OFPP | The Contracting Education Academy

November 20, 2017 By cs

The quest to strengthen the acquisition workforce

Fewer taxpayer dollars are wasted when federal acquisition professionals are well trained to manage government contracts.

Every day, federal government employees work diligently to help government agencies serve the public. One specialized group has dedicated their careers to helping build and manage the contracts with suppliers that sell goods and services to the government. They must navigate through a maze of regulations, field endless customer requirements, and conquer a constant stream of contracts that help the U.S. government do its work. These are the workers in the federal government acquisition ecosystem. With their help, the U.S. government buys and manages technology projects smarter, more efficiently, and with greater returns on investment.

To keep pace with fast-changing technology, the government must enable its acquisition workforce to quickly adapt and pivot for project success.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2017/11/The-Quest-to-Strengthen-the-Acquisition-Workforce

November 17, 2017 By cs

Experts: government should buy like the behemoth it is

Government is the biggest purchaser in the world and need to start acting like it, according to federal experts who spoke at the ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference on Oct. 31.

“We are the largest buyer in the entire world. We don’t always act that way so we are trying to get agencies to move in that direction,” said Beth Angerman, executive director of the Unified Shared Service Management Office in the General Services Administration.

Angerman explained that much of her job is convincing agencies to share basic services that can be bought in bulk from the private sector, likening the process to convincing her two young children to share at home. She said that while most agencies like the idea of sharing, few want to sit down and actually map out what that sharing will look like.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2017/11/01/experts-government-should-buy-like-the-behemoth-it-is/

October 11, 2017 By cs

Procurement may be trending toward value over price

The number of times federal agencies have requested lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) bids in contract solicitations has shot up over the past decade, an examination of Bloomberg Government data shows.

Federal contract solicitations stating that awards will be made on the basis of LPTA source-selection procedures have steadily grown, from 920 in fiscal year 2008 to more than 12,000 in each of the past two fiscal years, according to Bloomberg Government data.

But contracting industry groups and, increasingly, members of Congress have been agitating for a best-value purchasing approach in more cases, taking into account other factors, including whether the benefits of higher-priced proposals are worth the extra cost.

This renewed priority for best-value procurements has been reflected in the fiscal 2017 and 2018 defense authorization bills in Congress, which significantly narrow the range of types of procurements in which the Defense Department can use LPTA as a guiding philosophy.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/procurement-may-trending-toward-value-price/

September 18, 2017 By cs

How DHS is thawing the industry-government deep freeze

The thaw in industry-government collaboration for acquisitions has yet to fully materialize. Even after more than six years since the first mythbusters memo from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the freeze at many agencies remains deep into the permafrost.

OFPP is planning a third mythbusters memo as part of its continuing effort to improve communication around acquisition.

But there are signs that the sheet of ice is starting to crack.

In 2017 alone, four agencies held reverse industry days — the IRS, the General Services Administration, the Homeland Security Department and the Defense Department — where they bring in contracting officers and other acquisition professionals to learn from industry.

DHS will host a third reverse industry day in October.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2017/09/how-dhs-is-thawing-the-industry-government-deep-freeze/

July 12, 2017 By cs

4 agencies try to reverse years of industry-government communication tartar

Three memos trying to bust contracting myths weren’t enough. Neither was a proposed rule in the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

But maybe, just maybe, the Homeland Security Department has found a break in the wire that has stopped the government and industry from effectively talking about, sharing and solving problems.

DHS held its fourth Reverse Industry Day on June 28 in Washington, D.C. as part of its Acquisition Innovation in Motion (AIiM) initiative.

“I wanted to get the government in the audience and industry up [on stage] sharing their perspective. What drives them? What motivates them? How do they view our solicitations? Not for the purposes of critiquing, but for our learning, so we could understand their perspective, we could put ourselves in industry’s shoes and have a better conversation. We are making that progress,” said Soraya Correa, the chief procurement officer at DHS, during the recent ACT-IAC Management of Change conference. “I now have program managers who pick up the phone and say, ‘I’m not real sure. I think we should talk to industry, but I don’t have a solicitation. Can we do that?’ That’s a great question. I’m like, ‘Yes, let’s go. Let’s have a conversation.’ You don’t need a piece of paper, and in fact, you are better off, because there is nothing to protest.”

The concept of holding a reverse industry day slowly is becoming a popular way to break down these barriers in a way no other idea has before.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2017/06/4-agencies-try-to-reverse-years-of-industry-government-communication-tartar/

Fewer taxpayer dollars are wasted when federal acquisition professionals are well trained to manage government contracts.

Government is the biggest purchaser in the world and need to start acting like it, according to federal experts who spoke at the ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference on Oct. 31.

The number of times federal agencies have requested lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) bids in contract solicitations has shot up over the past decade, an examination of Bloomberg Government data shows.

The thaw in industry-government collaboration for acquisitions has yet to fully materialize. Even after more than six years since the first mythbusters memo from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the freeze at many agencies remains deep into the permafrost.

Three memos trying to bust contracting myths weren’t enough. Neither was a proposed rule in the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

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