plans-single-award-11b-it-contract/168050/

September 1, 2020 By cs

GSA imagines new small business GWAC

The General Services Administration gave the public a look at its next step in developing the agency’s new small business governmentwide contracting (GWAC) vehicle that will eventually replace the canceled Alliant 2 Small Business contract.

The new vehicle will emphasize Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) and woman-owned small business set-asides, streamlined pricing and contract submission processes, as well as a source for emerging artificial intelligence, machine learning, as-a-service offerings, cloud and edge computing technologies, as well as cybersecurity technology, according to GSA officials.

In an Aug. 27 webcast, GSA small business and IT category officials gave a loose outline of how they see the agency’s next-generation small business contract will develop in the coming months. They asked for industry input on how to maximize technologies, processes and ease-of-use for the new GWAC.

The agency anticipates issuing a draft solicitation “by the end of the year,” said Lee Tittle, program lead for small business GWACs in GSA’s Office of IT Category (OITC). To accommodate industry input and disseminate information on the effort, GSA opened a new category on its Interact online community.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2020/08/27/rockwell-gsa-new-gwac-smal-biz.aspx

August 24, 2020 By cs

Number of foreign companies within Defense supply chain grew over past decade

Reliance on foreign suppliers in the defense industrial base rose — notably in packaged software and IT services — even as calls for reshoring increase, according to a new report.

Reshoring the defense supply chain may reduce national security risks, but a new report detailing a heavy dependency on goods and services from foreign countries like China shows reshoring may be easier said than done.

Researchers at Govini, a decision science company supporting the defense industry, analyzed data from over 1,000 Defense Department vendors across 100 industries to show how supply chain reliance on products from foreign countries has increased over the past decade. According to the survey, the number of Chinese suppliers in DOD’s base increased by a total of 420% since 2010.

For cyber and information technology, two statistics stick out. The share of companies based in foreign nations in the supply chain grew the most in the packaged software and IT services between 2010 and 2019. Companies based in foreign countries made up 3% of the packaged software supplier base in 2010. That number rose to 7% in 2019. The numbers are similar for IT services: Companies based in foreign countries made up 3% of the IT services supplier base in 2010 and 7% in 2019.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2020/08/number-foreign-companies-within-defense-supply-chain-grew-over-past-decade-report-says/167767/

July 30, 2020 By cs

Verizon loses protest of use of LPTA

The Government Accountability Office has denied Verizon’s protest of the use of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection for telecommunications services under the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) telecom and network modernization contract.

Verizon specifically protested requests for proposals by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), arguing that the reliance on LPTA violated the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, as well as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, which both require the Department of Defense to try to avoid such source selection when acquiring information technology.

The telecom company suggested DISA instead use best value tradeoff (BVTO) source selection, which would see the task order awarded to the contractor offering the greatest value to the government — not the lowest-cost or highest technically rated offeror.

GAO rejected that idea.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/verizon-lpta-eis-protest-denied/

The new ‘De-risking Government Technology Field Guide’ looks to educate officials on how to merge modern software design with traditional government bureaucracy.

The Defense Enclave Services contract could go out for bid as soon as late September.

The General Services Administration gave the public a look at its next step in developing the agency’s new small business governmentwide contracting (GWAC) vehicle that will eventually replace the canceled Alliant 2 Small Business contract.

Reliance on foreign suppliers in the defense industrial base rose — notably in packaged software and IT services — even as calls for reshoring increase, according to a new report.

The Government Accountability Office has denied Verizon’s protest of the use of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection for telecommunications services under the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) telecom and network modernization contract.

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