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July 10, 2013 By AMK

Acquiring services: How the feds can get it right

For the fifth consecutive year, the federal government has spent more on the purchase of services than any other type of contract spending. And yet, the Department of Defense has made little progress in improving how they buy services, and civilian agencies have yet to even spell out a strategy.

It was appropriate that the department’s April 2013 release of its Better Buying Power (BBP) 2.0 memo included a major component titled “Improving Tradecraft in Acquisition of Services,” with six specific actions required to be taken. But while BBP 2.0 carried forward several of the initiatives for services that were included in the original BBP memo issued in September 2010, there has been little progress made by the department in reaching those original objectives.

Still, at least DOD has a plan. While the Office of Management and Budget has issued some government-wide directives requiring reductions in spending on services, the civilian agencies, which annually commit a greater percentage of their contract spending on services than does DOD, have not spelled out any comprehensive acquisition strategy focused on services.

The first step on the path to improving the tradecraft in services is to recognize that there are wide variations in the types of services government buys, and that each type requires some specialized market research and skills to acquire them. For example, there is a considerable difference between how the Department Homeland Security acquires information technology services from how the Department of Energy acquires environmental remediation and management services. Thus, at the Professional Services Council, we have been strong advocates for reexamining the taxonomy of services and focusing on the key differences in these acquisitions.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/fedbiz_daily/2013/06/acquiring-services-how-feds-can-get.html?page=all

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, Better Buying Power, budget cuts, contract management services, DoD, GAO, management support services, market research, OMB, professional services, service contracts, spending, support services

March 27, 2012 By AMK

Former OFPP chief cites progress in federal acquisition and workforce

Daniel I. Gordon, who served as the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy from 2009 through 2011, has authored a paper on his tenure in at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).

The paper, published in the Government Contractor, presents reflections on his three goals while Administrator: strengthening the federal acquisition workforce, driving fiscal responsibility in federal acquisition, and rebalancing the relationship with contractors.

Gordon points to reversal of several negative trends, in particular, decline in the size of the federal acquisition workforce during the years 1992-2009, unsustainable annual increases in procurement spending during those years, and an unhealthy overreliance on contractors in performance of key government functions. In each of those key areas, Gordon reports on the progress made — increasing the size of the federal acquisition workforce, buying less and buying smarter (particularly through the strategic sourcing initiative), and a better balance in relations with contractors, with more clarity about the proper role of contractors and improved oversight, as well as efforts to increase communication with vendors.

A full copy of the article can be downloaded here: Reflections on the Federal Procurement Landscape – February 2012.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, blanket purchase agreements, contract management, contracting officers, government contracts, inherently governmental, insourcing, management support services, outsourcing, public procurement, strategic sourcing

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