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April 5, 2019 By AMK

Other transactions: Do the rewards outweigh the risks?

In recent years, the federal government has made a large shift in how it expends taxpayer dollars on federal contracts.  Numerous laws have mandated new or expanded use of rapid procurement processes or other transaction agreements (OTA), which are now a preferred procurement vehicle.

OTAs, while not contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), are legally binding contracts that were once considered tools of last resort because they put taxpayers and the government at risk.

The theory behind OTAs is that nontraditional vendors would be lured into the government contracting marketplace by streamlined procurement processes. The hope is that nontraditional contractors that were unable or unwilling to enter into traditional procurement contracts would come to the table and bring with them innovative solutions that traditional contractors were not offering. The reality, however, is that these speedy buying procedures are being leveraged by large traditional contractors that are looking to boost their bottom line by avoiding normal contract administration, oversight, and accountability protections.

“Other transactions” is a term commonly used to refer to the authority to enter into transactions other than contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. Agencies have authority to award such agreements in limited circumstances — research, prototype, and now defense follow-on production projects.  Unlike a normal government contract, OTA is promoted as a more flexible agreement that can speed up the buying process and be better tailored based on changes in technology and the government’s needs.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.pogo.org/report/2019/03/other-transactions-do-the-rewards-outweigh-the-risks/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: FAR, flexibility, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority, other transactions, prototype, research, risk, technology

January 7, 2019 By AMK

How OTA collaborations are streamlining government acquisitions

Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) have garnered significant attention recently because they help our government acquire innovative technologies much faster than typical Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)-based acquisitions, which can take years to complete. 

Some have called OTAs the “cool new thing” in acquisition — words you wouldn’t normally hear when talking about federal contracting.

So, what are OTAs? And more importantly, why should agencies make these agreements part of their procurement process?

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2018/12/how-ota-collaborations-are-streamlining-government-acquisitions/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, FAR, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority, procurement reform, streamlined acquisition process

December 14, 2018 By AMK

Marine cyber command is getting in on other transaction contracting

The Marine Corps cyber arm is about ready to sign its first contract using the lightly regulated Other Transaction Authority given to select agencies to spur research, development and acquisition of bleeding-edge technologies without having to abide by the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, or MARFORCYBER, officials expect to sign their first OT contract on or before Dec. 17, Command Executive Director Gregg Kendrick told Nextgov. Kendrick said MARFORCYBER, in conjunction with Marine Corps Systems Command, has been working on the contract since May, though the hard work began in earnest in July.

The project will focus on cybersecurity and big data, including how to protect the Marines’ troves of data, as well as how to use that data to better protect the rest of the enterprise.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/12/marine-cyber-command-getting-other-transaction-contracting/153339/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, cybersecurity, FAR, Marine Corps, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority

December 11, 2018 By AMK

Don’t get carried away with OTAs, experts caution

Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) have been all the rage in the federal acquisition community in 2018.

The acquisition instrument allows agencies to sidestep the Federal Acquisition Regulation and work with innovative companies that don’t normally do business with the government, and it can be developed with a speed that would make most contracting officers salivate — 60 days or less in some cases.

But like most trends, because it’s currently in vogue, it runs the risk of being dramatically overused. And acquisition officials from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security are concerned that the OTA’s innovative reputation could become as cool as cargo shorts if agencies abuse it.

“I think that’s the biggest risk,” Soraya Correa, DHS chief procurement officer, said Thursday. “That people use them properly, that we don’t overuse them, that we don’t abuse them, so they are around for the long haul. How I manage that is by making sure that we understand the authorities that we have been given, we really think about what that authority is for and then we educate.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/other-transaction-agreements-otas-soraya-correa-dhs-scott-stewart-disa-affirm/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: DHS, FAR, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority

November 7, 2018 By AMK

DoD says ‘OTA,’ industry says ‘Oy’

Just because apocryphal books live outside the Bible doesn’t mean you should never read them. And just because certain buying authorities live outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them.

The FAR covers a lot, but not everything, including, say Other Transaction Authority (OTA). OTA spending by the Defense Department is growing by triple digit rates, although it’s still a relatively small number. But it worries contractors. It came up repeatedly at this week’s Professional Services Council Vision 2018 conference. Kevin Fahey, the assistant secretary of Defense for acquisition, reassured the mostly vendor audience that “OTA use is not a get-out-acquisition-free pass.”

OTA has a little sister spawned by Section 804 of the 2016 Defense authorization bill. It gives DoD temporary authority to buy rapid prototyping and rapid fielding technologies — rapid, in the latter case, means within five years. The authority expires next September.

So for certain acquisitions, DoD has a lot of leeway to not use the FAR. Not total leeway, though — the government can’t just buy anything using the perceived convenience of OTA. The instrument is intended for prototype technologies and capabilities from non-traditional companies. For sure, those definitions leave a lot of leeway.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/tom-temin-commentary/2018/10/dod-says-ota-industry-says-oy/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, DoD, FAR, OTA, other transaction agreements, other transaction authority, prototyping, technology, technology development

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