project management | The Contracting Education Academy

October 1, 2020 By cs

GAO issues definitive list of most important federal IT acquisitions

The Government Accountability Office scored more than 100 federal IT projects and offered detailed breakdowns of the most “essential mission-critical IT acquisitions.”

**Click on image above to download GAO report.**

With technology now at the center of every aspect of American life, the Government Accountability Office took a look at the state of federal IT acquisitions and came up with a list of the 16 most important technology buys going on right now.

Every federal agency and program office has at least one major IT project in the works, with many juggling several simultaneously. But a report released on Sept. 8 puts a spotlight on major ongoing IT acquisitions that will have the biggest impact on some of the most critical government services like paying taxes, managing biometrics databases, making sure planes don’t crash and maintaining the health of soldiers and veterans.

“Our specific objective was to identify essential mission-critical IT acquisitions across the federal government and determine their key attributes,” GAO auditors wrote.

To find the most important IT acquisitions in government, GAO began by issuing a questionnaire to the 24 agencies covered under the CFO Act. All but one agency — the Defense Department — responded with their five most critical programs, giving auditors a starting list of 98 acquisitions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/09/gao-reviews-16-most-critical-it-programs-government/168347/

May 19, 2020 By cs

Project management and COVID-19 recovery: Lessons from previous disasters

The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 has prompted an unprecedented response from all levels of government, across the country and around the world. As part of this response, local, state, and federal agencies sprang into action to help protect citizens from this potentially catastrophic biological threat while continuing to deliver services in communities nationwide.

As the initial public health threat hopefully subsides in the days and weeks ahead, many federal projects and programs will be launched to support longer-term COVID-19 economic recovery. These recovery efforts will affect people whose housing, utilities, and other life necessities are at risk, as well as entire industries whose existence has been disrupted by the COVID-19 threat.

While these efforts may be unparalleled in many ways, there are some lessons learned from previous disaster recovery efforts that can inform policy makers, federal project and program managers, and their executive sponsors in their work to help the nation recover from the effects of this extraordinary event.

The Project Management Institute’s 2020 Pulse of the Profession® research reveals that 11.4% of each dollar invested on projects is wasted due to poor performance — that’s $114 million for every $1 billion. There is a great deal at stake to ensure that pandemic response projects and programs are delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/05/project-management-and-covid-19-recovery/165298/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

February 24, 2020 By cs

Our popular Construction Contracting course begins May 4th — Make plans now to attend!

This course answers the important question: What makes construction contracts so different?

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech is offering the four and a half day Defense Acquisition University course, CON 244: Construction Contracting, during the week of May 4, 2020.

**Students attending Georgia Tech’s contracting classes work in teams to tackle real-life contracting problems.**

The course focuses on government contracting issues unique to the construction field. Topics include: construction planning, construction performance monitoring, funding contingency considerations, environmental impact concerns, special contract terms and conditions, construction contracting in a commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute (formerly known as the Davis-Bacon Act), the design/build strategy, schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, project acceleration, construction contract quality management, and much more.

For more details, and to register for this course, please visit: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-244-construction-contracting.

Who Should Attend

Contracting officers, contract specialists, contracting officer representatives, program/project managers, small business specialists, and industry contracting personnel.

**Georgia Tech provides a highly interactive learning environment that places emphasis on problem solving and practical application.**

How You Will Benefit

Attendees learn how to:

Apply federal acquisition laws and regulations, including Department of Defense and other agency supplemental regulations, agency policies and procedures, and best practices in soliciting, awarding and administering construction contracts.
Contrast typical support requirements with a federal Construction Acquisition Plan in accordance with FAR Parts 7 and 36, DFARS Parts 207 and 236, and agency supplements, policies and procedures.
Develop a construction solicitation package in accordance with the FAR, agency supplements, and agency policy/procedures.
Evaluate, using appropriate procedures, construction offerors and the contract awardee.
Determine the applicable construction contract administration (compliance) approach, using the FAR, DFARS, DoD regulation/guidelines, and other relevant agency supplements, procedures and best practices.
Formulate a remedy — based on the appropriate clause for a changed construction condition — in accordance with federal and DoD acquisition and other agency laws, regulations, and best practices.
Document appropriate actions necessary to verify costs in order to authorize construction progress payments and initiate construction contract closeout.

Act Now

Plan to join your colleagues in attending this thorough and engaging examination of the federal construction contracting process. Complete registration details are right here.

Credit

Students successfully completing this 4.5-day course receive 32 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) from the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and 3.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. These credits satisfy the latest Level III Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting, or FAC-C, training requirements.

Added Benefits

You’ll learn in a small group setting at Georgia Tech’s world-class Global Learning Center where you’ll engage in real-life problem-solving exercises. You’ll receive expert instruction, a printed student guide to be used back on the job, valuable handouts, and exclusive electronic resources. Plus, a complimentary breakfast is provided each morning, along with snacks throughout each day.

Registration

For more information, cost, and the registration link, go right here: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-244-construction-contracting.

December 4, 2019 By cs

New case studies highlight the importance of federal program management

Nearly three years after being signed into law, the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act (PMIAA) exists to address an urgent need within the U.S. federal government.

In October 2019, PMI and the Partnership for Public Service hosted “Delivering on Your Mission: What PMIAA Means for Effective Execution,” a timely event focused on how the PMIAA can help improve federal project and program management capabilities and performance.

With agencies and their program management improvement officers (PMIOs) tasked with delivering complex and diverse streams of benefits to citizens — from disaster relief to Social Security payments to investments in medical research, new technologies and state-of-the-art defense system — strong project and program management capabilities and practices can improve outcomes and drive effective execution throughout the federal government.

“PMIAA has the potential to transform how federal agencies deliver their missions,” said Tina Sung, vice president with the Partnership for Public Service. “It was clear during our recent event that PMIOs from across government are committed to meeting the spirit of this law, implementing it effectively and using it to amplify their agencies’ impact.”

At the event, PMI released a capstone report, “PMIAA: Strengthening the Government Delivery Foundation,” and a series of case studies highlighting how agencies and PMIOs are leveraging resources and partners inside and outside of government to help accelerate, validate and accomplish their missions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/opinions/2019/11/08/new-case-studies-highlight-the-importance-of-federal-program-management/

April 2, 2019 By AMK

Why federal IT projects fail (and how to ensure success)

In any business, it’s not uncommon to have several projects taking place at the same time, forcing organizations and their employees to play a delicate balancing act. For federal agencies and contractors, it is even more critical to appropriately juggle their projects due to the missions they are supporting.

These numerous tasks, large and small, are essential to the federal government’s efforts in aligning with and working towards their missions. Federal agencies prioritize specific initiatives, allocating resources and talent to ensure their projects are successful and their goals are met. Much blood, sweat, tears and taxpayer money is put into these projects, and yet, one in three IT projects is canceled before it’s completed.

That seems like a stunning figure. How can this be true? What goes wrong along the way for a third of every project started to be cut back?

As it turns out, projects are often derailed from the beginning. In fact, the most common problem is the lack of immediate action to get these projects back on track, allowing problems to grow until they become too large and too far gone for project managers and their teams to resolve.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2019/03/why-federal-it-projects-fail-and-how-ensure-success/155435/